Would this work?

[The Jeff]

Say my wife and I adopt our little cousin (he's 5). Could he gain US citizenship immediately? And once he is 18 and a citizen, could he sponsor his birth parents to immigrate to the US?

...It isn't visa fraud when its a family member, right?

[Sebastian]

There's a 2 year 'live in requirement' before the adoption is legal.

 

Then, once the adoption is legal, you have to file an I-130 for the adopted child.

 

I've not heard of an adopted child with USC 'tag' filing for his birthparents. Can't say it's not possible, it's just I haven't heard of it.

 

The 'live with' requirement is not changeable or negotiable -

so you could live in China for 2 years, or find a private school to issue a student visa for the child and the child go to this school in the USA and live with you. Private schools are not cheap.

 

My source document is here:

 

http://immigration.lawyers.com/ask-a-lawye...ssues-6905.html

 

China adoption law, in English:

http://www.novexcn.com/adoption_law_91.html

Edited July 19, 2008 by Darnell (see edit history)

[C4Racer]

...It isn't visa fraud when its a family member, right?

Not quite how our government sees this. They see this as a way to skirt normal visa channels, so they have made it pretty hard.

 

We thought about this as my wife wants her nephew to come to America. He is 4 so around the same age.

 

Visa are granted only to the following family members:

 

If you are LPR:

1. spouse.

2. unmarried children under 21.

3. unmarried children over 21.

 

If you are USC:

1. Spouse.

2. parents.

3. unmarried children under 21.

4. unmarried children over 21.

5. brother/sister.

 

So we thought about adoption. Even if you could get the Chinese government to agree to the adoption which is fairly easy, the US consulate would not grant him a visa. They only allow adoption visas for children that are considered orphaned. This is a rather hard staus to get for family members. It is a roadblock by US and not China.

 

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/co...ountry_365.html

 

There is one way around this. After the adoption the child must live with you and you be their sole provider for 2 years. This means both of you living in China for two years. Then he is considered your child for immigration purposes. Also reading the rules it seems to clearly state previously adopted children. What this exactly means, I am not sure, but it seems to indicate maybe before your fiancee/wife receives her first visa. Need to consulate a lawyer to clarify if decide to maybe pursue this.

 

http://www.visa2003.com/visa/immigrant/adoption.htm

 

Otherwise, your wife becomes a US Citizen and files for her brother/sister who brings along son because he is under 18. This takes roughly seven years after she attains citizenship. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the only route open to us.

 

I even had an adoption agency who works with China (one of my customers) check into it to see if there were any loopholes that we could exploit. All loose ends seem to be rather well tied up quite tightly.

Edited July 19, 2008 by C4Racer (see edit history)

[Cerberus]

Barey,

 

Darnell hit the nail on the head; the two year requirement. C4Racer filled in the blanks for you.

 

My wife and I were going to adopt her brother's child (11 YOA). The birth-father was agreeable to fully relinquishing in a Chinese court his parental rights, in order to provide better opportunities for our niece/his daughter. As a side note and I'm accused of being callous, that was for paperwork purposes only. Neither of us would have ever considered cutting him out of the picture, being her father.

 

The orphan clause and two year requirement was the killer. There simply is no way around this requirement, unless my wife and/or lived for two years in China with the daughter and foot all of the bills that come with the child. BTW, one attorney immediately cautioned to have all documentation lined up for proof....and they would want to see all of the accounting. Don't even try to con them with a couple of Income Tax returns and/or a co-sponsor. The attorney pointed out that the GOVT agencies from both sides wanted ALL bills and accounts! In short and most esp with a child; all processing paperwork will be auditable.

 

As C4 pointed out, the adoption areas have all the loose ends tied up very nicely. These people (Both Govts/child agencies) ain't GUZ and have their crap together. Most especially when it deals with a child, and righteously so. IMHO, you have little hope of sneaking something by them, without getting their/someone attention.

 

We consulted several attorneys, trying to "end-run" around this requirement. All of the attorneys pointed out that by the time we got done, it would cause losses huge amounts of money, time and trouble to try this. We eventually surrendered the idea.

 

BTW, my niece was the one we cared about, to provide her better opportunities. Not openly adopting a true orphaned child through the customary routes. Both of us being middle-aged, couldn't see ourselves in the long-haul with a 1.5 to 2-year old child. Perhaps, if we were 35-year olds, it would have merited considerable more consideration.

 

I don't want to be the Prophet of Doom. My comments are merely saving you the attorney consult fees, heartbreak when you tell the child that you can't do it, etc, etc. We now send her a monthly stipend for her care/education/tutors (if necessary), established an education fund for her future college plans and the ilk.

 

Whatever you decide, I wish you good fortunes in whatever path you decide upon.

 

Dave

Edited July 19, 2008 by Cerberus (see edit history)