Please Help US

You've got a problem, and you are going to need to work with a reputable immigration attorney to see if it can be resolved. First off, you brought the child to the U.S. under what the USCIS might consider false pretenses. In other words, you brought her to the U.S. on a visitor's visa, not an immigrant visa. It is illegal, under U.S. law, for someone to obtain a visitor's visa if he/she really intends to immigrate. Technically, you should have brought the child into the U.S. on an adoption visa (IR-3 or IR-4), IF if she qualified for one. These are immigrant visas granted to adopted children under the following circumstances: 1. At least one of the prospective parents is a U.S. citizen. In this case, you are a citizen, so that wouldn't have been an issue. 2. The prospective parents had a valid adoption homestudy in their state of residence and received I-600A and I-600 approval from the USCIS for bringing the child to the U.S. I do not know if you had a homestudy back then, though you probably have had one now, and I am almost certain that you did not get USCIS approval using the adoption visa process. 3. The child was under 16. That would have been OK. 4. The child qualified as an "eligible orphan" under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. Basically, no child living with two parents prior to adoption can qualify, but a child can have been living with a single parent if that parent could not support the child at a standard considered normal in the foreign country. From your statement, I do not know if she was living only with your aunt, or whether your uncle was there as well. 5. The child had a legal adoption under the laws of her country of citizenship, or received a decree of guardianship from the courts in her country, allowing you to bring her to the U.S. for adoption. Taiwan does not use guardianship, so you would have had to complete a legal adoption there. Do you have a legal adoption from Taiwan? If the child had qualified for and obtained an adoption visa, you would have had no problem bringing her to the U.S. immediately upon adoption. In fact, she would have become a U.S. citizen automatically upon entering the U.S., and would not have had to go through naturalization. If the child had NOT qualified for a visa, you could have completed a legal adoption overseas and lived with her in Taiwan for two years, then applied for a regular dependent visa for her. You might also have brought the child to the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa, such as a student visa, and then tried to adjust her status while the visa was still valid. Unfortunately, you did none of these things. Now, your child's visitor's visa has expired, and she is considered an illegal alien. She probably won't be deported at this point, since she is a minor, but you certainly don't want to let her reach 18 as an illegal alien. I am somewhat surprised that the courts allowed you to adopt the child, given that she is not a U.S. citizen and is actually an illegal alien. Normally, a child must be adopted under the laws of his/her country of citizenship. These laws can require the child to be physically present in the birth country at the time of adoption. However, I have heard of other cases where this has occurred. I am not sure how you can regularize the status of an illegal alien, even one who is adopted. It is possible, in some cases, for a person whose non-immigrant visa is still valid to apply for immigrant status. It is also possible for people to apply for permanent resident visas for relatives who are already in the U.S. legally. But you will need to get a good immigration lawyer to advise you on what to do in the case of a child who is in the U.S. illegally, and whom you managed to adopt. The child will not qualify for automatic citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act, because she did not enter the U.S. on an adoption visa. You will probably have to obtain permanent resident status for her, if you can, and then apply for her citizenship. From what I've read, the I-485 cannot be used to change status if the child no longer has a valid visa, and is in the country illegally. I do not know if it matters that you have adopted her. The I-130 is the normal application for permanent resident (green card) status, but I would not fill it out unless you get some good legal advice, telling you to do so. Sharon