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Hi All
Me and my wife's devastated within a span of 5 months. In December 2015 my wife's brother (my BIL) passed away due to sudden heart failure and he was survived by two kids aged 4 years and 2 years and his wife. After my BIL's demise his wife was depressed to an extant that she committed suicide first week of May 2016 leaving behind the kids. My wife is currently in India taking care of the kids and we wish to adopt them as we do not have kids ourselves. We each are in our own H1B and I recently got my I-140 approved in EB1-B and waiting to apply I-485 but before all these happened. I would like to know the following,
1. Is there a way to bring the children to US in H4 after completed legal adoption procedures in India?
2. Is there a way to add them to my I-485 application since they are adopted kids and not my natural born kids?
3. Can I get a waiver for the 2 years physical custody in this complicated case on humanity basis?
4. Can I bring them in B2 visa to US to satisfy the 2 year physical custody requirement?
5. Are there other ways if all the above are not possible ?
Any help will be very much appreciated in this matter.
Thanks
Srini
Last update on June 13, 2:56 pm by Srini Balakrishnan.
1. Is there a way to bring the children to US in H4 after completed legal adoption procedures in India?
We have Friends who have Adopted from India as American Citizens , and the Adoption Process in India was with an ' Prior Identified Little Girl was 18 months. They were ' Fast Tracked ' through the Court System and they only had to do one out of the three Court processes as well also..
2. Is there a way to add them to my I-485 application since they are adopted kids and not my natural born kids? I would consult an Immigration Attorney.
3. Can I get a waiver for the 2 years physical custody in this complicated case on humanity basis? I would consult an Immigration Attorney.
4. Can I bring them in B2 visa to US to satisfy the 2 year physical custody requirement? I would consult an Immigration Attorney.
5. Are there other ways if all the above are not possible ? The above is quite possible, and I would consult an Immigration Attorney.
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Srini:
Unfortunately, U.S. law requires at least one spouse to be a U.S. citizen, if an adoption visa -- IH-3 or IH-4 for countries like India that have ratified the Hague Convention on international adoption, or IR-3 or IR-4 for those countries that have not. And even if one spouse holds U.S. citizenship, it is required that the family use India's international adoption/Hague process, and not its domestic process, for adopting a child.
There are no other visas that will allow an adopted child to come to the U.S. immediately following adoption. In "some" cases, if a family lives overseas with the child for two years and then applies for an IR-2 visa for the child, it may be possible. However, there are two issues that make it unlikely for a family to use it. First, India probably won't approve giving a passport to a child who has not been adopted via the Hague process, which it applies strictly, and without a passport, the child could not get a U.S. visa to enter the U.S., even two years after adoption. And, second, for most people on green cards, H1-B visas, and other visas, it is simply not possible for them to go back to India for two years, because they would lose their visas and have to reapply, which could take a long, long time.
The two years of physical custody MUST be overseas. And I have never heard of any waivers being granted for any reason, though you should probably contact a competent U.S. adoption/immigration attorney. Also, you cannot add children to your application, if you adopted them AFTER coming to the U.S. The requirements for immigrating adopted children are clearly spelled out in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, with additional requirements added via the Hague Convention and the Universal Accreditation Act.
If you need a referral to a highly qualified adoption/immigration attorney, who is one of the leading U.S. experts on the Hague Convention, please let me know, and I will give you the information.
Sharon