QUESTION
Can we petition for a niece to obtain a citizenship?
Asked on May 01st, 2014 on Immigration - Texas
More details to this question:
I am permanent resident since December 2006 and I am married to a U.S. citizen. We want to file custody of a niece of mine that lives in Honduras. My niece is 13 years old and her birthday is on September. I have lived with her for at least 1 year total from 2000 to 2006. Her father abandoned her and her mother is incapable of taking care of her since her mother is poor and unemployed.
2 ANSWERS
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Yes, but before you can file an I-130 petition for her as your adopted child, you have to live with her for at least 2 years after gaining legal custody, which can be granted before the adoption, and the adoption itself has to be finalized before her 16th birthday. You may also be able to petition for her as an orphan on form I-600 before her 16th birthday and bring her to the United States to complete the adoption process. According to USCIS, an orphan is a foreign-born child who: - does not have any parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents OR - has a sole or surviving parent who is unable to care for the child, consistent with the local standards of the foreign sending country, and who has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption
Answered on May 02nd, 2014 at 1:06 PM
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I'm not clear. Are you planning to adopt the niece?
Answered on May 01st, 2014 at 7:43 PM