Mark Trott

I am wondering if there is a way for me to get my step-children a
non-immigrant visa to come to the US? My wife has her CR-1 from DCF process
in Brazil. We did not apply for the children (ages 7 & 8) because their
father was not agreeable to it at the time. He is now having problems
caring for the children on his own and we are wondering if there is a
different process (than immigration visa) that would allow them to come to
the US either temporarily or permanently? I am wondering about B-2 Tourist,
a student visa or something else.

Thanks for any thoughts.

Mark

HunterGreen

Hi Mark,

Do you want them to come over and live with you and their mother? In that case the easiest way is to get an immigrant visa. From a quick look at the Rio de Janeiro US consulate website, direct consular filing is available. That would be faster than filing the I-130 at the service center.
Here's the link to that page: http://tinyurl.com/566fk

If you just want them to visit, they need a tourist visa.
http://tinyurl.com/5fzwy

The student visa question is interesting. With an F-1 student visa they are not allowed to attend public schools until 8th grade. But the F-1 is an academic studies visa and I doubt 7 and 8 yr olds qualify for that. Hopefully someone else can shed some light on that.

AFAIK your only real options are the two I wrote about earlier.

Good luck,
Elaine

HunterGreen

Johnny Boy as in JB Walton? That explains your comment then. Life isn't always like in The Waltons, and sometimes things aren't perfect and tough decisions have to be made. Sorry to break the news to you.

Elaine

bionomique

Apparently, you failed to notice that the OP stated that "We did not apply for the children (ages 7 & 8) because their father was not agreeable to it at the time."

ian-mstm

<devil's advocate> I think the point was that if she couldn't take the children with her initially (regardless of why), perhaps she shouldn't have gone at all... ie, what kind of mother willingly leaves her children? </devil's advocate>

Ian

HunterGreen

Ian, just for the fun of it (you know me ) I had already typed a response debating with the devil's advocate a little. I deleted it however, so as to not take away people's attention from the question that the OP had.

I know that this is a public forum and everybody can do as they please here (if they can get past Rete and Meauxna), but I think it's sad to see that a troll's comment gathers more responses than an honest question.

Like I said, life sometimes throws you a curveball and one can only guess at the reasons why a woman would leave to a foreign country without her children. Who by the way remain in the safe care of their other parent. If a man had done the same, nobody would have said a thing about it.

So maybe we can let it rest and get back to business.

Is there such thing as a student visa for grade school students?

Elaine

Hypertweeky

Hey be nice!!

Hypertweeky

Hello there Mark:

I am sorry to hear the kids couldn't migrate with her mother. You guys should look into getting an immigrant visa so the kiddies can live with you. Huntergreen already responded to your post but I just wanted to let you know that we care about people's immigration questions, do not listen to the troll.
Good Luck!

Hypertweeky

I second that!!!
You rule!!

meauxna

Hear, hear!

There's really not enough information in the OP's post to say, but if I were me, I would go the IV route for the kidlets and explain to Mr Father that this will give them the flexibility to live in both places. I'd also see a lawyer about getting it 'right' WRT residency. My gut feeling is that Dad just needs to warm up to the idea of letting go of the kids and this may have been some kind of power play that isn't really working out for him.
But you know how we humans hate to say 'oops, I was wrong'.

Mark Trott

We are used to the "how can a mother leave her kids" comments. I
understand both viewpoints. Bottomline was if she didn't come, there would
be no opportunity for the kids to come in the future. Everyone involved now
believes that the kids will be advantaged by having the opportunity to come
to the US for study and safety reasons. Me moving to Brazil was not an
option at the time, and still isn't in the near future. There was also the
thought that once she came to the US for awhile, and conveyed to their Dad
that not all was bad in the US, that he would change his outlook on letting
them come up here. That has prooved to be the case. The unfortunate part
was that he expressed his willingness to let them go about a month after I
started the DCF process for her. I felt that occurred for a reason and her
coming to the US first by herself may be the best alternative. She has
spent an extensive amount of her time in the last 7 months learning to speak
English and generally adapt to the radical culture change. I think that
while it has been hard for both of us with her here and her kids in Brazil,
it has probably been best.

With all of that said, we are interested in getting them up here as soon as
possible. My thoughts all along were to file the I-130 for the immigrant
visa. I have not done that yet due to funding concerns, as well as the
logistics of getting the kids down to Rio with her for the interview. My
wife just went back to Brazil to visit for 2 months. I am ready to file the
I-130 but started wondering about the possibility of them coming up here
with her when she returns to the US, hence the question for the group.

Thanks for the responses, both good and bad. This was not a desirable
situation on anyone's part and we are working towards a different
arrangement now. Bottomline is the kids are not going to see one of the
parents as often as would be ideal if they are living 5000 miles apart. I
agree with the comment about this being a male and if the reaction would
have been the same. Seems like a bit of gender inequity is apparent by some
in the group. We felt that this scenario was the only way to progress
things further in the hopes that it will eventually work out best for all
involved over everyone's lifetime.

Mark


"Hypertweeky" <member13109@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    >> I am wondering if there is a way for me to get my step-children a
    >> non-immigrant visa to come to the US? My wife has her CR-1 from DCF
    >> process
    >> in Brazil. We did not apply for the children (ages 7 & 8) because
    >> their
    >> father was not agreeable to it at the time. He is now having problems
    >> caring for the children on his own and we are wondering if there is a
    >> different process (than immigration visa) that would allow them to
    >> come to
    >> the US either temporarily or permanently? I am wondering about B-2
    >> Tourist,
    >> a student visa or something else.
    >> Thanks for any thoughts.
    >> Mark
    > Hello there Mark:
    > I am sorry to hear the kids couldn't migrate with her mother:(. You guys
    > should look into getting an immigrant visa so the kiddies can live with
    > you. Huntergreen already responded to your post but I just wanted to let
    > you know that we care about people's immigration questions, do not
    > listen to the troll.
    > :) Good Luck!
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

shepslady

[QUOTE=Mark Trott]We are used to the "how can a mother leave her kids" comments. I
understand both viewpoints. Bottomline was if she didn't come, there would
be no opportunity for the kids to come in the future. Everyone involved now
believes that the kids will be advantaged by having the opportunity to come
to the US for study and safety reasons. Me moving to Brazil was not an
option at the time, and still isn't in the near future. There was also the
thought that once she came to the US for awhile, and conveyed to their Dad
that not all was bad in the US, that he would change his outlook on letting
them come up here. That has prooved to be the case. The unfortunate part
was that he expressed his willingness to let them go about a month after I
started the DCF process for her. I felt that occurred for a reason and her
coming to the US first by herself may be the best alternative. She has
spent an extensive amount of her time in the last 7 months learning to speak
English and generally adapt to the radical culture change. I think that
while it has been hard for both of us with her here and her kids in Brazil,
it has probably been best.

With all of that said, we are interested in getting them up here as soon as
possible. My thoughts all along were to file the I-130 for the immigrant
visa. I have not done that yet due to funding concerns, as well as the
logistics of getting the kids down to Rio with her for the interview. My
wife just went back to Brazil to visit for 2 months. I am ready to file the
I-130 but started wondering about the possibility of them coming up here
with her when she returns to the US, hence the question for the group.

Thanks for the responses, both good and bad. This was not a desirable
situation on anyone's part and we are working towards a different
arrangement now. Bottomline is the kids are not going to see one of the
parents as often as would be ideal if they are living 5000 miles apart. I
agree with the comment about this being a male and if the reaction would
have been the same. Seems like a bit of gender inequity is apparent by some
in the group. We felt that this scenario was the only way to progress
things further in the hopes that it will eventually work out best for all
involved over everyone's lifetime.

Mark


Hi Mark
Goodluck in reuniting your wifes children with her. Im sure regardless of what others may think, you chose your route for the best reasons at the time & it must have been terribly hard for your wife to come & leave her children behind. Ignore others who choose to make bad comments without knowing the full story. Sadly this world is full of double standards because like another poster said if it had been the father that had been forced to leave the children behind it would have been acceptable no questions asked. I wish you & your wife all the best in bringing the children to live with you & I hope the immigration process for them goes smoothly & you soon can be a happy family embarking on your new lives together.

Best wishes
Shepslady

scrubbedexpat099

Would not the B2 be tricky when the mother is immigrating?

HunterGreen

Boiler,

The mother already has moved to the US, and it would be very normal for children who live in another country with their father to visit their mother who moved to the US. Visiting is exactly what a B2 is intended for.

I really don't get (and please don't take this personally, Boiler, this is not in reply to you but in general) how the relationship of a child with their mother always seems to get favored over their relationship with their father. Except for when a mother takes that stance, then all of a sudden everyone sides with the dad and says she isn't entitled to them anymore than he is. *carefully stepping off soapbox now*

Now if the children wish to immigrate, they should apply for an immigrant visa (as Mark has said they are planning to).

Mark,

Being a mother myself I can imagine how tough it must have been for your wife to be in the US without her children. The way you described it (her adjusting) it sounds though that a lot of good may come from the situation. Now that your wife went through the initial adjustment fase, she's knows what it's like and she may be able to help the kids cope better. I hope the funding part gets resolved soon and the process will go smoothly. Keep us posted?

Elaine