Elvira

Good question. I had assumed that her daughter is a USC, in which case a visa number would become immediately available for her mother (i.e. it would take about 8-10 months usually). But on reading her post again I see she just says that her daughter 'lives in (the) US'

Non-citizens cannot petition for parents.

And I'm still not clear why she is so sure that her daughter would qualify for a student visa. The information I have seems to contradict this:

" Before you can come to the United States as a student, you must be accepted to a school and prove that you have sufficient financial resources (scholarships, loans, family or personal resources) to pay your school and living expenses.

There are two nonimmigrant visa categories for persons wishing to study in the United States (a nonimmigrant is someone admitted to the U.S. temporarily):

"F" visa includes academic students in colleges, universities, seminaries, conservatories, academic high schools, other academic INStitutions, and in language training.

"M" visa is for people wishing to pursue nonacademic or vocational studies.


Am I Eligible?

To be eligible to apply for the F or M visas, you must intend to stay for a temporary period of time and have proof of compelling ties (social, family, economic, professional or other) to a residence outside the United States to which you will return after the visit. You must also meet the following criteria:


Scholastic Preparation
You must have successfully completed a course of study normally required for enrollment. Unless you are coming to participate exclusively in an English language training program, you must either be sufficiently proficient in English to pursue the intended course of study, or the school must have made special arrangements for English language courses or teach the course in your native language.

Financial Resources
You must prove that sufficient funds are, or will be, available from an identified and reliable financial source to defray all living and school expenses during the period of your study in the U.S. Specifically, you must prove that you have enough readily available funds to meet all expenses for the first year of study, and that adequate funds will be available for each subsequent year of study. If you are applying for an M-1 visa, you must have evidence that sufficient funds are immediately available to pay all tuition and living costs for the entire period of your intended stay.

Acceptance
You must be accepted as a full-time student in a U.S. academic educational program, language-training program, or vocational program. The school must be approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and the school must send you a Form I-20 (which it receives from the USCIS)."

http://www.foreignborn.com/visas_imm...dent_visas.htm

penguinsix

Umm, I thought a PR/Green Card holder could petition for their unmarried children. Only a US citizen can petition for a parent, so the daughter that is 'living here' basically has to be a US citizen. But once the mother comes in and gets a GC she could petition for the daughter? It wouldn't be first priority/category, but I thought she could submit for the child.

Elvira

You may be right, but I think it would take YEARS, would it not?

There is a lady here (Maggs?) who has been waiting for years for her daughter to be able to join her. This is all so complicated... probably more suited to the Immigration forum anyway.

penguinsix

Yea, is probably more of an immigration thing.

From personal experience, I've found that a USC sponsoring a parent is about 6-8 months, depending....

From a friend, I heard that sponsoring their 10-year-old son (mom with GC) was a 6 month task, depending...

depending = Homeland Security Background check. The stories are nearing legendary status of the people who have been stuck with a similar sounding name to a bad guy or just some other stupid thing and been stuck for years trying to Adjust status, etc.

Anyway--back to the OP:

Keep your bank account. I gather you have discovered this from the messages already.

Get together your daughter's academic transcripts, and if possible, a curriculum guide (to show the new school 'yes, she has this level of Math and that means they studied this, this, and this). It will help them find a place for her to merge into the existing school.

Also, very important, get together her medical records, especially her VACCINATION records. You may want to have them all listed in an WHO 'Yellow Book' immunization passport (used by many expats who travel a lot). This is a universal standard document for cataloging the shot history.

You may want to consider enrolling your daughter in HS (assuming she gets in on your PR / Greencard). While she may be 'done' with school in the UK, there are some things she is not ready for vs. Americans in a college environment, such as American history for example, and common differences in spelling. Add to this the age difference between college and 16 (oh yea, has she got her driver's license yet) and you'll see that some time with classmates her own age, even if for just a year, might be a benefit.

Elvira

Yes, but was the mother's husband a USC, i.e. was the son sponsored as a stepson?

Anyway, what's happened to the OP. So difficult to help if the information provided leaves lots of holes.

happyascanbe

just a bit of clarification for all you guys....though very appreciative of all your help

my daughter who's 26 living in u.s. is a u.s. citizen who's going to petition me when i get there. my younger daughter who's 16 who lives with me here in uk is a british citizen like me. we plan to move to u.s. and it seems the only way my younger daughter can stay legal there is to be an international student on an F1 visa. because if my elder daughter petitioned her it would take more than 10 yrs plus.

hope this calrifies things...sorry for the bits of confusion. i have family there who's going to help with the affidavit of support, it's mainly as to whether she can be accepted in a public school and how will the tuition be like for an international student????

Elvira

Your daughter has to petition you BEFORE you move to the US. It is illegal to enter the US with the intention of staying.

Since most public high schools seem to accept illegal immigrants, I assume you will need no more than proof of an address within the school district to register. However, if your daughter needs an I-20, you would have to ask the school whether they would be prepared to deal with this. I suspect that most high schools are not set up for this, but you won't know until you ask.

Otherwise there's community college. Search the websites of the community colleges you have in mind for out-of-state fees, but also check that they would even accept an international student who requires an I-20.

You might also want to check with an experienced immigration attorney whether what you propose is the best way forward. A list can be found here:

www.ailalawyer.com