In this video, we'll talk about the step-parent petition for a green card.
When a US citizen, marries a foreign national and that foreign national has a child.
Can that child get a green card as well?
Watch this video and I'll tell you more.
Hey everybody, and thanks for joining me on another immigration law video here.
I'm Jacob's Sapochnick.
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And this video is actually an answer that I was giving to a client of mine who was really
concerned because he just married a US citizen and he himself has a child from a previous
relationship that he wants to bring with him.
And so the question is, yes, it's clear that the US citizen spouse is going to immigrate
him as well, right?
Because he's married her.
But what's it going to happen to the child who is not hers?
The child is not the child of the US citizen.
What's going to happen to the child?
Can the child immigrate as well?
Well, the key here is this child is 17 years old and they've just married.
So, what the law states, is that as long as the marriage takes place before the child
turns 18, their child can immigrate in the same petition with the foreign national.
So, the US citizen is going to file an adjustment of status package for the foreign national
father and an adjustment of status package for the foreign national child.
The daughter, in this case, who is 17.
Now, if this child was over 18 at the time of the marriage, they won't be able to join
in the same petition.
They will have to find another way to immigrate after the parent gets a green card.
It's a really important distinction because a lot of people come to the United States,
they meet somebody, in many cases, they have kids from prior relationships.
It is really important to understand the distinction because it's not 21, it's 18.
21 is a confusing age because 21 is the age where somebody is considered to be a child
for immigration purposes.
So for example, if I am a US citizen child and have a parent that I want to immigrate,
I have to be 21 to be able to immigrate my foreign national parent.
However, when you have a stepchild, when you have a step-parent situation, in this case,
what matters is 18.
If the marriage took place before the child turned 18, then their child can immigrate
with the parent in the same petition.
And in this case, the distinction was that the child was still in the home country.
And so, what I told this client, as long as their marriage took place before the child
turned 18, they are going to be able to bring this child to the United States and immigrate
them in the same petition.
Now, remember, we have a lot of cases where couples are married overseas and then they
come to the United States to do their adjustment of status.
It does not matter where the marriage took place.
What matters is that the marriage took place before the child turned 18.
So, to answer this particular question, in a step-parent situation, it is possible for
the US citizen to immigrate the partner who has a child and, in this case, the US citizen
is going to be a step-parent.
And as long as the kid is under 18 before the marriage took place, then it's possible
to immigrate.
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