What's involved in adopting an adult?

[Guest]

I've met this eastern European guy who has kind of overstayed his student visa. He's escorting now because, as an illegal alien, there isn't much else he can do. We have hit it off, however, and we have talked of his quitting the escorting and coming to live with me. I mentioned that it was too bad marriage wasn't possible between two guys. He then said that although I couldn't marry him, I could adopt him. Is there anything anyone on this message center can tell me about adopting an adult? What would be my legal obligations? What's involved? Would he be automatically elligible for legal residency if I adopted him?

[Guest Thunderbuns]

>He then said that although I couldn't marry him, I could adopt

>him. Is there anything anyone on this message center can

>tell me about adopting an adult? What would be my legal

>obligations? What's involved? Would he be automatically

>elligible for legal residency if I adopted him?

 

You really need to ask a lawyer - one familiar with immigration proceedures as well as family law. It would be money well spent!

 

Thunderbuns

[Guest Fin Fang Foom]

You're not SERIOUSLY thinking of doing this, are you?

 

Dumbfoundedly yours,

 

FFF

[Guest seraph250]

Adopted children are not eligible for a green card unless the adoption took place before the child's 16th birthday.

[Guest]

>You're not SERIOUSLY thinking of doing this, are you?

>

>Dumbfoundedly yours,

>

>FFF

 

Well, of course I'm not thinking of doing this now. Nevertheless, if we really do find ourselves in love a year or two from now, it's nice to know if there would be options available.

[Guest regulation]

>Adopted children are not eligible for a green card unless

>the adoption took place before the child's 16th birthday.

 

I believe that is correct. You can't make an adult alien eligible for permanent legal resident status by adopting him. The adoption would have to have been finalized during his minority. I think Congress was considering changing the cutoff age from 16 to 18 but after 9/11 I don't know if that will happen.

 

If he has already violated the terms of his visa I'm not sure there is any way he can stay in the country legally. People who get caught out-of-status by INS are usually barred from applying for another visa for a period of years, how many years depends upon how long they stayed in the country unlawfully. An immigration lawyer might be able to arrange with INS for him to leave the country without any penalty, which would mean he could re-apply soon afterward, but there are no guarantees that would work.

[Guest Sports]

Adoption? He's breaking the law by overstaying his student visa. You need to talk to an attorney about protecting yourself.

[trilingual]

Things have tightened up tremendously since 9/11, and INS is taking overstaying on visitors visas very seriously now. You or he will have to consult an immigration attorney, but the only way I think your friend will be able to stay is through an arranged marriage. Even then, he'll have to be extremely careful and be absolutely clear what restrictions there are on leaving the country while his status is being legalized. There have been a number of cases recently in which a foreign-born fiancee or spouse left the U.S. because of a family emergency at home, for example, and found they couldn't return. The rules are extremely complex and difficult to understand, so it's easy to screw up. It all sucks, but that's the situation we now live in after 9/11.

[Guest regulation]

>Things have tightened up tremendously since 9/11, and INS is

>taking overstaying on visitors visas very seriously now.

 

That is especially true of student visas. INS is under tremendous pressure on this issue since some of the 9/11 hijackers were here on student visas. If the guy is caught he will be lucky if nothing worse happens than he is detained for a little while and then deported.

 

>You or he will have to consult an immigration attorney, but

>the only way I think your friend will be able to stay is

>through an arranged marriage.

 

You can ask a specialist about it, but you will have to be extremely careful how you do so because what he calls an "arranged marriage" is actually fraud and no reputable attorney will advise you on it if it is clear from what you tell him that that is what you have in mind. You should also be aware that asking an attorney to advise you on committing a crime is not a privileged communication, which means the attorney could be compelled to testify about what you say to him.

 

In my opinion the marriage route will not work anyway due to the fact that the guy is already out-of-status. It will be impossible to persuade INS that the guy just happened to fall in love with some woman at the same time as his visa expired. Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh wouldn't be able to do it.

[Guest showme43]

...and how many of the "kids" out there even know who Sir Larry and Miss Leigh are ?

:+

Rick

[Guest Kenny021]

"Things have tightened up tremendously since 9/11, and INS is taking overstaying on visitors visas very seriously now"

 

According to CBS Evening news last night, just the opposite is happening. "Bounty Hunters" are actually tracking illegal aliens or aliens who have overextended their stay and are in this country illegally. They turn them in to the INS and the INS just releases them back to loose track of them. One such individual was taken in and released several times. INS is really screwed up and are doing next to nothing about illegal aliens.

I am not making this up....CBS News is reporting this.

[Guest regulation]

>...and how many of the "kids" out there even know who Sir

>Larry and Miss Leigh are ?

>:+

>Rick

 

How about anybody who likes "Richard III"? Call me old-fashioned, but Olivier's film version has never been surpassed in my view. You can still get it at Blockbuster. :-)

[Guest regulation]

Kenny, I am sure you saw exactly what you claim you saw. Nevertheless, I can give you the location of an INS detention center where you can go and see for yourself a number of illegal aliens who are being detained pending deportation. If you want the details, let me know.

[trilingual]

As for the arranged marriage part, Regulation is undoubtedly correct that anyone considering such a thing needs to be very careful when consulting an attorney, because it is indeed illegal. However, it's done all the time and it's probably the only chance of being able to remain in the U.S. and legalize one's status if one has overstayed their entry permit.

 

Fortunately, there are some reliable sources of information on immigration issues who aren't lawyers and are not under the same legal constraints. You could start with the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, which does a lot of immigration work. I'm sure they have some non-lawyer types who can counsel people.

 

If the person involved is from Eastern Europe, it's possible that he might be able to ask for asylum, if he comes from a country where there is still open prejudice against and persecution of gay people (regardless of what the official local legal situation is there). Several men from Brazil have won political asylum status in the U.S., even though the legislation there is favorable, there is a well-developed gay scene, and persecution is low in most of the major cities (although life there is very hard for the transvestite and transexual population). So ask. The worst that will happen, if your friend isn't caught first, is that your friend will have to leave the U.S. If he does so voluntarily, just by leaving the country, there shouldn't be any major problems, although that won't be the case if he tries to come back and INS realizes he overstayed previously. However, they're so messed up they may never figure that out.

[Guest]

Well, he thinks he's going to be getting a scholarship, and will be able to renew his student visa if he leaves the country. If he decides to leave, maybe he can apply for asylum before. I must say I'm getting attached and would hate to see him have to leave for any extended period of time. Maybe he can re-apply for his student visa at the consulate in Tijuana? At least I could come visit every once in a while.

[trilingual]

NO, NO, NO!!! DANGER!!! If you're really serious about this, talk to an immigration attorney or to another reliable source on immigration questions like the ILGHRC. Don't make ANY assumptions, because it's clear you're not knowledgeable about immigration law and if he takes the slightest misstep he's going to find himself screwed. If your friend plans to stay, he shouldn't leave the country until he's gotten expert advice. For one thing, if he wants to get a student visa (and it's doubtful he'll get one if he's overstayed his visitor's visa) he'd have to apply in his country of origin.

 

U.S. immigration law and regulations are beyond complicated. They've become an absolute minefield, and you HAVE to talk with someone who knows all the rules and the latest changes. Otherwise, he's going to find himself absolutely unable to return to the U.S. Don't play around with this, and make sure he understands not play around with this, either.

 

As an alternative, your friend might want to think about Canada, which is actively looking for immigrants and where he may actually have a decent chance of obtaining permanent residence.

[Guest regulation]

>NO, NO, NO!!! DANGER!!! If you're really serious about

>this, talk to an immigration attorney or to another reliable

>source on immigration questions like the ILGHRC. Don't make

>ANY assumptions,

 

 

Good point. For example, about asylum -- I believe current law provides that you can't apply for asylum if you have been in this country for more than a year. Generally, if you entered the country legally INS will not count the time you were here legally, so the year starts running only when your legal right to be here expires.

 

 

>If your friend plans to

>stay, he shouldn't leave the country until he's gotten

>expert advice. For one thing, if he wants to get a student

>visa (and it's doubtful he'll get one if he's overstayed his

>visitor's visa) he'd have to apply in his country of origin.

 

I believe that is correct.

 

>U.S. immigration law and regulations are beyond complicated.

> They've become an absolute minefield, and you HAVE to talk

>with someone who knows all the rules and the latest changes.

 

Good advice.