L2 Visa and US travel after child Adoption in India

[rajasksvce]

All - I am residing in Chennai, India. Me and my wife are married since 9 years and have registered for In-country adoption sometime back. Surprisingly, we got a baby 2 week back and after acceptance the baby is currently under our Foster care. I applied for L1 A visa sometime back and got the stamping for L1A (for me ) and L2 for my wife, a week back. Now, we are worried on the conflict of these two very important plans for our family. Browsed through internet to see the viability of taking my adopted baby to US (through L2) after completion of Court procedures, but am not getting the correct information somehow. Having given the background, would like to know from this respected community of Visa seekers the following.
1. How long does the child adoption procedure takes in India, before the court orders for completion of adoption procedure is received?
2. Is there anything else needed to apply for the child's passport, other than the Court orders?
3. How to apply for the adopted child's Visa (L2? - my L1A and my wife's L2 are already stamped)
4. When can we take the child to USA after these process? (In other words, is there any timeline before which we CANNOT take our adopted child to USA?
5. If the adopted child has to go through L2 Visa stamping, do I need to take this through my company (which processed my L1) or will that be a mere addition to our L1 petition, directly through the VFS website?

I know there can be others in the forum who might have gone through the same situation and would request you all to please share your experience, guidance in this regard. Please let me know if any other details are required from me which can help in providing the right solution.

Regards,
raja.

[raghvi]

All - I am residing in Chennai, India. Me and my wife are married since 9 years and have registered for In-country adoption sometime back. Surprisingly, we got a baby 2 week back and after acceptance the baby is currently under our Foster care. I applied for L1 A visa sometime back and got the stamping for L1A (for me ) and L2 for my wife, a week back. Now, we are worried on the conflict of these two very important plans for our family. Browsed through internet to see the viability of taking my adopted baby to US (through L2) after completion of Court procedures, but am not getting the correct information somehow. Having given the background, would like to know from this respected community of Visa seekers the following.
1. How long does the child adoption procedure takes in India, before the court orders for completion of adoption procedure is received?
2. Is there anything else needed to apply for the child's passport, other than the Court orders?
3. How to apply for the adopted child's Visa (L2? - my L1A and my wife's L2 are already stamped)
4. When can we take the child to USA after these process? (In other words, is there any timeline before which we CANNOT take our adopted child to USA?
5. If the adopted child has to go through L2 Visa stamping, do I need to take this through my company (which processed my L1) or will that be a mere addition to our L1 petition, directly through the VFS website?

I know there can be others in the forum who might have gone through the same situation and would request you all to please share your experience, guidance in this regard. Please let me know if any other details are required from me which can help in providing the right solution.

Regards,
raja.

I dont know how much time adoption takes in India but as far as L2 visa is considered USCIS says, "A petition may be submitted on behalf of an adopted child or son or daughter by a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident if the adoption took place before the beneficiary's sixteenth birthday, and if the child has been in the legal custody of the adopting parent or parents and has resided with the adopting parent or parents for at least two years. A copy of the adoption decree, issued by the civil authorities, must accompany the petition. "


Since its only been two weeks since adoption It might be difficult to get a dependent visa as one of the clause explicitly states that "Evidence must also be submitted to show that the beneficiary resided with the petitioner for at least two years" . The child has to be staying with at least one of the adopting parents for at least 2 Years before being eligible for a dependent visa.


This is my opinion not legal dvice.

[kabkaba]

The above is not applicable for L2 Visa.

Your dependent can certainly apply for L2 Visa using the same regular process.

[raghvi]

The above is not applicable for L2 Visa.

Your dependent can certainly apply for L2 Visa using the same regular process.

I may be wrong kabkaba. But isnt that what txh1b and Shervin mentioned in the following post too?

http://www.immihelp.com/forum/showthread.php/100998-Adopting-child-in-India-while-on-L1-visa-in-US

This is my opinion not legal advice.

[rajasksvce]

Thanks for replies. Some additional information here...Raja

First of all, thanks to Raghvi and Kabkaba for your prompt replies. Yes, I did see some sites for the 2 year stay requirement, but was confused since most of those post were talking about current residents in US (like the post in the link Raghvi provided - being in L1 Visa at US) looking for adopting the child. Raghvi - If you see what you quoted from USCIS, it talks about "adopted child or son or daughter by a United States citizen or lawful permanent resident" In my case, I am an Indian citizen, currently at Chennai and my travel will be for only 2 or 3 years in L1/L2 (not seeking Immigration ).

Per my reading of CARA guidelines, even for Inter-country adoption, it states as below in the Adoption procedure page

"
35. Passport and Visa.-


(1) No orphan, abandoned, surrendered child who has been adopted shall be allowed to leave India without a valid NOC from CARA.

(2) The RIPA shall apply for passport for the adopted child after the court order is received and the application shall include documents mentioned in Paragraph 83(3) of these Guidelines.

(3) The date of birth of the child as mentioned in the court order would be taken as the date of birth.

(4) The concerned authorities may expeditiously issue the passport and visa to enable the adopted child to leave India with his or her adoptive parents to their habitual place of residence.

"

I am sure many of the adopting parents would have got onsite travel opportunities and blocking the travel for 2 years or so does not seem to be realistic. Anyways, if that is what the rule says and we have no chance otherwise, we will have to go with our priority of the kid over a foreign travel... I just wanted to see if there are chances to utilize the L1 visa that was gotten after a long and hard time.

Once again thanks for your valuable inputs....Looking for additional support from this learned community.

Regards,
raja.

[kabkaba]

I knew someone who took their adopted child to the US as dependent. But that was some years after adoption.

[Anand KR]

Raja

I know this is a fairly old post. But can you let me know what happened in this case? I am in a similar situation now.. so any insights would really help.

Particularly

1) Were you able to obtain a passport for your child immediately after adoption?
2) Did the Indian agencies allowed your child to travel immediately? Any specific process to seek approval?
3) Visa.. how was the experience of going through the L2 visa? Any insights / tips?

I would highly appreciate your inputs on this.
Thanks
Anand

All - I am residing in Chennai, India. Me and my wife are married since 9 years and have registered for In-country adoption sometime back. Surprisingly, we got a baby 2 week back and after acceptance the baby is currently under our Foster care. I applied for L1 A visa sometime back and got the stamping for L1A (for me ) and L2 for my wife, a week back. Now, we are worried on the conflict of these two very important plans for our family. Browsed through internet to see the viability of taking my adopted baby to US (through L2) after completion of Court procedures, but am not getting the correct information somehow. Having given the background, would like to know from this respected community of Visa seekers the following.
1. How long does the child adoption procedure takes in India, before the court orders for completion of adoption procedure is received?
2. Is there anything else needed to apply for the child's passport, other than the Court orders?
3. How to apply for the adopted child's Visa (L2? - my L1A and my wife's L2 are already stamped)
4. When can we take the child to USA after these process? (In other words, is there any timeline before which we CANNOT take our adopted child to USA?
5. If the adopted child has to go through L2 Visa stamping, do I need to take this through my company (which processed my L1) or will that be a mere addition to our L1 petition, directly through the VFS website?

I know there can be others in the forum who might have gone through the same situation and would request you all to please share your experience, guidance in this regard. Please let me know if any other details are required from me which can help in providing the right solution.

Regards,
raja.

[anju13]

L2 Visa and US travel after child Adoption in India

Hi Anand,

My friend is going through the same process now. Could you please let me know what happened in your case?
Did you have to stay out of US for 2 years? Or did it work for your L1/L2 visa?

Thanks,
Anju.

Raja

I know this is a fairly old post. But can you let me know what happened in this case? I am in a similar situation now.. so any insights would really help.

Particularly

1) Were you able to obtain a passport for your child immediately after adoption?
2) Did the Indian agencies allowed your child to travel immediately? Any specific process to seek approval?
3) Visa.. how was the experience of going through the L2 visa? Any insights / tips?

I would highly appreciate your inputs on this.
Thanks
Anand