Thai Stepson Attending Public School In Usa

[osten]

Hello everyone,

After getting no clear answer directly from my embassy, I'm hoping that someone on this forum has experience that can assist with my question.

I've searched this forum extensively, but have not yet found this exact situation discussed anywhere. Excuse me if it was already covered and I missed it.

I am an American citizen living full-time in Thailand. I am legally married to a Thai lady, and we got married in the USA. My wife presently has a 10-year tourist visa to the USA, which is all we need because we don't live there. My Thai stepson wishes to attend public school in the USA starting this fall. The public school has agreed to accept him, and he will be staying with his American grandmother while his mother and I remain in Thailand (running a business). The question is exactly what type of visa do I need to get him?

The obvious answer is an F-1 education visa, but I don't know if that is necessary, since his stepfather is an American citizen. To receive the F-1 visa for attending public school, the law states that he must pay tuition to attend. However, the school says he can attend free because he'll be staying with a tax paying resident of the district he will be attending.

Is there a different type of visa I should be getting, or do I still need to go the F-1 route? If the latter, is there any way to avoid paying regular tuition fees?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Regards,

Osten

Edited June 4, 2008 by osten

[teacup]

From the state department - frequent question

“What about students who come here to live with U.S. citizen relatives while attending public school?

Does the student need a student visa to study at your school? If so, the student must meet the requirements of the law. Someone must pay the tuition costs to the school or school district. The child is limited to twelve months of study in secondary school (high school). The child may not study in elementary school.”

--------------------------------------------------

The big question is how will he get into the US as in “what status”? - foreign student F1, or immigration status w/ greencard.

I would assume if he can get in w/ greencard status - then no tuition fee- and if not

Then he has to go with F1 - therefore the tuition law of 1996 will be applied.

I’m not an expert in this, only from reading the above post by the state dapartment.

[PeaceBlondie]

The irony here, of course, is that the state constitution of Texas requires all illegal immigrants of school age (5 to 18) to receive a free education. Other states are probably just as enlightened.

[osten]

Teacup,

Thanks for your reply. I also came across that same thing on the State Department web site. However, I still am unclear as to which visa to apply for if the school says he may attend without an education visa. The school has said their only requirement for attendance is for him to live with somebody in the district, and the type of visa doesn't matter to them. So, that being the case, would I still go the F-1 route or not? Seems like a circular task, as the F-1 requires an I-20 first, but this school doesn't require an I-20. As for the immigration route, I believe that would take too long, as he wants to start school this fall.

Anybody else out there have similar experience with this and can shed some light?

Thanks much!

Osten

[teacup]

Look into the "K-4" visa, there might be something there for you

TC

[osten]

Look into the "K-4" visa, there might be something there for you

TC

Thanks for the suggestion. I checked it out, but it appears that a K-4 is only available if your wife has applied for a K-3 visa. Since my wife and I married in the USA, she was not a K-3 visa applicant. Further complicating the matter is that she has NOT applied for US residency because we plan to live in Thailand, but child needs to go to school in USA.

Anyone else have any helpful suggestions?

Thanks again,

Osten

[thaihome]

Interesting situation. I think your best bet would be to submit I-130 petitions for wife and step son in Bangkok, it should only take a couple of months to get the visas allowing them to get green cards. Your wife should apply for the re-entry permit, keeping her permanent resident status good for 2 years while out of the country and the step son can stay in the US indefinitely, and apply for citizenship when reaching age 18.

TH

[osten]

Interesting situation. I think your best bet would be to submit I-130 petitions for wife and step son in Bangkok, it should only take a couple of months to get the visas allowing them to get green cards. Your wife should apply for the re-entry permit, keeping her permanent resident status good for 2 years while out of the country and the step son can stay in the US indefinitely, and apply for citizenship when reaching age 18.

TH

ThaiHome,

Thanks for the suggestion.

To apply for the I-130, doesn't my wife need to intend to reside in the USA? If so, that may be a problem because neither of us plan to actually reside in the USA. After we married in the USA, the reason we did not apply for permanent residency was because she was required to stay in the USA for a period of time AND intend to actually live in the USA. That's why we opted to just get her a 10 year tourist visa instead, as it made more sense since she only needs to go to USA a few weeks per year to accompany me on business and visit the family.

Is it possible that my stepson could apply for permanent residency, on the basis of his stepfather being a US citizen, but WITHOUT his mother actually living in USA?

I really appreciate the help, as the US embassy has not been very helpful at providing me with a clear suggestion.

Regards,

Osten

[thaihome]

I don't know if the stepson can apply for PR by himself. As I said, the reentry permit would preserve your wife’s PR for up to 2 years out of the country because of your employment overseas. You probably need to see a lawyer about your options, the consulate is not in the business of giving advice.

TH

[osten]

I don't know if the stepson can apply for PR by himself. As I said, the reentry permit would preserve your wife’s PR for up to 2 years out of the country because of your employment overseas. You probably need to see a lawyer about your options, the consulate is not in the business of giving advice.

TH

Thanks, TH. I'll get with a lawyer. That is indeed probably the best option, as it's a bit tricky.

[sbk]

Is it possible to legally adopt your step-son?

[desktop]

Osten, my 2 cents.

Seems to me you should stick with the F1. You are 'paying' tuition through Grandma's taxes.

You bring up 'stepson'. I don't think 'stepson' carries any weight for getting into the USA (not Usa).

I believe you are making things too complicated, now you talk about seeing a lawyer - yikes!

Anyway - my advice is to keep with the F1. If you are turned down, then look for alternatives.

[Sumgmt]

You have not mentioned the step-son's age nor the state & city to which he would go? I have been sending Asian students to public high school programs for many decades. If he has only Thai citizenship then he can go on a J-1 visa for the first year and if for the following years normally an F-1 visa. From 1992 many school districts were urged to check very carefully on non-American students enrolling in the public systems as some American families were bringing whole villages of friends and relatives from abroad to be educated FREE on the basis of those families paying their school tax. There are two issues--the student needs a visa to enter and stay in the USA and the student if not closely related to the taxpayer/property owner is considered an out-of-district student and must pay the tuition that school district charges for students attending whether American or not. Some of our 19,000 districts have very reasonable tuitions ca. $ 2000 while some are very high, $ 16,000.

[osten]

Hi Sumgmt,

Thanks for your insightful reply.

My step-son is 12 years old, and will turn 13 before he would begin his next school year. He would attend school in a small town near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He presently has only Thai citizenship. However, I am also in the process of legally adopting him. If the adoption can be completed in the near future, would that simplify things, or would it not really make a difference for school attendance?

It's too bad that other Americans ruined the system, as I have no intention of abusing it by bringing a bunch of non-Americans to attend school. The only person I am trying to get to attend is my step-son (soon to be legally adopted son).

If my step-son is staying with his American grandmother, a lifelong district resident, would that be considered "closely related?"

By the tone of your post, I get the impression you are a lawyer here in Thailand. I know you're not allowed to blatantly promote that in this forum, but I would like to meet with you to discuss this in person if that is the case. Unfortunately, I leave for a multi-month business trip to USA in 5 days, so time is of the essence. Could you kindly send me a PM?

Regards,

Osten

You have not mentioned the step-son's age nor the state & city to which he would go? I have been sending Asian students to public high school programs for many decades. If he has only Thai citizenship then he can go on a J-1 visa for the first year and if for the following years normally an F-1 visa. From 1992 many school districts were urged to check very carefully on non-American students enrolling in the public systems as some American families were bringing whole villages of friends and relatives from abroad to be educated FREE on the basis of those families paying their school tax. There are two issues--the student needs a visa to enter and stay in the USA and the student if not closely related to the taxpayer/property owner is considered an out-of-district student and must pay the tuition that school district charges for students attending whether American or not. Some of our 19,000 districts have very reasonable tuitions ca. $ 2000 while some are very high, $ 16,000.

[Sumgmt]

Yes, getting your step-son adopted and US citizenship would take care of everything--no need for a visa and a direct family link to your parents.

You have not mentioned the step-son's age nor the state & city to which he would go? I have been sending Asian students to public high school programs for many decades. If he has only Thai citizenship then he can go on a J-1 visa for the first year and if for the following years normally an F-1 visa. From 1992 many school districts were urged to check very carefully on non-American students enrolling in the public systems as some American families were bringing whole villages of friends and relatives from abroad to be educated FREE on the basis of those families paying their school tax. There are two issues--the student needs a visa to enter and stay in the USA and the student if not closely related to the taxpayer/property owner is considered an out-of-district student and must pay the tuition that school district charges for students attending whether American or not. Some of our 19,000 districts have very reasonable tuitions ca. $ 2000 while some are very high, $ 16,000.

[thaihome]

There are some complications with foreign born adopted children living abroad. The are not automatically citizens and must go through the naturalization process and that must take place in the US, which means they have to legally enter the US first which means they must get a visa or some sort.

The adoption does not mean a visa is not needed.

TH

[pibill]

Just going through a similar situation except that I'm stateside and its for my wife's sister. The fastest process to having your stepson attend school for the fall semester would have to be the F-1 visa. That visa process can go as quickly as 30 days if all the paperwork is in order and the load at the embassy isn/t overburdened. Last I checked there was an 8 to 10 wait period for student visa interviews in Bangkok (don't know what the Changmai schedule is like). My understanding is that the educational institution or board of ed for the area must issue the I-20, which is mailed to the student; the I-20 has a unique registration number for that particular student. Once the student receives the I-20 they can contact the embassy to schedule an appointment for the student visa. Prior to the interview date you have to pay the SEVIS fee, which you can also do over the internet at WWW. FMJfee.com (you can't set up the visa appointment or pay the fee until you have the required ID # from the I-20). As for the sticky point of pay the tuition, you may be able to circumvent this by have your Mother grant legal guardian status (court procedure); sometimes that will suffice to get around the tuition payment (btw some districts still say student must be a legal resident, apparently its up to the district's interpretation).

The other process would be the K-4 route as mentioned in a previous reply; however, this requires that your wife files for a K-3 visa (children are included on the application with k-4 status). This process would definately avoid any tuition fees but it would probably take 4 to 8 months to get the visa.

[osten]

In the four months since I've started this thread, I've managed to legally adopt my stepson under Thai law. He also now has a tourist visa, which he received while still just my stepson.

In one week, we will go to the USA together, using his tourist visa. As he cannot legally attend public school while under a tourist visa, I now want to get him U.S. citizenship as quickly as possible.

I've done my homework and Googled tons of web sites about the scenario, but most of the adoption laws discuss orphaned children, not stepchildren who were adopted abroad.

I would like to know the best route to go about getting citizenship for him. I am under the impression the IR-3 visa is only for orphans who are adopted, and therefore applying through the I-130 is the best route. If I go this route, can this be done while in the USA?

Thanks for any feedback or input here.

Regards,

Osten

[shawndoc]

I highly suggest you go ask at the forums on VisaJourney.com. It is the forum that I used for my fiancee's K1 visa, and is specific to those seeking American visas.

[thaihome]

It seems to me that you can apply for citizenship for your son when he enters on the tourist visa. The issue would be that as you intend to live in the US he no longer would be considered as residing abroad.

Very interesting case, I hope it works out for you, please keep the forum updated.

TH

What Are the Other Provisions of the Child Citizenship Act?

Another section of the Child Citizenship Act provides that children (biological or adopted) of American citizens who are born and reside abroad, and who do not become American citizens at birth can apply to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) for a certificate of citizenship if the following conditions are met.

At least one parent of the child is an American citizen by birth or naturalization.

The American citizen parent has been physically present in the United States for a total of at least five years, at least two of which are after the age of 14. If the child''s American citizen parent cannot meet the physical presence requirement, it is enough if one of the child''s American citizen grandparents can meet it.

The child is under the age of eighteen.

The child lives abroad in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent and has been lawfully admitted into the United States as a nonimmigrant.

Children who acquire citizenship under this new provision do not acquire citizenship automatically. They must apply to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) and go through the naturalization process.