Hello,

I have a few questions regarding my two peruvian step daughters 1 1/2 and 4 years old. I am a USA citizen and my husband is a perm. resident. The girls are with my husband's mother in peru. We have visited and spoken with the girl's mother and she is willing to let them come to the USA with us since she can not support them financially.
My questions are as follows :
1) How can we bring the girls to live with us in the USA (CALIFORNIA) ?
2) Is there any premission needed from their mother for INS and/or others?
3) How long will this process take?
4) Will I be able to legally adopt the girls when they are here?
5) What will their status be Resident or citizen?
6) Do the needed forms/docs need to be filied here in the USA or peru ?
7) What forms are needed to be filed ?
8)Who will file just my husband or both he and I?

Thanks in advance Marcy

The procedure to bring your stepdaughters to the US is actually not too complicated. You will first have to file visa petitions for them (one for each girl). The petitions, which are submitted in your name as their US citizen stepmother, are submitted to the BCIS California Service Center, which currently is taking approximately 5 months to process such petitions.

After the petitions are approved, the girls will then obtain immigrant visas through the US Embassy in Peru. They will enter the country as residents, not citizens. You do not need permission from their mother for them to apply for visas, but you will have to check the Peruvian law to determine if they will need their mother’s permission to leave the country. Once the girls are in the US, you indeed can adopt them, although they are already considered your stepdaughters for immigration purposes.