Relative in US

D

Davidetmon

New Member
Hello,
I'm posting on this forum to know how I could get my visa.
I am 15 years old and I live in France; my mother was born in Seattle but left there when she was five and did not make her visa card since then. I still have some family in L.A and I would like to spend a year with them in order to spend time with them and increase my english level . The probleme is I don't know if I would be accepted in High school. I would also like to get my visa because I would like to go and live there when I'll be 21 too.
I don't know if that would make any difference but my father is english and I already have 2 nationnalities ( English & French )
Hoping for an answer asap please!
Thank you,
Paul
 
Normally visiting students are not permitted to enroll in pre-college schools unless they are in some dependent visa status for a guest worker or student or are in a formal program. There are programs that make it possible for high school students to attend school in the US. Since you are so young, there is concern for your safety when you are living in the US without your parents; formal programs make sure all of the legally required arrangements are made.

There are many other advantages in participating is a formal program. You do not want to create problems with your educational program in France. The programs have orientation sessions and make sure the international students have a good support network of other international students and adults familiar with the problems that can occur. Applying through a formal study abroad program that places international students in US schools is in your best interests. See your counselor at your school for recommendations of organizations. Ask your relatives to contact their local school principal to see if that school is able to sponsor a student through such an organization and which ones are acceptable.

Another option is waiting until you complete your high school studies and come to the US for an English Institute before starting the university in France. Once you are 18, many of the legal problems that younger students might have no longer apply.

Please discuss your desire to study in the US with the adults at your current school. They are in the best position to assist you in your search.
 
Was your mother married when you were born?

If not, you are a USC. In this case your mother would file at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate for a form FS-240 Certificate for you before you reach 18 and apply for your U.S. passport (wait until you are 16 to get a full 10 years passport, before that you only get a 5 yr passport).

If yes, you are not a USC. Your mother could file an immigrant petition (USCIS form I-130) for you to get a greencard if she would agree to come with you to the U.S. at least for a while, you would gain USC via INA 320 and file an N-600.

Another alternative is to file a form N-600K from France and come to the U.S. (on a tourist visa) to swear in as a USC before you reach age 18 under INA 322. Your mother or her parents need to meet U.S. residence requirements for the N-600K. Your mother probably does not meet the requirements but her parents might.

SEE: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=40a9b2149e7df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Alternately see: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/us...nnel=e34c83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD

F-1 Student Visa

The F-1 Visa (Academic Student) allows you to enter the United States as a full-time student at an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school, or other academic institution or in a language training program. You must be enrolled in a program or course of study that culminates in a degree, diploma, or certificate and your school must be authorized by the U.S. government to accept international students
 
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There are many issues with public high school enrollments. Tuition at many private schools rival that of a university. This young man has many more issues with his education and living in the US than simply enrolling in a US high school. A major concern is the acceptance of his experience by his home school. On top of that, the school serving his extended family in the US might not be an appropriate environment for him - and outside an exchange program he will not qualify for enrollment in magnet or other enrollment preference schools. He would need to pay tuition and provide financial backing; a public high school is unlikely to be able to issue an I-20. Without the I-20 and financial documentation, there will be no F-1 visa stamping. While he would likely be eventually studying on an F1 visa, acquiring the visa is not the only issue to be considered.

His extended family may not be an appropriate living arrangement for him. Exchange students often are placed with families with children of similar age attending the host school. The advantage of living as a typical American teenager is a unique part of the experience.

In my experience, students participating in a formal international educational exchange program are well provided for with many more opportunities than even dependents of international guest workers or students - and even more opportuinities than USC children attending the school.

In any event, this young man is a minor and would be unable to enter into any contract, sign the required legal documents or get a visa without parental involvement. He cannot just show up at the consulate and get a visa.

Even a child who is a US citizen cannot just appear at a school and enroll. Parental or surrogate parent consent - and residency in the district for public education - is required. Proper guardianship or proxy would need to be established if the parents were not going to be present especially for him to receive medical care.

I repeat my recommendation that he meet with school representatives to find an appropriate formally sponsored program. The program will match him with an appropriate program and living arrangement for the best possible experience.


I expect that if he qualified for USC or had parents interested in having it granted to him, that it would have been addressed by now.
 
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The way I interpret the OP's post, his mother was only 5 when she left the US. So she cannot pass on US citizenship to her child on her own. Now if the OP has living US citizen maternal grandparents, then yes, he needs to file N-600K.

BigJoe5 said:
If not, you are a USC. In this case your mother would file at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate for a form FS-240 Certificate for you before you reach 18 and apply for your U.S. passport (wait until you are 16 to get a full 10 years passport, before that you only get a 5 yr passport).
Click to expand...
 
An unwed USC mother only requires one year of continuous presence in the U.S., prior to the birth of the child to transmit USC to her child at birth abroad under INA 309(c).

INA 309 CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

(c) Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a) of this section, a person born, after December 23, 1952, outside the United States and out of wedlock shall be held to have acquired at birth the nationality status of his mother, if the mother had the nationality of the United States at the time of such person's birth, and if the mother had previously been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year
 
Appreciate the knowledge. I was not aware of this INA sub-section.

BigJoe5 said:
An unwed USC mother only requires one year of continuous presence in the U.S., prior to the birth of the child to transmit USC to her child at birth abroad under INA 309(c).

INA 309 CHILDREN BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK

(c) Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a) of this section, a person born, after December 23, 1952, outside the United States and out of wedlock shall be held to have acquired at birth the nationality status of his mother, if the mother had the nationality of the United States at the time of such person's birth, and if the mother had previously been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year
Click to expand...
 
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