Children of a US citizen enjoy non-preference immigration benefits which are not available to other preference categories. Like the US citizen's spouse, they can apply for immigrant visa without having to wait for the availability of visa number because they have been allotted unlimited visas to the United States.
Who is deemed a "Child"?
Only a legitimate child under the age of eighteen (18) will be recognized as a child of a US citizen. But a step child is deemed a child before he/she reaches the age of 18.
An Illegitimate child cannot be acknowledged as a child unless the natural mother or father is a US citizen and they have a bona fide parent-child relationship, or they are legitimated in accordance with their national laws and customs.
Legitimation is a legal process where a child born out of wedlock is clothed with all the rights of a legitimate child. Common forms of legitimation are marriage between the child's natural parents, by judicial decree or through acknowledgement of a child by the natural father.
Also, a legally adopted child is deemed a child provided that the adoption was completed before his/her sixteenth birthday (16) and has been living with the adopting parents for at least two (2) years. An orphan who is eligible for adoption under the laws of US is also considered a child for purposes of immigration.
Orphan vs. Non-orphan adoption
In terms of visa eligibility, orphan adoption is rather easy than non-orphan adoption. A person is deemed an orphan if natural parents are already deceased, disappeared or have abandoned the child to an orphanage. The child must be under 16 at the time of the filing of the visa petition and must be outside US. In case of non-orphan adoption however, the child has already been adopted or at least the petition for adoption has finally been completed and decided and has been living with the adopting parents for a minimum of two (2) years before the application for immigration regardless of whether the residential requirement is before or after the adoption, and whether inside or outside the US. This residential requirement is something not easy to do. If the adopted and the adopter have lived together outside the US for two years, then visa requirement can be easily met. The problem will arise if the adopting parent is in US and the adopted is overseas because the child cannot be issued a tourist visa since he/she is an intending immigrant. The adopting parent will have to take the risk of leaving the US to be with the adopted child just to meet the visa requirement.
As to the immigration procedure, non-orphans follow the procedure for the immigration of blood-related children while orphans take a different and specialized procedure. In either case, take into account the national law of the country where the adopted child originally resides.
Obtaining immigrant visa for a child is multifaceted as it comes in different cases. Hence, you may be misled as to the requirements and procedures to pursue. It is on this occasion that help from legal and immigration services will make sense.
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