Legal Question in Immigration Law in New York

my mother and father married, later separated when i was still a boy, and several years after this, he had 4 children with another woman. my father died in 1997 without divorcing my mother; both me and my mother are US citizens; i know i can file immigration petitions for my half-siblings, but the wait will be too long, and i was wondering if, since my mother and father never divorced, there is the possibility that she could petition my half-siblings as their stepmom. my siblings never lived with my mother but they always had a good relationship. i have gotten contradictory information about this issue; so, your help will be greatly appreciated. (note: my siblings are 15, 17,19 and 21 years old). Thanks.


Asked on 9/15/09, 1:13 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Luba Smal Smal Immigration Law Office

No, she can't. These children are not step-children in meaning of the US immigration law (as required for the Alien Relative Petition), but children of her husband and another woman born out of wedlock as a result of the affair after wife and husband separated.

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Answered on 9/20/09, 1:49 am
Antoinette Wooten The Wooten Legal Consulting, PC

I would need more information regarding your particular case before I can comment on it properly.

However, for your mother to sponsor your sibling she would have to be their legal guardian. This means she would have had to had adopted the child following your father's death.

Because of their ages it can be seen that three of them (17, 19, and 21) are adults and therefore responsible for themselves unless they are in full time students and not working full-time. Then it could be expected that your parent would assist them.

As for the 15 year old you mother will have to prove that she has been the sole provider for that child since the death of it's father. Immigration will also want to know where is the child's mother, and what role has she been playing in the child's life?

Why did you all wait so long to come to this decision (from 1997 to 2009)?

Patricia Martin-Gibbons

As their sibling if you sponsor them it could take up to 10 years to go through.

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Answered on 9/22/09, 11:38 am


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