# Bringing neice for study



## i2ijeya (Jan 29, 2014)

Hi All,

I and my wife holding H1B visa valid till Aug 2017. We are planned to bring my wife's sisters kid (5 years Old) for her schooling as her mother is moving out to london for her work for an year. At least the kid should stay with us in USA.

My question is,

1. Is it possible to bring my neice as a dependent here. If there are options please come out.
2. If the dependent option is not possible, is there any chance of bringing the kid as a visitor along with my wife and let her stay for an year?
3. If both the things are not possible please suggest me for other options?


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Maybe. It's not easy, but I can see a couple possible options:

1. If your wife's niece is accepted at a private (or parochial) elementary school in the U.S. then she should be able to enter the U.S. on her own merits on an F-1 visa and stay for her education. There are no particular dependency requirements except that she have a home (yours) or board at the school. (I wouldn't recommend private boarding school for first graders, and thankfully it's rare.) _In principle_ (i.e. boarding school) she could continue her education in the U.S. even after you depart -- an F-1 visa is not tied to your H-1B. She must maintain satisfactory educational progress and enrollment, and that would include payment of her private or parochial school tuition.

The lowest tuition I've seen lately at U.S. private schools starts at $2,000 per year for one of the lowest cost Catholic elementary schools, not including the costs associated with housing and caring for your wife's niece. St. Paul's, a private boarding high school, is reportedly about $55,000 per year (tuition, room, and board) as another example. Students cannot obtain F-1 visas to attend public elementary or high schools.

2. An H-4 visa may be available through formal legal adoption. Adoption entails much more than temporary guardianship (F-1), but I mention it for completeness.


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## Davis1 (Feb 20, 2009)

Foreign Students in Public Schools


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Thanks, Davis1. One correction to what I wrote: there is limited F-1 visa applicability to public secondary/high schools. (Not relevant to the original poster, though.) It looks like the rest of what I wrote is correct.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I think you're opening up a real can of worms with something like this. The US tends to have a very literal definition of the word "dependent" - which would tend to rule out an aunt and/or uncle on non-immigrant visas (H1B) sponsoring a minor niece for a visa. 

Where is the niece now? Where is her mother? And is there some overriding reason why the child's mother can't take her with when going to London? (If the mother can get a work visa for the UK, it shouldn't be too difficult for her to secure the appropriate dependent visa for the child to accompany her.) You don't have to answer those things here on the forum, but those are questions that will come up.
Cheers,
Bev


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

Bevdeforges said:


> I think you're opening up a real can of worms with something like this. The US tends to have a very literal definition of the word "dependent" - which would tend to rule out an aunt and/or uncle on non-immigrant visas (H1B) sponsoring a minor niece for a visa.


It does rule it out. Nieces are not dependents for H-1B purposes -- they are not immediate family -- so they're not eligible for H-4 visas. There's no "can of worms" to open that way.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

I'm just saying that, given that they don't qualify to sponsor the niece as a "dependent" I think the whole motivation can/could be called into question for seeking a visa for an unaccompanied minor. The mother (and potentially father) of the child should really be the ones to be asking the questions, assuming this is what they wish for their child. Having an "aunt" and "uncle" behind the child's quest for a visa may raise more questions than answers. (Yeah, I've been watching too much CNNI lately - but in the States, the issue will come up.)
Cheers,
Bev


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## twostep (Apr 3, 2008)

It does not matter what moral obligations a parent has to a child. OP's questions are precise - can he bring a child to the U.S. for a year. Theoretically yes! 

Finding a school willing and able to take a 5-year old in via F1 will be very difficult and very expensive. The 3k catholic school is not likely to be SEVIS approved. Availability is another issue.

F1 does not ask for information about parents only source of funds.


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