If you will indulge me for a few minutes I would like to introduce my stepson to the DKos community. He just arrived in the U.S. last week from the Dominican Republic. This is a huge change not only for him, but also for us. Since I am a U.S. citizen, I was able to file for his residency because the law allows for citizens to file for stepchildren.
From USCIS:
For example: You marry someone with a child. The child will
usually qualify as your stepchild if he or she was unmarried and
under 18 years of age at the time of your marriage. In this example,
you are required to file two petitions: one petition for your wife and
another for the child.
Since he was considered an immediate relative, his petition took about ten months from the time I mailed it to his interview at the consulate in Santo Domingo. There was no waiting time because stepchildren, like spouses are considered immediate relatives and that particular visa class has no annual limit.
More from USCIS:
Immediate relatives have special immigration priority and do not have to wait in line for a visa number to become available for them to immigrate because there are an unlimited number of visas for their particular categories.
We flew down for the interview because the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo strongly recommends that the petitioner attend.
If the petitioner is your stepparent, you must present a copy of both sides of your biological parent’s permanent resident card (green card) OR other evidence that demonstrates the marital relationship between your biological parent and your stepparent. If the petitioner is your spouse, we strongly recommend that he/she accompany you to the interview.
We went to the interview as a family. The consular official was very nice and we were thrilled to hear that his petition was approved. He arrived with us in the U.S. last week.
Before we left Santo Domingo, I was talking with him and showed him Daily Kos. While he did not understand what was written due to a language barrier he did want to know what the site was all about. I explained that this was a political site that supports Democrats. He asked me if Democrats were the same party as Obama and when I told him yes, he got a huge smile and said "que bueno". Although he is only eleven years old, he has heard of Obama and also knew about Bush. He asked me what party Bush was from and I told him the Republican party. He made a face and said, "Bush malo".
One of the things that I hope he learns from us is to fight for the rights of all people. Actually, I don't think that will be a problem. I want him to realize that government is not evil but is supposed to protect people. I also hope that as he gets older, one day he will join Daily Kos to learn more about the political process and maybe write a diary. Until then he is just going to have to watch me write and comment. One other thing that I want him to learn is to fight for the rights of all immigrants, both documented and undocumented.
He met the pooties, Blackie, Marisela and Ko. He also met the woozle, and the four-legged members of the family take turns sleeping with him during the night. We explained to him that Blackie was very ill a couple of years ago and that she was our miracle pootie. Sable the woozle, goes in each morning to spend some time with him and to wake him up to get ready for school, and the pooties hang out on his bed waiting for him to come home.
He is a great kid, and I could not be more pleased. He is enrolled in school and is on a Little League team. I am new at the "parenting thing" so with luck I hope I don't mess up too much. I hope he will be patient with me since this is a huge change in his life, to come to a new country, switch schools, and learn a new language.
Anyway, please welcome my stepson, Joendry, to the U.S. and to Daily Kos.