Can an EB-5 investor sponsor his children from his second spouse, who are in their home country? Is this possible even if his first wife and children are originally registered in his record with the immigration department? How can dependents who were not included in the first place be added later?
For the children to be eligible for a derivative green card, they must have been under 18 at the time of the marriage. A U.S. citizen or LPR stepparent may petition for their stepchild to immigrate with them or adjust their status if the stepparent married the child''s birth parent before the child''s 18th birthday. You are not required to adopt your stepchild to petition for them.
As long as relationship was included before I-485 / immigrating to the US approvals, they can be added. To add to a pending I-526, send a letter with a copy of the receipt.
If you have a pending I-526 case, you should be able to add dependents (spouse and unmarried children under age 21) at the immigrant visa consular processing step or at the adjustment of status step if they are in the US in a lawful nonimmigrant status.
We had a similar case where the investor got married and had a child after filing the I-526. In this case, as the attorney of the investor, we sent a letter to the immigration office processing the case with copy of the marriage certificate and birth certificate of the child. We also added an amendment to the Form''s pages where beneficiaries are included.
So long as the biological relationship existed prior to you receiving your green card, you will be able to add your children to the green card process. If your I-526 is pending, the most logical place to add your dependents would be when you pursue consular processing or adjustment of status.
