Visiting US with child that is not legally your own

[roykirk]

I don't know if I'll find the answer I'm looking for or not, but my wife wanted me to ask so here goes:

My wife's mother is planning on visiting again late this year (her B-2 visa is still good from when she visited us last year).  This time, however, she would like to bring her young 5 year old daughter that she is in the process of adopting.  My wife explains to me that right now she's sort of like a foster parent after getting the girl from an orphanage.  There are no natural parents or family with legal rights.  She is in the process of legally adopting the child, but my wife says this can take a while in Russia, certainly not before her planned visit. 

So, the question is whether her mother would be able to visit the U.S. with this child or not.  I'm thinking it's probably not possible, but maybe I'm wrong.  She does have the girl's birth certificate, but the only way I could see it happening is if the orphanage provided some sort of legal paperwork to allow travel outside the country.  Even then I can't see the U.S. allowing it due to child trafficking laws.

Thoughts?

[BC]

Can't say for sure, but if as you described there would surely be a court order granting some form of legal  guardianship.

It would probably raise an eyebrow or two at the interview and get a good bit of extra attention.

[Vaughn]

I sincerely doubt there's anything on the State Department website covering this sort of
special situation...  but I'd certainly write to them asking for their recommendation/advice.