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I'm a US citizen, and I want my young son's and newborn daughter's Chinese grandparents (without green cards) to be able to visit and take care of them in the near future. They don't speak English, so quarantining for 14 days in a 3rd country would not only be expensive (hotel stay plus extra air travel) but also quite challenging for them. So I read the proclamation:

https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspension-entry-immigrants-nonimmigrants-persons-pose-risk-transmitting-2019-novel-coronavirus/

I read that guardians of US citizens are excluded from the travel ban.

Sec. 2. Scope of Suspension and Limitation on Entry.

(a) Section 1 of this proclamation shall not apply to:

(i) any lawful permanent resident of the United States;

(ii) any alien who is the spouse of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident;

(iii) any alien who is the parent or legal guardian of a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident is unmarried and under the age of 21;

Now I'm trying to understand what constitutes a legal guardian. Is that determined by the individual states, or is there a Federal take on what constitutes a legal guardian?

Connecticut, where I live, in addition to permanent guardians, has both temporary guardians and standby guardians. From my reading of the CT rules, it seems we couldn't appoint the grandparents as permanent guardians without one of us parents abdicating our parental rights. But it seems there's nothing stopping us from appointing the grandparents as temporary or standby guardians. The question is, would that be sufficient to make the travel ban not applicable to them?

In all likelihood they would be flying into NY, not CT. Does that change the legal guardianship restrictions?

I waited 90 minutes to talk to National Visa Center on the phone but they were not very helpful. They seemed to imply that it would be up to airport or airline (I didn't hear clearly) whether the guardianship papers would be accepted. Thanks for any input you have.

SJuan76
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Matt Chambers
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2 Answers2

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A temporary guardian would qualify, however, you would have to go to the probate court and explain why you are "unable to care for the minor". It would appear from the situation you describe that you are able to care for the child.

A standby guardian would also qualify if it has taken effect "upon the occurrence of a specified contingency, including, but not limited to, the mental incapacity, physical debilitation or death of the principal….” Killing yourself seems a little extreme just to avoid 2 weeks in quarantine.

Dale M
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I think that the strong implication of the proclamation is that the guardians are arriving with the minor for whom they are guardians, or that the minor U.S. citizens in question would be left without care but for their presence.

Perhaps someone has interpreted it differently, but I doubt that the proposed arrangement would pass muster with immigration officials in the U.S.

ohwilleke
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