Bringing orphaned relations to the UK?

Hi All,

I thought about asking this in the visa and citizenship question, but I'm not sure it fits there.

Anyway, my sister and her family are flying over to the U.K. this summer and they (my sister and brother-in-law) decided it was a good time to sort their wills. They have two young daughters and they asked me and my partner if we would agree to look after the kids if something should happen to my sister and brother-in-law.

My partner and I said ok, but then I started thinking about the logistics. Has anyone had to do this (sorry in advance, as obviously it would only happen in very tragic circumstances)? How did you do it?

There is no visa that would cover this that I'm aware of (which is why I've not put in the Visas and Citizenship section). Could we adopt the kids and bring them over? If so,  presumably we would need to qualify to adopt them in both Connecticut and the the U.K.?

There are other family members in the U.S. that could potentially look after the kids, but my sister and brother-in-law feel strongly that the ideal solution would be for us to raise their daughters if it came to that. I can't say I disagree

The only reason I'm asking is because I don't want to say yes and have them draw up their wills based on something that can't really happen. Obviously their U.S. attorney is going to know nothing about U.K. immigration and U.K. adoption laws. 

Any input, much appreciated.

Regards,
Sam

Yes you would *eventually* get them after adoption.

But they will want to name a US guardian while everything is going through the courts which could take years.

It’s horrible, isn’t it?  Just tell them to stay alive.   

Thanks for the reply. I figured it could work eventually. The other option would be that we move over there which might actually be quicker! 

Anyway, I'm banking on this never happening!

Thanks again.

Sam