need court courstudy

A stepchild is just like your own child. The moment you marry to the parent, the child becomes yours, too. If you are a U.S. Citizen and married to the child’s mother or father, you should be able to petition for that stepchild. Your marriage certificate, the parent’s birth certificate and the child’s birth certificate will all have the name of that parent. Go ahead and start the process if you have those.

court custody is only if you wish to automatically pass on your citizenship which may take some time so I advise submitting petition for stepchild and if you want to pass on citizenship you can also start the process of adoption with the courts. when that is finalized just submit the document to USCIS so they can assign the stepchild the correct visa after approval