Help! Panicking Big Time!

[Ina2017 40]

Hi everyone 

 

My husband (USC) just submitted our I-130 petition for me (Australian). We've just found out this morning that I'm pregnant with our first baby. On one hand I'm deliriously happy but on the the other I'm really scared and panicking about how this will affect our immigration process. I'm really hoping you all can give me some much needed advice please... 

 

- Are we required to inform them that we're pregnant?? 

- Is a pregnancy a bad thing when it comes to US immigration? 

- Does this mean it will take longer to get through the immigration process? 

- Can I still visit on an ESTA (I bet a baby bump isn't looked at favourably) 

- Do we have to apply separately for the baby? My quick google search says we could file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html

 

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated... Thank you 😊 

[JoBri 545]

I dont know the answers to all your questions. I am just responding to say congratulations. What a wonderful thing for you!

 

My wife and I have a 6 year old son together. He is my best buddy, my cherished pal. The one who gives me so much unconditional love. We hug each other so many times each day. I cant even begin to imagine how my life would be without him and his love for me. I hope you find as much joy in your baby as I found in my son through my filipina wife

[JFH 12,189]

52 minutes ago, Inabars said:

Hi everyone 

 

My husband (USC) just submitted our I-130 petition for me (Australian). We've just found out this morning that I'm pregnant with our first baby. On one hand I'm deliriously happy but on the the other I'm really scared and panicking about how this will affect our immigration process. I'm really hoping you all can give me some much needed advice please... 

 

- Are we required to inform them that we're pregnant?? 

- Is a pregnancy a bad thing when it comes to US immigration? 

- Does this mean it will take longer to get through the immigration process? 

- Can I still visit on an ESTA (I bet a baby bump isn't looked at favourably) 

- Do we have to apply separately for the baby? My quick google search says we could file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America (CRBA) https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html

 

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated... Thank you 😊 

No, you don't need to

tell anyone scout the pregnancy. By the time you have the medical the baby will have been born. 

No, it won't affect your immigration process at all. Many couples have children in this process. 

Yes, you can still visit. No rules against pregnant women entering the country. Your chosen airline may have a limit in place as to how far along you can fly but apart from that it won't make any difference.

If your husband has spent a total of 5 or more years living in the USA (and two of those after the age of 14) the baby will automatically have US citizenship and won't need a visa. Just a passport.

[aless02 9]

Congrats! As regards to the baby's citizenship, they should automatically be a USC if the father is a USC with 5+ years in the US (with at least being after age 14). Once it is born, you will need to file for the Consular Report of Birth Abroad with the American embassy in Australia, which give you a document to 'prove' the baby is a USC and co-currently apply for its US passport at the same time (which will come in the post a couple weeks after your baby's embassy appt).

[Jojo92122 1,924]

You do not need to inform anyone that you are pregnant.  Being pregnant will not affect your immigration case.  Being pregnant will not make your process longer or affect ESTA.

 

If your husband meets the 5 years residency requirement to pass US citizenship onto your child, then he will file for the CRBA and US passport for your child.  Your husband must have resided in the US for at least 5 years (2 years after age 14) to pass US citizenship onto your child.

 

If your does not meet the 5 years residency requirement, your husband will have to file a separate I-130 for your child and your child will need an immigration visa.  The timeline would be similar to yours.  You may be able to get it expedited.

[SabRob 154]

You do not have to tell anyone about the pregnancy yet. Depending on how fast your petition gets approved and how fast it goes through the NVC you will need to inform the doctor who will be doing your medical exam prior to the interview. If you give birth to the baby in your home country, your husband must simply go to the nearest US Consulate in Australia and let them know that the baby is his, that he is an American citizen and they will issue a passport for the baby (the baby will automatically become a USC).

 

You can still visit on an ESTA, the fact that your husband has already filed a I-130 for you means that you are following the legal course of immigrating there, all you need to do is prove that you are, in fact, going back to your country. (in your case, doctor's appointments or birth arrangements will be very useful, plus flying during the 3rd trimester is dangerous so make sure you are back home by then). Other than that, having a baby together is proof that your relationship&marriage are real

 

Congratulations and I hope your both your pregnancy and immigration process go smoothly!

[Team_Healey 6]

First off, Congratulations! 

 

I would like to mention that this process can be long and most likely your baby will be born in Australia! Not a bad thing, take advantage of the Health Care there while you can as it is expensive to give birth in the USA. I go by experience as a US Citizen who gave birth in NZ to our first born. I was scared as well and thought I would have to return to the USA to give birth since I did not know at all what it cost to give birth in NZ. Lucky for me, NZ partners and their pregnant foreign partners are covered and the midwife appointments, labs, ultrasounds and even the birth were entirely free! *My little heart burst when I found out*

After your little bundle of joy is born, please file to get your baby their CRBA! Certificate Report of Birth Abroad, it is essentially the alternative to the US Birth Certificate for a child born abroad to US parents. 

Other than that, this will not in away be a bad thing. In fact, it is very good! This will in no way slow down your process as your child will be a US Citizen once you get the CRBA. You will still be the only one on your application to enter the USA as an immigrant. 

I can suggest that visitations while pregnant can be done, but if you are far along there can be some problems. After 8 months you should sit tight to avoid any complications, both for the pregnancy and POE as you will be heavily pregnant. 

This is a happy time, enjoy your pregnancy and take care of yourself! If you need to message me to talk just drop a message.

 

 

[Fmab Wasenob 14]

I heard it delays the process significantly. they will find out as you do have to go to a medical appointment prior to the Embassy Interview. in that medical appointment theyll either ask or test you + theyll give you a lot of vaccinations that probably arent good for a baby's health so it's probably best you inform them. It's a dilemma either way. I'd probably ask a lawyer 

Edited April 11, 2017 by Fmab Wasenob

[Team_Healey 6]

7 minutes ago, Fmab Wasenob said:

I heard it delays the process significantly. they will find out as you do have to go to a medical appointment prior to the Embassy Interview. in that medical appointment theyll either ask or test you + theyll give you a lot of vaccinations that probably arent good for a baby's health so it's probably best you inform them. It's a dilemma either way. I'd probably ask a lawyer 

I would not go so far as to say it is a dilemma, for one, they are in the beginning of just filing their I-130 form, usually takes a while to get anywhere close to getting your medical examination to be done. It is most probable that she will give birth to her baby before that process. Also, it is hard to say that this delays the process, as many other factors can and will delay the process. Pregnancy for couples, especially married is a natural and foreseen thing for the IR-1/CR-1 Visa. The only delay can be up to the mother, if she does not want to get the chest x-ray done until the baby is born and then complete her Visa, that is also an option and it is up to her. 

As for the vaccinations, https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume8-PartB-Chapter9.html read section Pregnancy or an Immuno-Compromised Condition on what should be done. 

There is plenty of time to get the necessary steps completed before your arrival to the USA. You do not need a lawyer for the free information available to you on the actual USCIS website. 

What you may need to do is just a bit of research, get your regular check ups for your baby and yourself in the meantime, your case usually can not be expedited unless there is a complication in the pregnancy, so depending on how fast your consulate works you may want to get into contact with them via e-mail and ask some of these specific questions, it is free and you actually talk to one of the officers in that location. 

But one of the more important things is to remember to get your baby's CRBA and U.S. Passport. 

https://au.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/birth/crba/ 

https://au.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/birth/transmit-citizenship/

[Ina2017 40]

Hi everyone 

 

Thank you for the advice and your good wishes. I'm sorry I haven't been able to log in earlier - the stress of this process has been getting to me and I ended up cramping and on bed rest. It's still very very early in my pregnancy and I'm trying to navigate this the best I can. It's hard being alone. 

 

Ok, my husband has been living in the States for about 20 years so looks like we should be eligible for the CRBA for the baby. 

 

As for the medical process (vaccinations and X-rays), that's worrying 🙁🙁 

 

The last two days have taught me that I better learn how to manage my stress because this is just the beginning of a longgggggggg (not to mention stressful and painful!) process otherwise I'm going to loose my baby.

 

A heartfelt thank you and Best wishes to you all... 

[Thesmiths2016 117]

Hi, I know you had a bunch of responses already but just wanted to chime in here.  We lodged our i-130 in march 2016 when I was already pregnant.  We moved back from Australia to New Zealand to have our baby here (I'm a kiwi) and she was born in July.  I'm still at the NVC stage now (hopefully not far off) so I've been through part of this process while pregnant.  Feel free to message if you're stressed out... I know what that's like, but its really all quite straightforward.

Regarding your baby.  No you don't need to do a  greencard application. As mentioned you'll file a CRBA, and they'll get you to take the baby to an "interview" at the consulate along with said paperwork to get their citizenship, passport and social security number (here in NZ you apply for all 3 at once but check how it works there in Aus). By having a US citizen parent they are all good to go with this.  It's actually pretty easy to do.  Look up what evidence your husband would have to show for proof of domicile for this. For us we had to get mail with his US address on it, his college transcripts and high school transcripts for 5 years plus (to show he actually "lived" there rather than just being born there. Oh and it goes without saying ... get your little one an Aussie passport too... our NZ an Aussie passports are like gold :-) 

With regards to pregnancy affecting your application.  I actually included an ultrasound and doctors letter showing my due date in my initial evidence to USCIS.  I had no issues there at all.  We also included our Facebook announcement making it public to show it was authentically ours and we weren't hiding anything, but you may not be at that stage. Maybe use that at the NVC stage as part of your evidence.  I didn't find it negative on our application at all.
For the medical, they will ask you to have a chest X-ray, blood tests, and immunisations. They advise to tell the doctor right away if you're pregnant when making the appointment.  In some cases they may go through the whole process but ask you to do the chest X-ray after baby is born. With current processing times it's likely bubs will be born before your medical anyway (its taking around a year).  I would say don't stress about the interview and medical part until its closer, the likelihood of it happening while you're pregnant is slim.  

Last but not least. You're not in a high fraud country, and if you read up on what's expected and just work through things logically it doesn't have to be too difficult.  Yes the stress while pregnant is something you'll need to manage but you will be able to do so. It's just the waiting that gets stressful, so keep yourself busy and distracted and you should be ok.  As I mentioned, feel free to message me if you need to :-)   All the best, and most of all CONGRATULATIONS!

[bcking 3,157]

Another congrats are in order (there can never be too many)!

 

I'll echo what most people are saying:

1. You don't need to tell anyone anything

2. It won't make much of a difference either way

- You could end up having the baby before immigrating, because the process can really take that long (11 months for my wife). As other people have said, in that scenario your baby could just become a USC from your husband's status

- If you get through the process quick enough - You just bring all of your prenatal records, get insurance here as fast as you can (your husband can add you to his plan at work, assuming his work gives him insurance. A spouse moving to the country is a "qualifying life event" so you can be added on immediately)

 

A few things I'll comment more on:

 

1. Visiting to the US while pregnant - Of course you can do it, just keep in mind they will probably be even MORE suspicious (once you are showing at least, because again just don't tell them until you have to) that you will "overstay". You have to prove you are going back to your country. Bring as much as you can. Once you are showing and can't hide the baby some immigration officers may have a higher threshold to let you in for a visit since that is another risk factor that you won't leave (what if you delivered while you were here?)

 

2. The medical - They will not give you any vaccines that are contraindicated during pregnancy, they just won't. If you are from Australia and you're an adult now there is a decent chance you don't really need much anyway. As for the X-ray, I don't know their policy with pregnant women. There are alternatives that they could do (PPD, Quantiferon) which you can ask about. If they really really insist, then you ask for a lead gown to cover your belly. Even without though, by the time you are at your medical you will be pretty far along and the impact on the baby of an X-ray would be minimal. Newborns get X-rays not infrequently, and one X-ray doesn't do anything. If the baby is 30 weeks+ I wouldn't worry about it. You can still ask for protection, or ask for alternative tests, but don't stress if those don't work. 

 

I guess the other possible "conundrum" will be if you get your visa but you and at that point too close and you have to delivery in Australia even though you have your visa in hand. Then again, outcomes in Australia are quite good, and the process would be cheaper so it wouldnt' be a bad idea anyway since your child would still be a naturalized US citizen. They could even run for President!

[Thesmiths2016 117]

Just now, Dee elle said:

Regarding vaccinations.. vaccination schedules are set by the US CDC and are almost identical to Australian vaccination schedules.. The required vaccinations are appropriate age related.. ie if   7 month old is immigrating, they would be required to have completed the appropriate age related vaccinations for that age... no one gets a random set of unnecessary vaccines

 

If the child is a USC though, the  the immigration process, including the medical, do not apply ????? 

Correct, our daughter did not require a medical or immunisations for her CRBA lodgement. She's now a fully fledged US citizen with passport, SS number and citizenship documents.  She's 8.5 months old.  We are getting the required immunisations recommended here in NZ, but thats our choice to protect her.  We are not getting the extras that I would require such as flu vaccine etc.

PS: @Inabars one of the vaccines they ask you to get is Tdap which you get in Aussie from 28weeks pregnant anyway. its the combo vaccine that includes whooping cough that your doctor will recommend to you anyway :-)   Get a letter from the doctor when you get yours done showing it was done, the date and batch number if they have it. Take this to your appt with you when you do your visa medical.

[bcking 3,157]

4 minutes ago, Dee elle said:

Regarding vaccinations.. vaccination schedules are set by the US CDC and are almost identical to Australian vaccination schedules.. The required vaccinations are appropriate age related.. ie if   7 month old is immigrating, they would be required to have completed the appropriate age related vaccinations for that age... no one gets a random set of unnecessary vaccines

 

If the child is a USC though, the  the immigration process, including the medical, do not apply ????? 

If the baby is born before traveling, then yes they will make the child a USC through the father. Then the baby doesn't need a medical. They would just establish care with a Pediatrician in the US and if anything is missing they will catch the baby up. If that happens the baby won't be that old (a few months maybe) so even if they got no vaccines in Australia (which wouldnt' happen), it wouldnt' be hard to catch up. We do it all the time.

[Ina2017 40]

Thank you once again for all your invaluable advice. You all have been amazing! 

 

At this point, I'm trying to maintain my sanity by concentrating on each day as it comes. I'm due in December and we were I thinking that I could travel to the US in July for a month or so but I'm worried about dealing with the BCP officers especially after my last interaction with them, I bet this time I'll go into premature labour! I was taken aside and questioned for 3 hours before being permitted entry so I bet the system would have some sort of flag on me now. (p.s./fyi: I have never overstayed my ESTA). 

 

Is there any indication if I-130s are taking longer under the new administration?  I'm preparing myself for 12-14 month wait, though I have noticed some very, very lucky couples have gone through the entire process and had visas in hand within 6-8 months.