I have often heard and seen on the boards here that the I-130 for stepchild requires permission from the "other" parent. I don't see this on the I-130 and wonder if it is true and is something handled later at the interview stage. My friend's case is rather complicated. He married abroad and came here 3 years ago, with his new wife. Her then 17-year old son was studying on a scholarship and stayed behind. His wife's papers are all good and they filed for conditional removal, etc. The boy has completed studies and now wants to join the family in the U.S. He is 20 now, and was never adopted by my friend (my friend can still petition him as a stepchild, correct?). The boy does not have a father listed on most Honduran paperwork. His mother was the victim of a kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder, so when a father's name was used, he later used his uncle's name for school and i.d. papers. Because the rape lead to a court case 20 years ago there was some documentation of this incident. Hurricane Mitch destroyed all such paperwork in the government building. The uncle died late 2007. Since the boy is under 21 but more than 18, he is not considered a full adult in Honduras. Usually, both parents are needed to grant a passport to a Honduran under 21 years. The boy received the Honduran passport just based on me standing there next to him and his mother, with nothing signed by me and I never said a word. At some point will the U.S. Embassy or the Honduran Government ask for parental permission and/or the name of the men (there were 3) who raped her, to grant an I130 to the boy? Is permission unnecessary if the child is over 18? We are afraid there is no way to prove the above story (short of a giant legal mess taking years) and the case will look like one parent trying to escape with a child and not notifying the other parent, but there is no other parent. How can I determine if parental permission will ever come into play, or if the boy will be interviewed regarding his father?

Yes, US Citizen step parent can file I-130 as long as marriage that created the step parent relationship happened before the step-son's 18th birth day, and as long as the visa is issued before 21th birth day and as long as the step-son is unmarried at the time the visa is issued this will work.

okay.
what if the child is like 5?
then do you need the other parent's consent? (I am not sure how you would do it without that but...)

what if the child is like 5?
then do you need the other parent's consent? (I am not sure how you would do it without that but...)

Feel a lot has to do with what country that child is from and their regulations. For my wife's 13 year old daughter to come here, just for her to leave her parent country we needed a fingerprinted signed document with an apostille attached to it from the girl's biological father. He didn't want to sign it until we freed him from child support payments, then was happy to sign it. We had the document translated into English for the USCIS by a certified translator that was required. This single document was quite expensive, but we are talking about the welfare of a human life here.

She is over 18 now and free to do whatever she pleases with her life, not only here, but also in her home country. Ha, she wants to stay here.

Can only say our USCIS wants proof that a minor child is free to come here, whether that child can even leave her parent country, is up to that country.

i am in that situation now. my stepdaughter is 6 years old and we have been worried the natural mother will have to sign because we know she wont.. My husband is german and has sole custody. the bio. mother in this case is a druggie and alcoholic and has limited supervised visitation. i emailed frankfort and asked if we would need her sign and they told me that as long as he has sole custody we wouldnt need a sign from the natural mother. but we must show a court paper stating he has sole custody.

Are you saying that no consent form of other parent is required to be filed or shown to US authorities?

StevenCarmen,

This has a lot to do with the country the child is immigrating from. I know for my step kids we had to send a notorized letter from the Mother stating the Children are allowed to immigrate to the NVC ( there was not hing needed to approve a I-130, just at the NVC stage ). Then when it was time for them to leave Colombia we had to have a differnt document from the Colombian government signed by the mother at the colombian embassy here in the US and stamped in Bogota or they would not have allowed the kids to leave the airport in Colombia.

i am saying what the embassy told me when i wrote. I think its different for situations whether the parents have joint custody or sole ect. and in each country it seems they have different laws. i will give you another example. my husband has flown to america to visit me in the past 4 times with his daughter and not once did he need anything to get a passport or anything from the biological mother of this child. and when he landed in philly they never questioned where this childs mother was or anything... he has sole and complete custody.. why should they need anything from the mother.. she has nothing left.