Over the past months as I have searched for assistance with this topic I have found may questions of all varieties throughout the different forums. I have found most of the questions interesting, informative or helpful with my own journey. The challenge is that the experience of step children is extremely important to VJ filers with children but of little interest to anyone else. Is there enough support for this topic to have a single forum thread devoted to the immigration of step children?

Good luck to everyone and God Bless. Our interview is Oct 17.

Mike

Mike, I don't know it a separate forum in necessary about step children as a lot of these issues can be located under forums already set up. Your questions and comments are important always and of great interest to many concerned. Remember that VJ is constantly changing members as old ones move on with their lives having finished this need and of course many new ones arriving daily. Every mention of these topics is of interest to someone, whether they are in the same situation or not. That's what keeps VJ new and fresh.

As you are probably already aware, there are many forums now and the administrator is trying to keep each one operating and everything current. Considering this is a free service here, his compensation is likely dependent upon limited advertising. When necessary, a topic is moved to a more appropriate forum so that the writer can note where he/she should be asking their question. I think most everyone gets their questions answered in a timely manner.

So, keep asking your questions and we'll try to answer them to best of our abilities.

Hello!
I have a question about stepchild and i never get any responce!

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...BF%BDentry91852

I did a huge research myself and we made a alot of calls to the NVC looking for the answers,but still,i think theres not enough information provided on this forum about kids/stepkids, or its really hard to find.
As u can see by my signature- we already sent the Ds-230 forms and docs, but its not yet entered into the system, so im worried and being paranoid about RFE's
Thank you!

Rick your response is a perfect example. So many members have questions that go unanswered because filers with children are more of an exception that the rule. It is your situation and a few similar to mine that I found a need to ask the question. I respect the comments of 1HappyGuy. Is he a person who can answer for the web site? Or just giving his respected opinion. I wonder if he has children to process through immigration. It is very difficult to find old threads and valid direction regarding children. I think a web site forum for step children immigration issues would be extremely helpful. And I would be remiss if I did not express my appreciation form the experts at this site who keep the information correct or corrected and the unselfish efforts of the site administrators and owners who keep this site alive. I would be more than happy to donate if the opportunity or need arose for this continuation of this web site. A little from everyone would be a great and wonderful blessing for us all.

The response to you unanswered thread is this: NVC requires the original custody document when you are a Ukraine filer of if NVC schedules your appointment. Certified and notarized copies do not work. I found this through personal error. If you have not sent the original get it ready because they will send you a letter requiring the original or they will require you to take it to the embassy. I my case the required the original be submitted prior to completing the case. And to make matters worse, they then lost it and we had to secure a second original copy from the court for our interview.

Rick and I (his ukrainian wife Olechka ) decided to unite our profiles, to not confuse ppl, because we had the same exact timelines.... So it is mostly me who is freakin out about the paperwork...
I totally agree with you that its would be very helpfull to have this topic somewhere on easy-to-find place or pinned.So future and present vj'ers, who have kids and alot of questions about the process can find some answers ,hopefully!
Thank you for your response, but i have more questions.I sent to the NVC duplicates of my original documents (which is the same in Ukraine and i got it from the issuing entity(RAGS) as they ask). It is not apostilled( NVC operators said we dont have to have it apostilled). So the question is...did u sent the duplicates , as long as they have lost ur originals? -OMG! they lost it!!-
What is the second original copy from the court u got? Is it parental custody papers?
If i have a consent letter from the biological father of my child, i dont need no court custody papers,right?

Wish you the best at the interview!!!

Applying with children I've found is stressful. I've done a lot of reading and feel confident in my application, I am still nervous about the decision we've made for my son (we applied for CR-1 for myself, my son we are planning to leave in NZ and apply for him in around a year). I'd have to say that I don't feel confident about the information I've read.

It's scattered between forums and often seems to not get any replies, or to receive different answers that are contradictory.

The second original we got from the court was the custody documents. Unfortunately my wife's "X" abandoned his child and was not cooperative when we found him. So we went to court. The letter of consent you received is all that is required. If there is anyway to have it notarized it would be better because it reduces the possibility of forgery.

Documents Apostille seals are not required from the Ukraine based on our journey this far.

In our case the NVC did not accept documents that were certified or notarized. Only original documents were accepted. Which was contrary to our instructions. And this caused a delay in our case completion. (I do not know if it was the option of the case worker or an actual rule). And now we have been notified that our lost documents are actually in our case. Too many papers.

We now believe everything is in order and we have notarized duplicates going to the embassy, Oct 17th, with my wife of everything we have submitted. I believe we are over-prepared.

Mike

If your child is 14 or under the process is very straight forward, but it still requires time. If you apply now to obtain a CR-1 visa you are still required to file the I130 and then process through the NVC same as yourself. The time required is lengthy as you know. You then have a year to complete the paperwork for the CR1 before it reverts to inactive and you have to start. It is easy to control because you can slow down or speed up your response time to each step of the process. Finally you have 6 months to immigrate after the interview process.

I would apply now and manage the process instead of waiting. You may change your mind about when you want your son with you.

In our case we have processed her son at the same time. But he will wait four months to join us. Then he wants to return for the summer and the options are his because he will have received his green card.

Mike

To answer your question, yes I have a step child from Ukraine. Our situation was a little difficult because my stepson was left off my application but listed on my fiancee's forms. He stayed in Ukraine to finish his degree. We were able to apply for his K-2 visa since it was within one year of my wife's K-1 visa issuance, but it was close. My stepson received his visa two weeks before the expiration of one year and of course he was still under 21. The age has a lot to do with children following their parent. If the child is over 21 you can just about forget them being able to come on a K-2, it just doesn't happen.

Regarding other children under the age of 21, you have to find out what the laws are of the country they are in. Our government (USA) tries to keep families together as much as possible, but they must abide by the laws of the country. So, you might need to investigate how fathers or mothers rights are handled in your individual situation. Most countries require court documents or actual release forms from the parent in country to allow their child to leave.

It really depends on the country you are involved with. I think the regional forums might be able to help more.

And, no, I'm not connected with VJ administration.

A final thought on this request before anyone tells me to open my eyes the forum already exists under the topic "bringing family members to america" I know and understand the inclusion of children is in that topic. But again I believe the is a need for a forum for the problems associated with children. VJ is dominated be mostly singles or couples not yet with children. The topic in the forum generally do not include children and therefore the forum is often overlooked or not seen by many members in need. The is not a subject with more passion than our children. Even our spouses and loved ones fall to second place when it comes to the children.

1HappyGuy...... Great advise. And that is why I think there should be a common thread just for children. Your experience should be permanently available in a forum for children.

Perhaps a letter to Captain Ewok about rewording the forum to highlight bring children might help. I agree that the "bringing family members" is a rather broad topic since there are so many situations that could fall into this category.

Yes, speaking about notitizing the letter of consent. Be aware,people, that according to the Information Packet from the USA embassy in Ukraine(which can be obtained anytime on their site-http://kyiv.usembassy.gov/visa_iv_forms_eng.html) " If the left-behind parent is not in Ukraine, s/he should have his/her consent letter notarized at the nearest Ukrainian or U.S. Embassy/consulate in the country where s/he is located, and then submit that notarized statement with a photo-copy of his/her passport ID page. The parent should send the documents to the visa applicant. "
Just happened that my X is from Moscow,Russia,so i contacted the Ukrainian consulate in Russia,asking for such action and been told that they never did it b4 and they dont do it now - so dont waste ur time,ukrainians.
You have to go straigh to the US embassy in Russia to the citizen section (theres no lines at all,just dont forget your passports, X husband/wife have to be presented).You show ur passports to the guard and say u need to meet a US notary to certify the letter of consent.Then u go inside and talk to US consul,explaining what u need,he will give u a blank to write the consent letter and ur X will have to sign it in front of the consul .Also he will scan the ID page from ur X's passport and stamp the copy , then stamp the consent letter . You will pay like 50 US dollars and its done.
Im not sure if it works the same way for other countries, its better to get Imformation Packet from the US embassy in your country - if its possible, or call US embassy to ask.
I still wonder, if any of you,ukrainians, have done this letter like i did? Does anybody used a letter of consent,notirized by civil notary, is it works?

Just wanted to say thanks for this thread, again.

Mike - I hadn't considered what you'd suggested, applying now and 'managing' the process. But now that you've mentioned it, it makes SO much sense.

Thanks.

Hello I am currently filing for a cr-1 for my wife. I have a 12 year step daughter as well and I would like to know if I have to file seperate forms for her. Meaning do I a have to fill out a seperate I-130 and 325g or can she be put on the same form with my wife. Is there any website I can visit which outlines the procedure for step children? Quite confused and it is strange that there is such a lack of support regarding such issues. I appreciate any help and advice one can give. Thank you

You need to file a separate I130 form for your stepchild.
This is now the road we have just started to trek for my daughter while my papers are now with the NVC. Don't ask the USCIS about this because that was what my USC husband did a lot of times and he was misinformed by telling him that he need not file a separate form for her as long as her name appears on my papers. No!!!
Now we are praying that my daughter's papers can catch up with mine coz i ain't leaving without my daughter.

Hi,

It is all upon your countrie's law. For example, in Switzerland, if a single mother decide to move, with her child no one can stop that and she is not required for a consent letter from child's biological father, because the mom has full custody, authority over the child. Therefore you need to get informations specific on your country of residence or origine.

Hope that helps,

I'm not sure that's true. In New Zealand my child's father has no legal rights over him and I have total legal custody.

However, since his name is on the birth certificate information I've been given is that I either need a decree from the court declaring that (difficult as they say... you already have legal custody, we don't need to put through a court case for this), or a letter of permission from his father who has been absent for all 13 years of his life.

It is not only local law you are dealing with (which would come into play as you depart the borders of your country) but also rules and procedures that have been created by the US Department of State for the issuance of the visa. If the rules/procedures dictate or demand that this is a requirement that must be fulfilled for the issuance of the visa then there isn't anything you can do but comply....

I'm not sure if this link will help, but take a look at it.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...custom&page