Manila Embassy Denying Childred even with Birth Certificate

[jerjan 0]

I was a member of Visajourney until we were final with all our paperwork in 2007. At that time my wife came over from the Philippines and left her 2 year old that was born out of wedlock until she was more prepared to raise her but the child was listed on the K-1 as her child.

A year ago we petitioned to bring her little girl over now since her primary caretakers have both passed away within a short time. All the paperwork was completed and approved including the original birth certificate and finally an interview was scheduled for December 6th, 2011. The medical must be at least two weeks early so my wife left Texas on November 15th to Manila and had a cousin bring her daughter from Mindanao. They had the medical, cured up a little infection and went on the the interview.

Now this little girl is 7 years old and does not speak English so her mother was there to translate even though I am the Petitioner of her as my stepchild due to our wedding. They told me it was not necessary for me to be there. The next thing I found out was my wife calling me in tears saying they refuse to accept the fact that she is the mother and demanded a DNA test. Problem is, the interviewer refused to tell her where, when, why, or any information, just told her he would email me. Been nearly a week and I have heard nothing. Several calls to the Embassy have ended up with no answer, line busy, and when I did reach an operator the would not let me talk to a supervisor, just sent me back on the extension that says it is busy and the second time is says that it adds, Goodbye. I made several calls from the US to the Embassy trying to get some information with no result. I called the State Department in Washington DC and they told me I need to ask for a supervisor. So, i tried that and they would not put me in touch with a supervisor or anyone else for that matter.

My wife says the interviewer based his decision on two things. He ask the child if she knew who her petitioner is. Now being 7, I don't know how many would know what a petitioner was let alone one asking in a language you don't understand.

The second assault was directed at my wife. Although she had the original birth certificate it did not matter. He asked her why she did not bring pictures showing her relationship over the past five years. We had only been told to provide current head shots of the baby. We have plenty of pictures and I have sent them to her but she is not allowed to add them to the file or come back without the DNA test and a new appointment. Being from the states and her daughter from Mindanao, what should she do?

I emailed the Manila EMbassy twice, asking for information regarding the DNA test which we were not objecting to if it could be done fairly quickly due to the expense of having to stay in hotels and being away for the holidays. I received no response.

Long story short, I have to wait until they notify me by mail to see if I will approve a DNA test. Trying to make it go faster I sent an email to the NVC telling them that we accept that and lets get it going quickly. Answer was You have to deal only with Manila. Nice

So here we are, I am in Texas, wife and daughter finally left Manila today to go back to Manila. Without her aunt and uncle any more there is no safe, clean place for either of them to stay but the hotel prices were half that of Manila. Our dilema is that Christmas is coming, so does my wife break the heart of her daughter who has been waiting years for this and fly home to me, or does she stay in the Philippines for who knows how long until she can prove it by DNA test. Right now we are waiting for the notice. I did find out that the DNA must go as follows:

1st, wait for the letter, then contact aabb labs in Maryland. They have a list of approved labs all over the U.S. Once I get the letter I send a copy to my chosen approved lab and pay the $680.00 for the test. They will send a kit to the Manila Embassy and when it arrives the embassy will notify me (in Texas) by mail to set up a date to have the swabs done. Then my wife and daughter have to return to Manila and go to the Embassy where the swabs are taken by someone from St. Lukes but only in the presence of the officer and only with their passports for ID. Then they go home again and the samples are sent back to the states for up to two months to be tested and then the results are sent back to Manila where they again will notify me (in Texas) to set up an appointment to continue the interview. Only at that time may she show the pictures she now has in her possession. Cost to us without the DNA test would be a little over 5k, but the extra flights, hotels, test etc, boost that with the test to around 12k. This is tough on a one income family that just wanted their child with them. Since the Embassy refuses to talk to her or to me we don't know what else to do but wait. There are hundreds of relatives that could tell the Embassy that is her daughter. So could the pictures. We are now stuck between a rock and a hard place. I chose to have her stay with her daughter so as not to break her heart and as a result, we will be apart for Christmas and New Years and who knows how long after that. After the swabs are taken, my wife will fly back to Texas for the two month wait and her daughter will then have to stay again with the cousins since the parents passed away. Anybody have a better idea?

Sorry for the long post but thought you may be interested in how this Embassy treats people, even though I am a U.S. Citizen and my wife is a permanent resident of the U.S. Please don't suggest I call HIllary or Obama, I am not a Democrat, Im a independent.

[together4evr 360]

I wish I had the answers or advice that you need. And I am sorry your wife should spend the holidays with the child. You have enjoyed your wife for 4 beautiful years and I hope you can manage the time apart for the benefit of her child. This is a terrible long snail mail wait for everything. I think the process seems a little backwards. We are in the 21st century and faxes and emails or some easy phone call should have been sufficient in the begining to not waste all this time already.

Good Luck.

[Leatherneck 693]

Wow, that is a tough place to be in for your family.

No one can really tell you how to deal with the issue of should your wife stay or should she fly back to Texas to spend the holidays with you, that is a financial matter for you as well as a emotional issue for the little 7 year old girl that has not spent time with her mother in a few years.

You're kind of left with 6 in-one-hand and 1/2 dozen in-the-other hand.

If the wife stays there during this ordeal, you rack up hotel charges. If she flies back to TX, then returns to the Philippines later, that is another bite out of the wallet. You'll pay for flights from Mindanao to Manila for the swabbing to take place, then they'll return to Mindanao to wait for the results, then they have to fly back to USEM for the interview. Then at some point, after a successful interview, your family has to fly to the states.

So I guess you have to weight the cost of all that flying against the cost of leaving your wife there until this ordeal is finally over.

One thing for sure OP, it is so close to Christmas now, the little girl has not had a holiday season with her mother since she was 2 years old, but you've had the joy of being with your wife the past few holiday seasons. Would it be fair to say the little girl deserves this Christmas with her mother?

That's my 2 cents worth.

Good luck OP!

[jerjan 0]

I certainly agree that my wife should stay with the child and have already made that decision over my wife's objections as she is sick of being pushed around and wants to come home. She will get over this. I will be just fine for the holidays and that is not the point. The point is that the Embassy is denying original birth certificates and demanding the DNA because my wife did not bring a series of picturs showing a long term relationship. Of course we have those but no one told us anything about bringing them and the Embassy will not let us update the file now. My wife has gone back to Mindanao to await the appointment for the swabs. The total cost is more than double what it would be if this unnecessary step was not ordered. She has over 200 relatives that will give affidavits that the baby is hers. We are angry and frustrated that the Embassy would not explain anything or let us talk to them about it or bring in the pictures. But we are being patient and waiting as we are NOT going to give up.

[brian_n_phuong 193]

Is this just a general rant against the Manila Embassy, or is there some way we can help you with this?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I certainly agree that my wife should stay with the child and have already made that decision over my wife's objections as she is sick of being pushed around and wants to come home. She will get over this. I will be just fine for the holidays and that is not the point. The point is that the Embassy is denying original birth certificates and demanding the DNA because my wife did not bring a series of picturs showing a long term relationship. Of course we have those but no one told us anything about bringing them and the Embassy will not let us update the file now. My wife has gone back to Mindanao to await the appointment for the swabs. The total cost is more than double what it would be if this unnecessary step was not ordered. She has over 200 relatives that will give affidavits that the baby is hers. We are angry and frustrated that the Embassy would not explain anything or let us talk to them about it or bring in the pictures. But we are being patient and waiting as we are NOT going to give up.

I don't mean to sound callous, but this sounds pretty normal to me. Your step-daughter was very young when your wife left to come to the US. They have no idea if the child standing in front of them is the same child listed on that birth certificate, and any pictures she's got of her with a two-year old child are going to be hard to match up with a seven-year old. It would be different if the child was now fifteen and your wife had left when the child was ten. Presumably, your wife would have ten years worth of evidence to show a relationship with the child, and the CO would be able to recognize both the child and mother in the pictures. Even so, I'm sure the delay in petitioning for her daughter only increases their suspicion.

If I were in your shoes then I would have expected that a DNA test was a very strong possibility. You'd be surprised how many people try to bring a niece or young sister to the consulate and pass them off as their daughter, especially in the Philippines.

[jerjan 0]

It is not a general rant with the embassy. It is a question about anyone else has been surprised at the interview by the interviewer demanding items we were not told to bring. As to the little girl, you can look at her at two years old and at 7 years old and unless you are blind, can see it is the same person. In addition, she looks just like her mother. All I seem to get from this group is criticism for some reason. If no one has had this experience and how to deal with it, don't bother to post your unwanted comments. There were reasons for the wait to bring her over and we still would not if her caretakers had not died. Her mother wanted her to go to school in the Philippines but now it is not a safe situation so we are taking over.

[Frank and Racquel 18]

It is not a general rant with the embassy. It is a question about anyone else has been surprised at the interview by the interviewer demanding items we were not told to bring. As to the little girl, you can look at her at two years old and at 7 years old and unless you are blind, can see it is the same person. In addition, she looks just like her mother. All I seem to get from this group is criticism for some reason. If no one has had this experience and how to deal with it, don't bother to post your unwanted comments. There were reasons for the wait to bring her over and we still would not if her caretakers had not died. Her mother wanted her to go to school in the Philippines but now it is not a safe situation so we are taking over.

I really feel for you guys, and I'm sorry about what is happening, but I can see the Embassy's side on this looking from the outside. A real sticky situation for everyone. The child really doesn't know the petitioner and to be frank, doesnt really know her mom either right? I mean she was 2 when mom left. My earliest memories in life start from about age 4 1/2 . The CO has a notion that maybe this little girl is not really her daughter. I mean I believe you , but you know, you have to be 110% sure. Anyway , why cant you get the DNA test done there in Manila? There's got to be a way? As far as the Embassy goes, waiting for instructions/email from them can take a month or 2. There is absolutly no one you guys can trust in the Manila area to takecare of the little girl while Mom comes home and works for a few months while getting this whole DNA test thing fixed/set-up? I wish I can help you. If I lived there I would say leave her with me and my wife, I would watch her for free even because I know its a big expense just traveling back and forth. Good Luck, we will pray for you guys on this situation.

[Darnell 8,478]

are you certain you're reaching the IV unit when yer emailing?

at this point, you really should fax over, address it to the Chief of IV Unit.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

I don't mean to sound callous, but this sounds pretty normal to me. Your step-daughter was very young when your wife left to come to the US. They have no idea if the child standing in front of them is the same child listed on that birth certificate, and any pictures she's got of her with a two-year old child are going to be hard to match up with a seven-year old. It would be different if the child was now fifteen and your wife had left when the child was ten. Presumably, your wife would have ten years worth of evidence to show a relationship with the child, and the CO would be able to recognize both the child and mother in the pictures. Even so, I'm sure the delay in petitioning for her daughter only increases their suspicion.

If I were in your shoes then I would have expected that a DNA test was a very strong possibility. You'd be surprised how many people try to bring a niece or young sister to the consulate and pass them off as their daughter, especially in the Philippines.

We are in a similar situation:

Wife's first son never even met her in person until a week ago, he's 7 years old. I petitioned for him in April shortly after we found out he was alive (long story but she was told the baby was still-born and he was raised by the father's family). We both expected DNA would be required so Anna flew to Manila last week for his interview.

To our surprise his Visa was approved without so much as a second glance on Dec 9th (in fact they have received his Visa just today)! FWIW, he knew the man who petitioned for him to come to America was "Daddy Bob".

I can't give you any insight why our cases (which are so similar) are at opposite ends of the CO's decision but I agree with everything Jim said about how common it is for people in the Philippines to try to brings cousins, niece/nephews etc as their child. Authentic Documents (that are faked) can be bought for the right price in the Philippines as we all know. Unfortunately your case felt hinky to the CO but I wouldn't blame the USEM and its staff. They wouldn't be so difficult if it wasn't for all of the scammers trying to get US Visas.

Edited December 14, 2011 by Bob 4 Anna

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

jerjan,

After reading this post of yours it makes a lot more sense. There you mention that the child's birth was late registered (4 years after the child was born).

Now if you look at the totality of the situation then how can you say it's unreasonable that the Embassy wants proof that this is her child?

My wife could very easily Late register one of her cousins' kids as her own regardless of the fact that the kids births are already registered. This is exactly why they want to see some history between the child & mom.