What to do now? Advice sought.

[Falstaff 0]

Hi everyone,

I'm scheduled to talk to a immigration attorney but thought I would post here to learn from other couple's real world experiences. I have a Japanese girlfriend living in Japan that I was in process of filing a fiancée visa (K-1) for. Well, I got her pregnant, but that's okay as I was planning on marrying her anyway. I could file the K-1 and have it processed before her due date, have her move to the US, get married, put her under my insurance plan; problem solved. But there is a problem. For several reasons (justifiable), she does't want to give birth in the US. So now what?

I could get married to her in Japan and file a spousal visa (K3 or CR1) but how do I account for the unborn child? Do I have to wait until the child is born before I file for the spousal visa? Or can I file the spousal visa after getting married in Japan (and before the baby is born) and somehow do a Adjustment of Status (AoS) after the baby is born? Anyone have any experience with a situation like this?

Any advice or real world experience would be greatly appreciated!

[Hypnos 6,576]

Assuming you meet the requirements, you would be able to file a Consular Report of Birth Abroad for the child and they would automatically receive US citizenship through you once the child was born. You could then obtain a US passport for them and they would not require a visa at all.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/events-and-records/birth.html

You must demonstrate that you have spent at least five years physically present in the US, at least two of which must have been after you were 14.

Edited December 3, 2014 by Hypnos

[Falstaff 0]

Hi Hypnos,

thank you for the reply and advice! So, even though the wife is not a legal US resident (or visa holder) at the time of the baby's birth, as long as I am a US citizen (and meet the US residence requirements) I should have no problem in getting US citizenship for the baby by filing a CRBA? Has anyone on this board gone through this procedure (US husband, foreign wife, baby born abroad, CRBA)?

[Hypnos 6,576]

Correct.

Lots of people have done this; it's a very common thing.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

Yes it is common to do that, we did it with our twins.

We have a forum specifically about the process here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/154-consular-reports-of-birth-abroad-crba/

You can file for either the K1 or the CR-1 during the pregnancy, no issues there either.

[Falstaff 0]

Yes it is common to do that, we did it with our twins.

We have a forum specifically about the process here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/154-consular-reports-of-birth-abroad-crba/

You can file for either the K1 or the CR-1 during the pregnancy, no issues there either.

Interesting. So, is it possible to start the K1 fiancee visa process (which has a shorter time to completion), and file a CRBA when the baby is born even though we won't be legally married when the child is born in Japan? Or should I marry and file a CR-1 which has a longer lead time for completion? Has anyone done the former with success? Thanks so much in advance!

[Hypnos 6,576]

You can do whichever you feel like; you do not have to be married in order for your child to receive derivative US citizenship from you.

[Penguin_ie 5,986]

Hypnos is correct- the US citizenship for the child depends on biology, not on you being married to the mom.