Stepfather/Stepmother must know info for bringing your stepson to US from Mexico

[Football13 0]

First of all I want to thank Visa Journey for having this forum...because of them, other people will not suffer what we suffered. My experience only entails Mexico as my wife is from Mexico.

I married a woman from Mexico with children...2 boys, 6 and 9 years old. The bio-dad abandoned them,,,stop paying child support for several years...attempting to get custody was very difficult due to the corruption in Mexico...after thousands of dollars...many lawyers...several American Immigration Lawyers and actually going through the process in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico...here is what my life experience has come up with:

After 6 months of the your fiancee or spouse's ex not paying child support, they loose their rights for custody in Mexico...but the Mexican lawyers will milk this to extract money from you if you want to get the final document that gives you custody.

You do NOT need a letter from the child's bio parent to get a visa....you do NOT need custody.....you only need what is put out on the USCIS website...birth certificate, marriage certificate if applicable, divorce certificate from prior marriages if applicable,,,,and the proper forms filed (I-130, DS-260, 261 etc)

The Consulate interview did not touch the subject of the bio dad where abouts/concerns. I did go prepared with a letter from the Mexican judge allowing them to leave the country but it was never needed...there were other couples with similar situations that had letters from the bio parent...once again...I was told it was NOT needed .I also had them under my taxes for several years...I am not sure if this had bearing on their case....but a woman from Mexico at the Consulate applying for the K-3/K-4 was not asked for the letter neither...fyi

The signature/authorization from the bioparent is needed to get their passports...and you do need their passports to get their visa...now if the bioparent has abandoned them...you can get a Mexican lawyer to draw up documents to get their passports...it will cost you anywhere from 100-500 dollars...depending upon how expensive your lawyer is...and you will need two neighbors witnesses that interact with the children to testify that the bioparent has not been around/seen and not been a part of their lives/life. This usually takes about 2 months or so to do.

The biggest border crossing in the world is at San Ysidro, California.....thousands of single parents cross with their children without letters from the bio parents giving them permission to enter the another country...

I hope my experience will help others....any questions, just post it...