USC bringing 7 Y/O son and fiancee/wife to US

[GabiMatch 161]

Hi everyone, I'm trying to help a friend and wanted to know what is the easiest way to bring his fiancee/wife and child to the US...so here is the background.

They know each other for a long time and dispite the fact that he just got divorced a few months ago, he does have a 7 Y/O child with the person that he is planing on get married to...he is a Brazilian man naturalized American Citizen and their child was never registered in an American consulate in Brazil as an American citizen. He lives in the US but visit Brazil every 2 or 3 months. Shoul they try to register the child there as American citizen or just apply for him as LPR with his mom? Should they do Fiance visa or CR-1? Will they get any problems because of the short time between his divorce and marriage?  They do have a lot of proof of bonafide relationship over the years.

Let me know if any more information is needed for answering this topic properly.

Please help!

 

[Roel 7,191]

None of those ways are easy or fast. 

There are countless threads here writing about difference between k1 and cr1. It's their choice what they want to do. 

 

Tell that friend to search this forum for k1 vs. Cr1 topics. There are so many. 

 

Since the child is US citizen, registered or not, he cannot have a green card. 

[geowrian 22,335]

Getting married and doing a CR-1 is probably for the best, but the K-1 is an option if they want to be together in the US a few months sooner (~12-14 months vs ~8-10 months). It also depends on whether the beneficiary wants to work or travel abroad right away. Which one is better for them is really a preference based on what's most important to them.

 

A USC cannot obtain a US visa. If there is a reason for the CO to even suspect that the child may be a USC, they will require resolving that question before they can issue the visa. So they need to get the child's citizenship question resolved first...the embassy may or may not require a DNA test in addition to the child's birth certificate.

 

A short time period between a divorce and remarriage may raise a little bit of a question, but if there's not any other issues and they have good relationship evidence, then I don't think it will be a problem.

[GabiMatch 161]

27 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Getting married and doing a CR-1 is probably for the best, but the K-1 is an option if they want to be together in the US a few months sooner (~12-14 months vs ~8-10 months). It also depends on whether the beneficiary wants to work or travel abroad right away. Which one is better for them is really a preference based on what's most important to them.

 

A USC cannot obtain a US visa. If there is a reason for the CO to even suspect that the child may be a USC, they will require resolving that question before they can issue the visa. So they need to get the child's citizenship question resolved first...the embassy may or may not require a DNA test in addition to the child's birth certificate.

 

A short time period between a divorce and remarriage may raise a little bit of a question, but if there's not any other issues and they have good relationship evidence, then I don't think it will be a problem.

So should he file for his child citizenship before iniciating the process or it could be done at the same time? Can you tell me how long does it take for his child to get a US citizenship if he apply in the american consulate in Brazil?can someone else that hold power of attorney do that for him over there?

Thank you so much for your response!

[Iwo_Jima 119]

1 hour ago, GabiMatch said:

.... dispite the fact that he just got divorced a few months ago, he does have a 7 Y/O child with the person that he is planing on get married to....

 

So USC is a biological father of 7 years old child of the woman who was married to another man?

[geowrian 22,335]

1 hour ago, GabiMatch said:

So should he file for his child citizenship before iniciating the process or it could be done at the same time? Can you tell me how long does it take for his child to get a US citizenship if he apply in the american consulate in Brazil?can someone else that hold power of attorney do that for him over there?

Thank you so much for your response!

The child's citizenship would be through the consulate (CRBA). Starting the permanent residency process means filing an I-130 petition through USCIS in the US.

 

Here's the challenge...

A USC filing for a spouse falls into the immediate relative category. Normally this is good because the only delay in getting the visa is processing times. However, it does not permit derivatives. As such, if the child is NOT a USC, he needs to file one for his son as well.

The CRBA (+ passport) process is usually not too long...a matter of several weeks, I believe? But if he files for only the mother and the CRBA cannot be issued, he needs to then file for the son, and would likely want to wait until both are at NVC to proceed...so it would slow down the mother's case a bit.

If he does file for the son and the CRBA is approved, then he should withdraw the I-130, but he won't get the $535 fee back...so it's wasted money.

 

This really should have been done back when the child was first born, but letting that slide for so long and given the marital complications involved, I would expect that they ask for DNA testing. That may delay the CRBA timeline a bit as well.

 

So if he's certain that 1) the child is his biological son, 2) he has sufficient evidence of the child being his son, and 3) he is eligible to pass citizenship to a child (i.e. naturalized and had at least 5 years physically present in the US before the child was born), then he should just do the CRBA and can file the I-130 for his spouse anytime.

If he's not certain but has the money to spare, he can file the I-130 for both and do the CRBA, then withdraw the I-130 if it comes through negatively.

If not, he should wait until the CRBA process completes and file the I-130s for there. Keep in mind the CRBA is not free, nor is DNA testing (obviously).

 

I'm uncertain of the PoA process and how that plays a role or not, sorry. but if they do request a DNA sample, they typically want it at a particular lab. Don't hold me to what they will do in this circumstance....that's jsut what they typically do. This case is a bit atypical due to the length of time involved.

[Ryan H 3,790]

Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Progress Reports to What Visa Do I Need - Family Based Immigration forum.

[Keith & Arileidi 437]

If the USC spent 5 years in the US priority to the child's birth... file the birth abroad and pursue the cr1/ir1 visa

 

I'm currently in process of bringing my son and wife to US.  If you have any question PM.. I'll answer them in more detail. 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Keith & Arileidi

[GabiMatch 161]

Thank you everyone for the answers! Here is the thing, the mother of the child have never been married before and he is the biological father of the child, HE is the one that was legaly married (separated) when his child born. For lack of information he never applyed for his son's citizenship and he was already a naturalized citizen for over 5 years when his son born.

There is another chalenge for his case, he just told me that he have no idea of were his citizenship certificate is nor does he know what a A# is (I had to explain that to him...lol). Can he use his American passport only for the application? Is this a big problem? Is it possible to request a copy of his certificate? I know I can help him to file the I-130 but I have no idea of how is the process for the son's citizenship request.

 

[geowrian 22,335]

53 minutes ago, GabiMatch said:

Thank you everyone for the answers! Here is the thing, the mother of the child have never been married before and he is the biological father of the child, HE is the one that was legaly married (separated) when his child born. For lack of information he never applyed for his son's citizenship and he was already a naturalized citizen for over 5 years when his son born.

There is another chalenge for his case, he just told me that he have no idea of were his citizenship certificate is nor does he know what a A# is (I had to explain that to him...lol). Can he use his American passport only for the application? Is this a big problem? Is it possible to request a copy of his certificate? I know I can help him to file the I-130 but I have no idea of how is the process for the son's citizenship request.

Thanks fore the update. That fills in some details. It sounds like the CRBA should be fine so long as he naturalized and had 5+ years of physical presence in the US prior to the son's birth.

 

A US passport is an acceptable form of evidence of US citizenship.

[samiam5211 4]

57 minutes ago, GabiMatch said:

Thank you everyone for the answers! Here is the thing, the mother of the child have never been married before and he is the biological father of the child, HE is the one that was legaly married (separated) when his child born. For lack of information he never applyed for his son's citizenship and he was already a naturalized citizen for over 5 years when his son born.

There is another chalenge for his case, he just told me that he have no idea of were his citizenship certificate is nor does he know what a A# is (I had to explain that to him...lol). Can he use his American passport only for the application? Is this a big problem? Is it possible to request a copy of his certificate? I know I can help him to file the I-130 but I have no idea of how is the process for the son's citizenship request.

 

He's going to have to file a N565 and get a new naturalization certificate.  A passport is a travel document, USCIS doesn't normally accept a passport as proof of citizenship. 

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

2 minutes ago, samiam5211 said:

A passport is a travel document, USCIS doesn't normally accept a passport as proof of citizenship. 

Incorrect. A passport IS proof of US citizenship

[samiam5211 4]

1 minute ago, WeGuyGal said:

Incorrect. A passport IS proof of US citizenship

USCIS will not accept a US passport as proof of citizenship.  He will have to provide his naturalization certificate.

[geowrian 22,335]

2 minutes ago, samiam5211 said:

USCIS will not accept a US passport as proof of citizenship.  He will have to provide his naturalization certificate.

Where does it say that? I can find many instances directly from USCIS where it says a US passport qualifies as proof of US citizenship.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

Direct from the horse's mouth

https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/proof-us-citizenship-and-identification-when-applying-job

 

Proof of U.S. Citizenship and Identification When Applying for a Job

Your U.S. passport is your best proof of U.S. citizenship. Other official documents can be used, as described below.