My adopted daughter's U.S. Passport

[medic5678 12]

Hi everyone.  I finalized my adoption of my Thai wife's 7 year old daughter in the state of Florida last August.   I let her Green Card expire because she became a citizen when I adopted her and hence no longer needed it.   I did renew my wife's Green Card.   Several months later, her grandmother in Thailand was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and I wasn't sure she would even live long enough for them to get through the quarantine in Thailand.  So I applied for a U.S. passport for my daughter and paid for expedited service (4 to 6 weeks).   I immediately sent her and my wife to Thailand using their Thai passports.   This was at the beginning of March.  My wife has her Green Card and can return to the USA without issue, but I have nothing for my U.S. Citizen daughter to return to America with.   My intention is to overnight the passport to her when I receive it, and she would reenter the U.S. with her U.S. passport.

 

I applied at the county courthouse in Gainesville, Florida.  They instructed me that they would have to send several documents, but the court had those on file and all I had to do was pay the fees  (which I did) to make certified copies.  We applied at the end of February 2021.  

Subsequently, the U.S. Passport office sent me a letter requesting a slew of original documents, including medical and dental records, school transcripts, her original green card and our marriage certificate.  I sent all of that 6 weeks ago but still have no word on the passport (I have booked a return flight to JFK Airport on August 1st, as she starts 3rd grade on August 10).   I'm getting worried that they will not send the passport in time.   You can't call the passport office.  It's impossible to get through.  I have tried literally 100 times.  I'm really not sure what to do here.    They have all the original documents.   If I look online at the passport application, it states  "we received your passport application on March 3 and are reviewing your documents".   

 

I realize now that she was not supposed to the leave US without the passport, but they are not functioning effectively since the COVID outbreak.  It was either send her or tell her she couldn't go.  As a husband and father, I really saw no choice except to send her and my wife immediately, the bureaucrats be damned.  They were able to stabilize her grandmother, and even though she's dying, they have had some good quality time.   So morally, I feel like I did the right thing.

 

As far as our flight plans, I probably have 2 more weeks I can wait to see if they do finish processing it.   After that, we're in uncharted territory, since it takes them 4 weeks to mail your passport.  I'm also unsure if U.S. Immigration at JFK Airport will hassle my daughter since she left before her passport was issued.  I'm flying to JFK on the day they arrive to be present in case she has any problem with immigration at the airport.  I was able to book a flight on same plane and we will all fly from JFK to Florida together.  This assuming that we get through all of this.

 

This has been an exasperating experience.  Anyone with any insight here, I'd appreciate your comments.  

 

[medic5678 12]

11 minutes ago, medic5678 said:

Hi everyone.  I finalized my adoption of my Thai wife's 7 year old daughter in the state of Florida last August.   I let her Green Card expire because she became a citizen when I adopted her and hence no longer needed it.   I did renew my wife's Green Card.   Several months later, her grandmother in Thailand was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and I wasn't sure she would even live long enough for them to get through the quarantine in Thailand.  So I applied for a U.S. passport for my daughter and paid for expedited service (4 to 6 weeks).   I immediately sent her and my wife to Thailand using their Thai passports.   This was at the beginning of March.  My wife has her Green Card and can return to the USA without issue, but I have nothing for my U.S. Citizen daughter to return to America with.   My intention is to overnight the passport to her when I receive it, and she would reenter the U.S. with her U.S. passport.

 

I applied at the county courthouse in Gainesville, Florida.  They instructed me that they would have to send several documents, but the court had those on file and all I had to do was pay the fees  (which I did) to make certified copies.  We applied at the end of February 2021.  

Subsequently, the U.S. Passport office sent me a letter requesting a slew of original documents, including medical and dental records, school transcripts, her original green card and our marriage certificate.  I sent all of that 6 weeks ago but still have no word on the passport (I have booked a return flight to JFK Airport on August 1st, as she starts 3rd grade on August 10).   I'm getting worried that they will not send the passport in time.   You can't call the passport office.  It's impossible to get through.  I have tried literally 100 times.  I'm really not sure what to do here.    They have all the original documents.   If I look online at the passport application, it states  "we received your passport application on March 3 and are reviewing your documents".   

 

I realize now that she was not supposed to the leave US without the passport, but they are not functioning effectively since the COVID outbreak.  It was either send her or tell her she couldn't go.  As a husband and father, I really saw no choice except to send her and my wife immediately, the bureaucrats be damned.  They were able to stabilize her grandmother, and even though she's dying, they have had some good quality time.   So morally, I feel like I did the right thing.

 

As far as our flight plans, I probably have 2 more weeks I can wait to see if they do finish processing it.   After that, we're in uncharted territory, since it takes them 4 weeks to mail your passport.  I'm also unsure if U.S. Immigration at JFK Airport will hassle my daughter since she left before her passport was issued.  I'm flying to JFK on the day they arrive to be present in case she has any problem with immigration at the airport.  I was able to book a flight on same plane and we will all fly from JFK to Florida together.  This assuming that we get through all of this.

 

This has been an exasperating experience.  Anyone with any insight here, I'd appreciate your comments.  

 

 

Note to moderator:  I see this is in the wrong place!  Please move, thanks!

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