I successfully got CRBA and passport for my baby.

[Bruce Wayne 6]

I want to give an account of my experience in case it helps others looking to apply.

 

I'm a US citizen and my wife is a Nigerian citizen. My baby was born in November 2020 in Nigeria. I started gathering information from the American Citizen Services of my local US Consulate in January 2021. It was very detailed and self explanatory. There required me to fill out some forms and send it along with some supporting documents via email.

 

The forms I filled were the  DS-2029 (CRBA application), DS-5507 (affidavit of physical presence and parentage), and DS-11 (passport application) but I didn't sign them. You are only allowed to sign them in front of a consular officer.

 

Documents I submitted were:

 

- Original government issued birth certificate, evidence of my US citizenship (current and expired US passport and naturalization certificate)

 

- Passport/identification document for my wife (her Nigerian passport and driver's license)

 

- Evidence of physical presence in the US (this was a bit tricky for me because I didn't have much of my tax papers which I left back in the US. I submitted the few tax papers I had plus my passport stamps, college degree, Social Security Statement from www.ssa.gov, you can also obtain your IRS transcript which shows your tax history. Just Google "Get IRS transcript") You can also submit hospital records, utility bills etc.

 

- Parents' marriage certificate, if applicable (I submitted my government issued marriage certificate).

 

- Other proof of parents' relationship (I submitted a bunch of pictures of my wife and I together before we got married, our wedding, after we got married).

 

- Prenatal records and other evidence of mother's pregnancy (I submitted ultrasound scans, hospital receipts, hospital records, pictures during her pregnancy, and after her pregnancy).

 

- Evidence of parent's location at time of conception (passport stamps were sufficient).

 

That's all I sent via email. I got denied twice. They asked for notarization of the DS-5507. I had to call the office several times for clarification between February and June. I often got inconsistent or vague answers or no response until I finally got through to someone in June who said I don't need notarization unless one parent wouldn't be attending the appointment. She scheduled me for an appointment in August.

 

All I needed to do was bring the original copies of the documents I emailed above and one photocopy of each. It was honestly time consuming and stressful for me making sure everything was in order.

 

On the day of the appointment, we showed up two hours early, waited a while before being called into the building. A lady called us to the counter, asked for our appointment letter then original copies of the documents before requesting for the photocopies. She went through them and was satisfied. She directed us to another window to pay. I paid and waited.

 

About 20 minutes later, another lady called me up to the counter. She said everything was okay but it would be more helpful if I could provide my transcript. I told her I didn't have it in person because I left it back in America. However, I had it on my phone. She said I could email it to them and they'll print it. I emailed it, they checked it and were satisfied.

 

She asked me a few questions like how my baby was conceived and how long I had been out of the United States. She asked to see our pictures again and asked my wife some questions like her travel history to the United States, when we met, how we met, when we got married, and other basic relationship questions. She was satisfied with the answers and said she'll be granting the CRBA and passport. It will be ready for pickup in 4 to 5 weeks. I asked about applying for SSN and she gave me a paper containing instructions. She told me the SS card could only arrive at a US address though.

 

I was really happy with the successful application but I don't think I'll be going through this route anymore. I will rather have my next child delivered in the US to avoid this amount of work. Although, I heard it's usually easier after your first child since they'll have your records and documents on file and you can pretty much use the same documents to apply.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask or PM me .

[JeanneAdil 6,554]

I wouldn't expect it to be any easier no matter how many children

the document will go with the packet for # 1  and no longer be at US embassy in Nigeria (or on their computer)

a new child would need all the same proofs as required by immigration

Surprised you didn't have to do DNA

 

And Congratulations to wife and baby

Edited August 19, 2021 by JeanneAdil

[Coco8 1,042]

Quote

 I will rather have my next child delivered in the US to avoid this amount of work. A

 

To have the child delivered in the US, you would want to have health insurance ahead of time or it would cost you a lot. The US is one of the most expensive countries to have a child. You also have to account for the fact that pregnant women cannot travel after the 6th month or something like that, so she'd need to be in the US for a while before having the baby and then she cannot overstay. 

 

I'd suggest sending a letter to your Senator/House representatives with your experience. I doubt they'll do much about it, but I don't think people understand how difficult all these paperworks are. They would be easier if they provided clear instructions and some type of "costumer" service. 

[Bruce Wayne 6]

2 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

I wouldn't expect it to be any easier no matter how many children

the document will go with the packet for # 1  and no longer be at US embassy in Nigeria (or on their computer)

a new child would need all the same proofs as required by immigration

Surprised you didn't have to do DNA

 

And Congratulations to wife and baby

Thank you.

 

Oh, okay. I figured they have access to pull down records. I also meant easier in the sense that I'm now well aware of the process. I have all the required documents ready such that going forward, I can easily apply within a few weeks after my next child is born. As opposed to the process over the past few months which took me a long time just to gather all the required documents. 

[Bruce Wayne 6]

2 hours ago, Coco8 said:

 

To have the child delivered in the US, you would want to have health insurance ahead of time or it would cost you a lot. The US is one of the most expensive countries to have a child. You also have to account for the fact that pregnant women cannot travel after the 6th month or something like that, so she'd need to be in the US for a while before having the baby and then she cannot overstay. 

 

I'd suggest sending a letter to your Senator/House representatives with your experience. I doubt they'll do much about it, but I don't think people understand how difficult all these paperworks are. They would be easier if they provided clear instructions and some type of "costumer" service. 

Yeah, the health care cost is high to deliver in America. I will definitely need to get health insurance to cover most of the costs.

 

I'm curious about the restrictions you mentioned on pregnant women though. I'm planning on applying for a visitor's visa for my wife. I believe the visitor's visa is valid for two years and she can't stay more than 3 months at a time.

 

Are you saying that when she hits 7 months, she wouldn't be allowed to fly with a visitor's visa she got before she was pregnant?

[Coco8 1,042]

28 minutes ago, Bruce Wayne said:

Are you saying that when she hits 7 months, she wouldn't be allowed to fly with a visitor's visa she got before she was pregnant?

It's an airline policy, not a visa restriction. Usually international airlines don't allow you to travel after 28 weeks. It's because of safety. 

 

Quote

I believe the visitor's visa is valid for two years and she can't stay more than 3 months at a time.

I'm not sure if how long it's valid depends on the country. Maybe for her country is 2 years. My dad has a 10 year visa. It can also depend on who the person is; they can give some people longer visas and others shorter visas.

 

Technically she would be able to stay 6 months, but once you stay for that long you cannot come back again in a year or so.

 

Also, take into account that if she is very pregnant and says she will stay 6 months, they could turn her away because of immigration intent. It basically it's up to the officer at the entry point. Also, you would need to stay for that long as well, since it would look odd that she is staying alone and you leaving. 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by Coco8

[Bruce Wayne 6]

3 hours ago, Coco8 said:

Also, take into account that if she is very pregnant and says she will stay 6 months, they could turn her away because of immigration intent. It basically it's up to the officer at the entry point. Also, you would need to stay for that long as well, since it would look odd that she is staying alone and you leaving. 

 

 

So if the immigration officer asks how long she plans on staying, can she say something like one month when she really plans on staying for 5 or 6 months?

[JeanneAdil 6,554]

4 hours ago, Coco8 said:

It's an airline policy, not a visa restriction. Usually international airlines don't allow you to travel after 28 weeks. It's because of safety. 

 

I'm not sure if how long it's valid depends on the country. Maybe for her country is 2 years. My dad has a 10 year visa. It can also depend on who the person is; they can give some people longer visas and others shorter visas.

 

Technically she would be able to stay 6 months, but once you stay for that long you cannot come back again in a year or so.

 

Also, take into account that if she is very pregnant and says she will stay 6 months, they could turn her away because of immigration intent. It basically it's up to the officer at the entry point. Also, you would need to stay for that long as well, since it would look odd that she is staying alone and you leaving. 

 

 

and hard for a Nigerian to get a tourist visa to begin with

 

[Coco8 1,042]

1 hour ago, Bruce Wayne said:

So if the immigration officer asks how long she plans on staying, can she say something like one month when she really plans on staying for 5 or 6 months?

It's easy to get caught in a lie and if she ever wants to immigrate to the US or visit again, she will not be allowed to do it

[Bruce Wayne 6]

5 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

and hard for a Nigerian to get a tourist visa to begin with

 

Not really. She's gotten several in the past. 

[StrawberryKiss 170]

9 hours ago, Bruce Wayne said:

So if the immigration officer asks how long she plans on staying, can she say something like one month when she really plans on staying for 5 or 6 months?

You should never lie to a Consular or CBP officer 

[Bruce Wayne 6]

27 minutes ago, StrawberryKiss said:

You should never lie to a Consular or CBP officer 

Yeah. I'll just apply for immigrant visa when I travel back later this year.m to avoid the hassles of a tourist visa.

Edited August 20, 2021 by Bruce Wayne

[StrawberryKiss 170]

3 minutes ago, Bruce Wayne said:

Yeah. I'll just apply for immigrant visa when I travel back later this year.m to avoid the hassles of a tourist visa.

That’s what I would do in your case. 

also, sorry to hear you had to go through all of this just to get the CRBA. We had a much easier time in Frankfurt last month. The fact that you submitted so much more evidence than us and still got denied twice is nuts. (I know it’s because of Nigeria being a high fraud country, but still…). I thought our process was already stressful enough. 

[Bruce Wayne 6]

14 minutes ago, StrawberryKiss said:

That’s what I would do in your case. 

also, sorry to hear you had to go through all of this just to get the CRBA. We had a much easier time in Frankfurt last month. The fact that you submitted so much more evidence than us and still got denied twice is nuts. (I know it’s because of Nigeria being a high fraud country, but still…). I thought our process was already stressful enough. 

Wow. I'm curious what the process is like in Frankfurt. Please tell me what your experience was like.

[StrawberryKiss 170]

17 minutes ago, Bruce Wayne said:

Wow. I'm curious what the process is like in Frankfurt. Please tell me what your experience was like.

We were able to fill out the CRBA application online and upload all the evidence: passport bio pages, marriage certificate, daughter’s birth certificate, husband’s social security statement - that’s it. Then one month later, we got an email to schedule an appointment (were able to pick the date ourselves). Had to submit the DS-11 in paper form at the interview. Total timeframe: 3 months (partly due to lockdown/COVID). We received passport and CRBA in the mail 9 days later. 
 

The only problems we encountered were that it took the consulate a long time to respond to emails/questions and, at the time of the interview, the consulate had redesigned their websites. So everybody’s uploaded scans/docs had gotten deleted. Luckily, you have to bring copies of all the docs anyways, so it wasn’t a big problem and the CO was super nice. 

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by StrawberryKiss