Cristina84

OK, so I called USCIS and they told me that it IS NOT necessary to pay the fee in our case. She can enter the country with her visa. The fee is to cover the cost of a green card. On her visa, it clearly states that her Honduran Passport, with the US visa and the I-551 stamp that she will get at the POE function as a green card for the first 360 days that she is in the US.

Once she is here, with her Honduran passport (which will have the stamp in it saying she was admitted as a legal permenant resident) and other supporting documents we can apply for her US passport. Once that arrives (in 6-8 weeks) she will have proof of citizenship. Therefore she doesn't really NEED a green card as long as we get her passport in the first year she is in the country (and before the I-551 stamp in per passport expires).

This process has been SO expensive, if we can avoid the $165 fee, and bypass getting a green card (which we don't really need in her case) then that's what we'll do.

Thanks for the input everyone!

Hello,

I am a naturalized US citizen petitioning for my daughter. She received her visa last week, and will be traveling to the USA next month. She will become a citizen automatically upon entering the US because she qualifies for citizenship under the child citizenship act of 2000 (CCA).

Do i still have to pay the $165 USCIS ELIS fee before she enters the US?

Can we choose NOT to pay this fee and just apply directly for her passport as soon as she arrives and has been issued her SSN.? I don't see why a green card is necessary if she automatically gains US Citizenship upon entering the country.

Thank you!

Actually, I contacted the embassy in Teguc, and they said it was okay if we started the process now. The post important thing is to use an AABB Accredited lab and make sure that the Immigration Case number (starting with TGG in our case) was associated with the sample my husband submitted. This way, when she goes for the interview they will already have her DNA results at the embassy and hopefully she will be granted a visa the same day.

Hello,

My husband lives in Ohio, is a naturalized US citizen and has filed a an I-130 for his daughter, a minor, who lives in Honduras to immigrate to the United States. The case is currently with the NVC and we have all of the documents required for submission of the DS-230 (birth certificate--literal form, police record, photocopy of passport and two passport sized photos, translations of all documents and certificate of translation).

Here's the problem: my husband is NOT the original father listed on his daughter's birth certificate and he and the mother were never married. In 2005 he challenged the paternity, had his daughter's last name changed so it is now the same and his and had her birth certificate amended. The literal form birth certificate documents all of this. He has never had DNA testing done to prove paternity, but he knows that it's his daughter.

Given these circumstances I am almost CERTAIN that the embassy will require DNA testing to prove paternity. It is better to wait until they ask for DNA testing, or can we speed up the process by contacting an AABB certified lab and paying the fees, etc, now?

He doesn't want to complicate the process of have to pay for DNA testing twice, but we are trying to do everything we can to get her here before her 18th birthday (July 2014) so she becomes a citizen automatically.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cristina