DontAskWhy

But why is the process for this so opaque and misleading? It's very frustrating if you are expecting to pay $100 or $205 with passport, and then you're told that you will actually have to pay $800 for a DNA test. And if you can't afford to pay that before the 90 day time limit, then you have just made a $205 donation to the US Consulate: you lost your money.
I just think the Consulate should be more transparent and vocal about the DNA test. It seems that it's a legal issue (they are not allowed to require it) and so they tread lightly and tiptoe around the truth, misleading you into thinking that if you have all your papers in order, you won't need it, it's the exception to the rule. While in reality, in most of the cases, they will ask for a DNA test.
The lack of any clear instruction on what other evidence, besides a DNA test, would satisfy the blood relationship proof, also makes it more complicated than it should be.
How is it that everyone just seems to be like, "Ok another $800 bucks? No problem, not a big deal." Am I so much poorer than everyone else that popping an unexpected $800 fee is not a big deal to anyone except me?

I helped processed CRBA for our USC expats years back with US Embassy Manila. They were all required to have the DNA test to prove paternity prior to issuance of US passports to their children.

I had to do DNA test in Jakarta for CRBA. Everything went fine at the embassy at the time of filing but we didn't have sufficient pictures of all 3 of us at the hospital when our son was born. The lady at the embassy even said she could tell just by looking at he and I that I was the father but she said her words would be enough for the paperwork. The test itself was pretty simple, just added about a month to the process.
Having read previous posts on here about CRBA's, it seemed like the majority of people from Phils had to do DNA tests. But that's just my feeling. It will be interesting to see what kind of results you see from this post.