K2 visa question re custody

[Nok and Phil 0]

Hi all.

Even though her K1 mother has sole custody, the Bangkok consulate is telling us they need an affidavit of consent from her father before they will issue her a k2 visa. Her mothers visa was already approved. Problem is we cannot locate the father as he has not been involved with the daughters life since her birth 17 years ago. We have already shown proof of sole custody. Anyone have experience/insight on this issue? Thanks!

Phil and Nok

134 app filed jan 2011

POE Aug 25th

Married Sept 23

AOS filed Nov 19

K2 daughter (17 yo) remains in Bangkok finishing high school. She already passed the interview with her mother on Aug 1, 2011. K2 visa ready to be issued after we submit affidavit of consent--which we cannot get! Help!

POE (mother) Aug 25th

[payxibka 10,045]

when does the child turn 18?

[az110965 252]

Hi all.

Even though her K1 mother has sole custody, the Bangkok consulate is telling us they need an affidavit of consent from her father before they will issue her a k2 visa. Her mothers visa was already approved. Problem is we cannot locate the father as he has not been involved with the daughters life since her birth 17 years ago. We have already shown proof of sole custody. Anyone have experience/insight on this issue? Thanks!

Phil and Nok

134 app filed jan 2011

POE Aug 25th

Married Sept 23

AOS filed Nov 19

K2 daughter (17 yo) remains in Bangkok finishing high school. She already passed the interview with her mother on Aug 1, 2011. K2 visa ready to be issued after we submit affidavit of consent--which we cannot get! Help!

POE (mother) Aug 25th

I know custody issues can be country dependent, but from what I've seen if the father is listed on the birth certificate he must give permission in writing stating that the minor child has permission to PERMANENTLY immigrate to the USA.

In cases where the father's whereabouts can not be determined I have seen instances where the mother goes to court in her country and the father's rights are terminated, freeing the child to leave the country and immigrate to the USA.

Being that the child is already 17, I would say that time is of the utmost issue. I believe once she turns 18 she is ineligible for the provisions of the K-2 (someone PLEASE verify this for me)...

If in fact you can not get the father's permission and your wife is already here in the USA you may find that your best bet will ultimately be to wait until your wife becomes a USC then petitions for the daughter.

I wish you luck. I am sure it is very difficult for your wife to be apart from her daughter.

[Ning 619]

Hi all.

Even though her K1 mother has sole custody, the Bangkok consulate is telling us they need an affidavit of consent from her father before they will issue her a k2 visa. Her mothers visa was already approved. Problem is we cannot locate the father as he has not been involved with the daughters life since her birth 17 years ago. We have already shown proof of sole custody. Anyone have experience/insight on this issue? Thanks!

Phil and Nok

134 app filed jan 2011

POE Aug 25th

Married Sept 23

AOS filed Nov 19

K2 daughter (17 yo) remains in Bangkok finishing high school. She already passed the interview with her mother on Aug 1, 2011. K2 visa ready to be issued after we submit affidavit of consent--which we cannot get! Help!

POE (mother) Aug 25th

This should serve to inform people of the actions of the BKK embassy on these matters. The ruling of the Thai court doesnt affect the decision by the embassy.

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I know custody issues can be country dependent, but from what I've seen if the father is listed on the birth certificate he must give permission in writing stating that the minor child has permission to PERMANENTLY immigrate to the USA.

In cases where the father's whereabouts can not be determined I have seen instances where the mother goes to court in her country and the father's rights are terminated, freeing the child to leave the country and immigrate to the USA.

Being that the child is already 17, I would say that time is of the utmost issue. I believe once she turns 18 she is ineligible for the provisions of the K-2 (someone PLEASE verify this for me)...

No. If she has a court order stating she has SOLE physical custody that should be sufficient.

The fathers rights aren't terminated. She would just be granted sole physical custody.

No the K2 age out is 21. The K2 needs to enter before she turns 21.

Even though her K1 mother has sole custody, the Bangkok consulate is telling us they need an affidavit of consent from her father before they will issue her a k2 visa. Her mothers visa was already approved. Problem is we cannot locate the father as he has not been involved with the daughters life since her birth 17 years ago. We have already shown proof of sole custody. Anyone have experience/insight on this issue? Thanks!

What is the "proof of sole custody" that she has? Is it a court order?

[Ning 619]

Hi all.

Even though her K1 mother has sole custody, the Bangkok consulate is telling us they need an affidavit of consent from her father before they will issue her a k2 visa. Her mothers visa was already approved. Problem is we cannot locate the father as he has not been involved with the daughters life since her birth 17 years ago. We have already shown proof of sole custody. Anyone have experience/insight on this issue? Thanks!

Phil and Nok

134 app filed jan 2011

POE Aug 25th

Married Sept 23

AOS filed Nov 19

K2 daughter (17 yo) remains in Bangkok finishing high school. She already passed the interview with her mother on Aug 1, 2011. K2 visa ready to be issued after we submit affidavit of consent--which we cannot get! Help!

POE (mother) Aug 25th

This subject requires exact details to be correctly understood.

The child has two parents but one may not be on the B Cert. If both are on the B C it doesnt mean they are legally married. If they ARENT the one that has physical custody can ask the Ampur for a document assigning a sort of legal custody. This is useless to submit to the embassy.

If they were legally married one can petition the court for physical or legal custody or both as far as I know. In a recent case a couple submitted a court order indicating the female had sole legal custody of the two children. Even though the message from the same embassy implys they will accept the order they will not.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

This should serve to inform people of the actions of the BKK embassy on these matters. The ruling of the Thai court doesnt affect the decision by the embassy.

Not necessarily. There is a difference between "sole custody" and having "transport rights" The sole parent MUST have expressed rights to remove the child from the country to the United States PERMANENTLY. If the divorce agreement does not grant her that, it does not count. They need EITHER a letter from the father OR a specific court order allowing her to remve the child permanantly to the United States.

The age at which this is required varies also, in Ukraine it is age 16, in some countries age 18.

Another thing, and I always have to say this having gone through this with two children...get this stuff done BEFORE you file the petition!!!!!!!! If it means delaying the petition a few months for a court order...so be it!

[Nok and Phil 0]

The mother'daughter was born out of wedlock and was granted sole custody in 1994. If we wait until May of next year when her daughter turns 18, will the affidavit of consent requirement go away?

[Mrs.Davidson 1]

i have a k2 minor child but still bothering me about getting a permission from his father bc first of all we're not married & he doesn't really give a FULL support. my parents & i we're the one who raced him up from the very start even financially. but the thing is, he signed to his birth certificate & i asked about it from one of the lawyers here that our law here is the mother is the one's authorized for his children, legitimate or illegitimate. but still skeptical bc i wanted to be sure about this bc i want my child to be with me ones we get approved. i dunno what would be the USEM would feel about that. PLS HELP thank you

[Ning 619]

Not necessarily. There is a difference between "sole custody" and having "transport rights" The sole parent MUST have expressed rights to remove the child from the country to the United States PERMANENTLY. If the divorce agreement does not grant her that, it does not count. They need EITHER a letter from the father OR a specific court order allowing her to remve the child permanantly to the United States.

The age at which this is required varies also, in Ukraine it is age 16, in some countries age 18.

Another thing, and I always have to say this having gone through this with two children...get this stuff done BEFORE you file the petition!!!!!!!! If it means delaying the petition a few months for a court order...so be it!

What exactly is the court order called? I am asking about the document you say the embassy will accept. In how many cases was this court order accepted & the childrens visa issued?

The answers to those questions will make it possible for a friend to obtain the visas she badly wants.

[Nok and Phil 0]

Thank you for all of your feedback. What is complicating matters is the embassy is not responding to my requests for instructions on what to do under these circumstances. Normally they have always been very timely in responding via email to any correspondence but ever since this custody issue they stopped communicating with us. We told them we cannot locate the father, the the child was born out of wedlock, that we have a court ordered sole custody document. The k2 visa expires in August and she will turn 18 in may( before). I'm thinking we just should wait until she turns 18...

[qwerty1974 11]

It seems a very grey area where child custody is concerned. It also seems (Embassy dependent) that there is some arbitrary flexibility applied to such matters, perhaps it's IO dependent, not sure. I have a similar situation coming up with my interview in London next week....I guess it's just a situation of 'wait and see' because everyone seems to have had differing experiences of what is and is not required and at the consulate level there is little available to read about explicit requirements.