Daughter of Fiance needs permision from father for visa?

[tglea 0]

I'm hoping someone here can help me out with first hand experience. My fiance's daughter has a birth certificate with her fathers name on it and I don't know if this will cause a problem with the visa interview in Ciudad Juarez. Not that it matters to the consulate, but he hasn't been a part of her life at all. My fiance will have to get his permission to get the Mexican passport for her and I assume that the visa officers are aware of this. So do they consider the fact that the father gave permission for a passport sufficient evidence that the father doesn't object to her leaving the country to live in the USA? Does anyone have any recommendations in this area?

Also, my fiance is trying to decide if she should just get him to sign the passport papers or go through the court system to have his parental rights taken away. Does anyone have experience with adopting a child under these circumstances in the USA? Later on when we are finally living in the USA, I don't know if her having another man's name on her birth certificate will prevent me from adopting her. So I'm kind of stuck when deciding what we should do and how it will affect things down the road. Obviously if she has his rights taken away, then she can take those documents to the consulate and there shouldn't be a problem. However, I don't know if this is necessary to get the visa and/or if it is necessary for adoption in the USA. Going through the court system here in Mexico will not be quick or cheap so I would prefer if we didn't have to do it.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

PS. I'm working on my timeline.

Edited February 19, 2009 by tglea

[sus 70]

I am not sure of Mexico requirements - But I know from other's experiences that they needed notarized letters from the parents giving permission for the child to go to the US, in order to get the visa -

I think your best bet, especially if you want to adopt - do what you need to do to have his parental rights terminated - otherwise, when you try to adopt you will be dealing with it then - because he would have to sign off on the adoption. Sometimes, it's easier to just tackle it all at once - If he isn't involved in the child's life, he might willingly consent to terminating his parental rights, which would then be just a matter of getting an agreement signed by a judge.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I'm hoping someone here can help me out with first hand experience. My fiance's daughter has a birth certificate with her fathers name on it and I don't know if this will cause a problem with the visa interview in Ciudad Juarez. Not that it matters to the consulate, but he hasn't been a part of her life at all. My fiance will have to get his permission to get the Mexican passport for her and I assume that the visa officers are aware of this. So do they consider the fact that the father gave permission for a passport sufficient evidence that the father doesn't object to her leaving the country to live in the USA? Does anyone have any recommendations in this area?

Also, my fiance is trying to decide if she should just get him to sign the passport papers or go through the court system to have his parental rights taken away. Does anyone have experience with adopting a child under these circumstances in the USA? Later on when we are finally living in the USA, I don't know if her having another man's name on her birth certificate will prevent me from adopting her. So I'm kind of stuck when deciding what we should do and how it will affect things down the road. Obviously if she has his rights taken away, then she can take those documents to the consulate and there shouldn't be a problem. However, I don't know if this is necessary to get the visa and/or if it is necessary for adoption in the USA. Going through the court system here in Mexico will not be quick or cheap so I would prefer if we didn't have to do it.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

PS. I'm working on my timeline.

How old is the child? If she is younger than 18, your fiancee will need permission of the father to obtain a passport.

I don't think there is such thing as "terminating parental rights" in Mexican law, but I am not sure. Have you consulted an attorney on this?

[sus 70]

Here is a link to Adoption info for Mexico - Might have some helpful info:

http://adoption.state.gov/country/mexico.html

[tglea 0]

How old is the child? If she is younger than 18, your fiancee will need permission of the father to obtain a passport. I don't think there is such thing as "terminating parental rights" in Mexican law, but I am not sure. Have you consulted an attorney on this?

She is under 18 and I know that he has to give permission for the passport, but I'm wondering if this is sufficient evidence for the consulate that she is permitted to leave the country or if something more is required by the consulate to issue her a visa. The consulate's instructions don't say anything about this. Obviously, they must know that most children must have another parent and not just the one who is getting the visa. They simply just say that she is required to have a passport and have a medical exam. So I'm a little lost as to what more evidence they require to show that the other parent doesn't object, since they don't mention anything about this on their website.

My fiance's divorce lawyer said that it was possible to have his rights removed but it would be about an 8 month process and very expensive, but I'm not sure if it would be different if the father just simply agrees to the idea.

Does she(the daughter) have to be adopted by me in the USA to have all the same rights as child who is a citizen? I'm asking to know if it's possible for her to live a normal life in the USA and we don't have to worry about the adoption process until well into the future?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

I would *think* she will need some other kind of permission to permanently remove the child from Mexico to anywhere else. How are the custody/visitation arrangements now? What does the father say? The lawyer?

As far as adoption, I don't know. but i wish you all the best.

[NArocks 13]

Just from my experience I will say on top of having the passport the child will need the other parents permission to leave the country. You need to see what type of documentation is needed for the child to come to the US through Mexio customs and get this. As far as my step kids from Colombia We needed a certified letter that was stamped only in Bogota for them to be able to leave the country. We did the CR2 visa and also needed a letter from the other parent allowing the Children to come to the US permanetly.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

That is also my understanding. I think the OP needs to consult with an attorney specialized in Civil and Family law from whichever state/province in Mexico the fiancee is domiciled in.