My wife and son, I-130 and beyond

[briancole 1]

I recently got married on October 6, 2010 in Peru. My wife is a Peruvian citizen, I'm a U.S. citizen. She was also a single-mom, having a 6 year old son. I haven't submitted any paperwork yet, but I have it all pretty much complete; I'm just making sure of a few things before I submit everything. The instructions for the I-130 state that I need to submit an I-130 for all relatives I plan to bring up here. That should include both my wife and my new son. Would that be necessary? Wouldn't immigrating the mother automatically bring the son as well? I haven't gone through any adoption processes yet because we did something down there that makes it not necessary. Since the boy's biological father never signed for him and has never wanted to have anything to do with him, we went to the offices where his birth certificate was kept and received permission from the people there for me to sign for him as his father. So on the boy's birth certificate, I am his father. So that being the case, do I need to submit an I-130 for my wife and another for my son? And if so, what are the exact requirements to bring him over, too?

[pushbrk 12,910]

I recently got married on October 6, 2010 in Peru. My wife is a Peruvian citizen, I'm a U.S. citizen. She was also a single-mom, having a 6 year old son. I haven't submitted any paperwork yet, but I have it all pretty much complete; I'm just making sure of a few things before I submit everything. The instructions for the I-130 state that I need to submit an I-130 for all relatives I plan to bring up here. That should include both my wife and my new son. Would that be necessary? Wouldn't immigrating the mother automatically bring the son as well? I haven't gone through any adoption processes yet because we did something down there that makes it not necessary. Since the boy's biological father never signed for him and has never wanted to have anything to do with him, we went to the offices where his birth certificate was kept and received permission from the people there for me to sign for him as his father. So on the boy's birth certificate, I am his father. So that being the case, do I need to submit an I-130 for my wife and another for my son? And if so, what are the exact requirements to bring him over, too?

Yes, you submit two I-130 packages, on for a spouse and one for a step-child. Carefully study and follow the instructions for the I-130 as to supporting documents. Your name on his birth certificate has no meaning for immigration except that no father's permission will be needed. He is your stepson. I would caution you to be truthful though when listing the names of the parents. Never indicate you are the father. When asked (at the NVC stage on the DS230 form)state the biological father's information. If you want to add a letter of explanation about the birth certificate, that's fine.

K3/4 is a dead category. Follow the CR1 guide.

Edited November 18, 2010 by pushbrk

[Stanley Hermosill 1]

Definitely don't indicate that you are the father. It's not worth the risk of them looking into it and finding out you lied. This would definitely result in a rejection and much trouble.

[briancole 1]

Definitely don't indicate that you are the father. It's not worth the risk of them looking into it and finding out you lied. This would definitely result in a rejection and much trouble.

We didn't lie. We went to were his records where and where fully prepared to discuss what it would take, but when we explained our case to them they said they would permit me to sign for him. We told the truth and they let us do it that way.

EDIT: Yes, you're right though about not trying to say I'm the biological father. We were never going to do that because it is obvious it couldn't be true. The first time I came to Peru happened to be the same month her son was born. Records clearly show I wasn't there 9 months prior...

Edited November 19, 2010 by briancole

[pushbrk 12,910]

We didn't lie. We went to were his records where and where fully prepared to discuss what it would take, but when we explained our case to them they said they would permit me to sign for him. We told the truth and they let us do it that way.

EDIT: Yes, you're right though about not trying to say I'm the biological father. We were never going to do that because it is obvious it couldn't be true. The first time I came to Peru happened to be the same month her son was born. Records clearly show I wasn't there 9 months prior...

Of course you haven't lied. My advice was simply to state the actual father's name when asked.

[briancole 1]

Of course you haven't lied. My advice was simply to state the actual father's name when asked.

We will, it would be too risky otherwise. Thank you for the advice, both of you!

We went to were his records where and where fully prepared...

Oh wow, that's sad! Too bad I can't edit that at this point.