Fiancees Minor Child at Juarez

[sym32one 2]

I have a question. My fiance has an opened appointment in Juarez, until June 2011. She has a 7 year old daughter that is on the application. She was never married to her daughters father, he was never involved in her life, although his name is on her birth certificate. She is petitioning for sole-custody in Mexico, because his name is on the birth certificate. She doesn't even know where he is to try to get him to sign a "permission slip" to move with the daughter to the US. Her lawyer in Mexico just keeps jerking her around saying 3-6 months more... but the visa appointment is un in June, and heck I want her here now! She consulted with another lawyer that says she can get Judicial Authorization in Mexico for $500 in one month, but I am not sure this is acceptable, and it is near impossible to call someone in the Juarez Consulate, and their answers are shady at best. I am worried that the Mexican Lawyer may not know what he's talking about, but I am not sure... has anyone ever had any dealings with this type of issue? what should we do?

Thanks...

[kuhio 1]

Wow, I am in almost the exact same situation as you just in another country. In my case Thailand. I am not sure if Mexico is different or not but I have been told by just about everyone that I will need one of two things. Either a court order saying the my Fiance has sole parental rights, or a signed statement by the biological father saying that he has not problem with the child permanently immigrating to the US. If you are going with the father signing then the Embassy (at least in Bangkok) requires that the guy personally come down to the US Embassy to sign, or the signature is witnessed and notarized by the local government official. Again not sure if Mexico is the same or not.

Also, in Thailand, family law is such that the mother is given automatic sole parental rights if the child is born out of wedlock and the father never specifically went down to the government office with the mother and asked to be legitimated with the mothers approval. Not sure if Mexico is the same or not. 2 years ago the Embassy used to accept a letter from the local government office affirming the above mentioned two facts. This is the same document that you need in order to get a passport issued for the child etc. We got the passport from no problem. I have been told they no longer accept this at the US Embassy now though. You must have a court order or the guy must sign. Sounds like this policy is the same in Mexico.

I have been going through the exact same thing that you have in terms of my lawyer not knowing what it takes to get a court order. Just keeps saying that it will be easier most time for the bio father to just sign but admits he does not know what the court order would involve in terms of time or money.

In my case, the father has been gone since before the child was born. Took some doing but we found him. Turns out he is in jail convicted of rape. My lawyer set up a meeting with the guy and members of his family for him to sign off and the Embassy said that since he is in jail it would be ok if the warden notarized the document. However, the guy cancelled at the last minute when he found out that my Fiance and her child would not be personally coming to see him in the jail for this to take place. Since the jail is about a 30 hour trip from where she lives and frankly my

Fiance has no interest in seeing him or having him get to see the child because of a violent past and of course the fact that he is a convicted rapist.

However, after trying and failing to get a straight answer on the process to get a court order for the last month, we finally just decided to grant his request that they attend. I am on a plane tonight to Thailand so that I can at least go with my Fiance to the town the jail is in and support her. I have been advised not to go to any of the meetings myself because that will only increase the amount that we are going to have to pay the guy and the family and the warden and having lived in country I know that to be true.

Anyway, I guess my point is we just decided that going to visit the child's father who is a convicted rapist who beat my Fiance when she was pregnant is easier than getting a court order so we should at least try. However, I still think there is less than a 50/50 chance he will actually sign so we will see.

Good luck with your process, there is not too much information out there regarding this topic and it seems that a lot of Embassies have changed their policies regarding this to reflect US law rather than the country they are in. Possible countries that have signed the Hague Treaty on Child Abduction. I hope we can compare notes as we go forward.

Best of Luck!

[sym32one 2]

thanks for the info, I hope all works well for you. All the info that I can find points that either a letter of permission or sole-custody, and that the Judicial Authorization is just for her to get a passport in times of emergency, but now her lawyer for saome reason thinks this is all she needs... I don't trust it, I think that it is either permission or sole-custody and that is it.

Any other advice from anyone would be appreciated...

[kuhio 1]

A quick update regarding my case. I was advised by everyone that I asked that the Bangkok Embassy will only accept a court order granting sole custody or a signed statement from the bio father. That said every Embassy is different and you will have to confirm with people who know the Embassy requirements for your particular country.

With this advice we decided to go ahead and have my Fiancee and her daughter visit the bio father in jail where he is being held for rape. I went to Thailand last week and with one of the Thai Lawyers from my attorneys office we made the journey to Korat where the guy is being held. I did not go in with my Fiancee as this would be counter productive. The result was that for the little money we were offering at the start (about $150) he just signed. The warden notarized it all and we are now good to go at least on the child front. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders. My attorney had researched what it would have taken to get a court order and found out that it would cost at least $3000 and taken anywhere from 6 months to years depending on if the bio father decided to fight it. If the guy had just said give me $5000 and I will sign I would have just done it. Luckily I never was faced with that.

Anyway, hope all goes well for you in your situation as well.

A cherry on top, I got back to the States last night and this afternoon I got the following from the USCIS CSC:

On January 24, 2011, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

My NOA1 was Aug 27th, 2010.