What?? Full Custody of the Children Required?

[Jim & Erika 0]

I have an I-130 in process for my wife and her two girls (ages 11 and 12). All are Mexican nationals. My wife was never married to the girls' father. From everything I have seen on the Internet and heard, we will need to get written permission from their father, whose name appears on their birth certificates, for the girls to emigrate from Mexico to the US permenantly. What I didn't know is how exactly how the permission letter should be worded to be acceptable to the US Consulate at the interview. So I called the US Visa Customer Support line to find out.

I was told that the father's permission is not sufficient, that my wife will need full legal custody. Huh?! This is a surprise to me. I don't know if the guy I spoke with knows what he's talking about, but he was absolutely insistent when I challenged him several times on this.

Getting custody will obviously be a much more involved process than getting permission. Can anyone refer me to a reliable source, such as good attorney or another US official, so I can verify this? Or a link to the Homeland Security regulations that underly the requirement so I can see for myself? Any other comments from anyone?

Thanks.

[Rick_ES_USA 13]

Don't listen to that guy!

Yes you only need letter of consent from the non-immigrant biological parent.

.

Here is a link that will answer all your questions (including sample of letter of consent):

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/258477-stepchildren-some-questions-answers/

Great info. there!

[Jim & Erika 0]

Don't listen to that guy!

Yes you only need letter of consent from the non-immigrant biological parent.

.

Here is a link that will answer all your questions (including sample of letter of consent):

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/258477-stepchildren-some-questions-answers/

Great info. there!

Rick -- Thanks for the feedback, but I'm not completely convinced. The author of the post you're referring to sounds authoritative and knowledgeable, but at the end he states that the information is only what he found doing some of his own research and that he's not an attorney. So I've got his opinion vs. what a government official told me. I wish I could find some more definitive information.