DNA requested by consulate

[clayr 35]

On the 2nd K1 visa interview my fiance went to her interview pregnant. Now the consulate says we have to submit DNA after the child is born in Vietnam. Anyone else experience this? How long do the test results take? How long until the consulate acts on the results? Is this what is referred to as AP? After 31 months since the first filing of K1 we have to wait till the child is born in 7/11. I have written my senators and congressman repeatedly and they say they can only make an "inquiry"

[ScottThuy 140]

As was said previously, Marc Ellis addressed a very similar issue a while back with positive results... aside from that case, I have not seen another similar involving unborn child...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

On the 2nd K1 visa interview my fiance went to her interview pregnant. Now the consulate says we have to submit DNA after the child is born in Vietnam. Anyone else experience this? How long do the test results take? How long until the consulate acts on the results? Is this what is referred to as AP? After 31 months since the first filing of K1 we have to wait till the child is born in 7/11. I have written my senators and congressman repeatedly and they say they can only make an "inquiry"

The DNA requirement is solid. If the child is born out of wedlock to a US citizen father and a foreign mother then a blood relationship with the father must be established. One other member was told that the test needed to be done in Ha Noi, but it was a relative who told him this:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/291166-report-of-birthpassport/

I have a friend who is going through this now. His fiancee was originally scheduled for her K1 interview about a week before she was due to deliver their baby. I spent a good hour convincing him to reschedule the interview. He finally agreed to reschedule, in spite of much kicking and screaming from his fiancee. Their baby girl was born the day the interview was originally scheduled. He's still trying to get an answer from the consulate about where the DNA test can be conducted. He's planning on going back to VN in March.

If you find out anything then please share whatever you find out.

[BinhJerome 14]

Isnt this a duplicate thread? Clayr1 had this same sort of thread a while back Clay as I said before you have already been jumping through hoops, this is just another one you must face. There are DNA tests that can be done prior to giving birth, but i would not reccomend them, and I am not sure if they can even do them here in Vietnam. There is no way around this request.

People do lie to get visa's and what is to stop a woman from getting pregnant from a guy, then claiming it is from a different guy, this happens in the US all the time. So before your child can gain the US citizenship you will first have to prove that it is your child. From the consulates standpoint, what if this child was not yours and you were being duped by a Vietnamese woman, if you did not know until after she was in the US then it would be too late. So before they would grant it because a woman says that it is true and her US sponser also says that it is true they will want verification.

Dont get my post wrong, I am not saying it isnt yours, just clearly stating why the consulate does what they do. Even if the child is yours and they think your relationship is not valid they can still deny. If you hired an attorney and made a threat of a lawsuit if something happened to your baby in Vietnam before or after it was born as one VJ member did this might help, but then again it is a long shot with no guarentees.

Edited February 16, 2011 by jeromebinh

[b_weeks 6]

I was in a similar situation. Sort of....

When my fiance (now wife) went for her interview, she was 5 months pregnant. Our attorney was Marc Ellis. He did tell us that in situations like this, the HCMC US Consulate has been known to request a DNA yest. For us, they did not.

One thing that M. Ellis told me, and I believe he has also written articles about it. "The US consulate cannot deny a visa based soley on information that was previously approved by the USCIS. The USCIS approval takes precidence". There has to be some other mitigating circumstance for a visa denial.

Now, since we new she (my wife) was pregnant before I filed the I-129F, we front-loaded the application to cover this red-flag as well as a couple of others. One of the things we included was a letter stating the fact that she was pregnant, and that I was declaring myself the father of the unborn child.

Ultimately, we received the approval at her first interview.

Just a little side note - When we went for her interview, we were about half way back in the line of people waiting to go in. Now, keep in mind that my wife was 5 onths pregnant at the time of the interview. Although she looked quite a bit further along. Everyone goes in and takes a number. Well, even though her number would have suggested that I was in for quite a wait at the coffee bar across the street, they moved her up to the front of the line and interviewed her first.

I have a theory as to why. The Consulate not knowing exactly how far along she was, moved her up because they did not want to risk having a woman give birth in the consulate. If a woman were to give birth inside a consulate, I believe that child would ultimately have citizenship of that countries consulate (being considered US soil and all).

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I was in a similar situation. Sort of....

When my fiance (now wife) went for her interview, she was 5 months pregnant. Our attorney was Marc Ellis. He did tell us that in situations like this, the HCMC US Consulate has been known to request a DNA yest. For us, they did not.

One thing that M. Ellis told me, and I believe he has also written articles about it. "The US consulate cannot deny a visa based soley on information that was previously approved by the USCIS. The USCIS approval takes precidence". There has to be some other mitigating circumstance for a visa denial.

Now, since we new she (my wife) was pregnant before I filed the I-129F, we front-loaded the application to cover this red-flag as well as a couple of others. One of the things we included was a letter stating the fact that she was pregnant, and that I was declaring myself the father of the unborn child.

Ultimately, we received the approval at her first interview.

Just a little side note - When we went for her interview, we were about half way back in the line of people waiting to go in. Now, keep in mind that my wife was 5 onths pregnant at the time of the interview. Although she looked quite a bit further along. Everyone goes in and takes a number. Well, even though her number would have suggested that I was in for quite a wait at the coffee bar across the street, they moved her up to the front of the line and interviewed her first.

I have a theory as to why. The Consulate not knowing exactly how far along she was, moved her up because they did not want to risk having a woman give birth in the consulate. If a woman were to give birth inside a consulate, I believe that child would ultimately have citizenship of that countries consulate (being considered US soil and all).

There is no way they would order prenatal DNA testing. The child doesn't exist under US law until it's born. A fetus doesn't require and isn't eligible for either a visa or CRBA. Until the child is born, mother and fetus are considered one person under US immigration law.

I just finished reading some interesting stuff in 9 FAM 42.44 N8 regarding DNA testing. According to the FAM, the DNA sample of the foreign beneficiary must be collected at the consulate by a medical technician employed by the panel physician, the collection must be by buccal swab (a swab of the inner cheek or inside of mouth), and must be witnessed by an American FSO with a secret clearance or higher. It would be impossible to perform a prenatal DNA sample collection at the consulate as this involves collecting a placenta tissue sample by needle, either vaginal or through the abdomen. They simply can't do this at the consulate.

They didn't order a DNA test in your wife's case because your child wasn't born yet.

A side note - US consulates and embassies have special diplomatic status, but they are not considered "US soil". Someone born on the consulate grounds would not automatically acquire US citizenship.