Any Female Petitioners/Male Benificiaries w/kids

[TandD 1]

Hi,

I seem to be a bit outnumbered. Wanting to know if there are any Female Petitioners on here, marrying a Filipino? My fiance has a child. He was never married to the mother, but has had full custody of her since she was one (she is now almost 5). There is no custody agreement, but the mother will sign a letter stating it's ok for her to come to the US.

Are single fathers under more scrutiny regarding his paternal rights? Do you think they will question the child's paternity? He has her birth certificate listing him as the father, but it was only recently registered? What kind of back up documentation do you think they will request?

I'm just trying to get an idea so we can start collecting any needed documents now. We're very close to receiving our NOA2 (hopefully) as we are approaching the 5 month mark.

Thanks for any and all help/advise. Would especially love to hear from other female petitioners.

[marriedtomrg 141]

Illegitimate children are under the custody of the mother. If your fiance wishes to secure a visa for his daughter, he will need to secure Travel Clearance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). On their FAQ section:

CAN A TRAVEL CLEARANCE BE ISSUED TO ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN WHO ARE STILL APPLYING FOR THEIR VISA IN THE EMBASSY?

Illegitimate children are under the custody of the mother. If they will be traveling with the mother, they are not required to secure a travel clearance from the DSWD. If they are traveling with person other than the mother, they must secure a travel clearance.

In case the mother refuses, there really isn't much he can do, except wait for his daughter to be older. Since you both will be marrying while the daughter is under 18, in the event that the mother changes her mind, you (in a stepmother/stepchild relationship) or your husband may be able to sponsor her as a permanent resident later.

The daughter's name should still be mentioned in all his USCIS and Embassy forms for that to be possible, even if she is unable to join her father for now.

Hi,

I seem to be a bit outnumbered. Wanting to know if there are any Female Petitioners on here, marrying a Filipino? My fiance has a child. He was never married to the mother, but has had full custody of her since she was one (she is now almost 5). There is no custody agreement, but the mother will sign a letter stating it's ok for her to come to the US.

Are single fathers under more scrutiny regarding his paternal rights? Do you think they will question the child's paternity? He has her birth certificate listing him as the father, but it was only recently registered? What kind of back up documentation do you think they will request?

I'm just trying to get an idea so we can start collecting any needed documents now. We're very close to receiving our NOA2 (hopefully) as we are approaching the 5 month mark.

Thanks for any and all help/advise. Would especially love to hear from other female petitioners.

[TandD 1]

Illegitimate children are under the custody of the mother. If your fiance wishes to secure a visa for his daughter, he will need to secure Travel Clearance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). On their FAQ section:

Thank you. This type of information is what I was looking for. I will have my fiance contact DSWD to obtain the Travel Clearance.

Thanks again.

[beejay 125]

Hi,

I seem to be a bit outnumbered. Wanting to know if there are any Female Petitioners on here, marrying a Filipino? My fiance has a child. He was never married to the mother, but has had full custody of her since she was one (she is now almost 5). There is no custody agreement, but the mother will sign a letter stating it's ok for her to come to the US.

Are single fathers under more scrutiny regarding his paternal rights? Do you think they will question the child's paternity? He has her birth certificate listing him as the father, but it was only recently registered? What kind of back up documentation do you think they will request?

I'm just trying to get an idea so we can start collecting any needed documents now. We're very close to receiving our NOA2 (hopefully) as we are approaching the 5 month mark.

Thanks for any and all help/advise. Would especially love to hear from other female petitioners.

Hi TandD

I'm married to a filipino with 2 children. We are about to start the process of bringing his kids over, so I will be interested to hear how your process goes. Although I wouldn't worry too much, it does sound like your situation is pretty straight forward. From my understanding USCIS is concerned with the child being the biological child of your fiance and that a legitimate parent child relationship exists. Since your step-daughter has been living with her father since she was 1 I don't think that should be a problem, you just have to be prepared to prove it if they question it but I bet the letter from the mother will help with that. The letter will also show that the child has her permission to move abroad. It's good the birth certificate has his name but I think if USCIS is in doubt they can ask for a DNA test, which although will take time it will prove beneficial to your case.

Most of my information I got from the instructions for the I-130 on the USCIS website. Look on page 3 for item #4 "A child born out of wedlock and you are the father" and you will see the USCIS wording -

USCIS form I-130

Welcome to VJ and good luck.

If you get a chance let me know how everything goes

-b