revisiting the DNA test issue...

[quann 26]

If the child is the product of a USC and a VNC.. the child can use CRBA to get a passport.. no K2... start the CRBA as soon as possible if the child is already born...

ok, if i get the CRBA process started...his K-2 will automatically drop from the K-1 petition?

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

jim from what clay told me...the CO might ask for a paternity test during the interview. i'm trying to do that ahead of time if it helps, otherwise i can just sit back and wait for the interview date since he's K-2 attached to his mother's K-1. are you saying i have to do the CRBA for my son regardless? should i just start a CRBA filing for him then? he was born last july and i filed the K-1/K-2 last september.

First, you don't file a K2. You only petition for the K1. Any children of the beneficiary become eligible to apply for a K2 if the K1 petition is approved. Their eligibility is DERIVED from the K1 petition. That's why it's a "derivative visa". Unless your fiancee has already sent a visa application for the child then no K2 has been applied for yet.

Second, your son is not eligible for a visa to the US because he has a claim to US citizenship. He will not be approved for a K2 or any other visa when the consulate discovers his father is a US citizen.

Yes, file the CRBA as soon as possible. Yes, they may ask for a DNA test. Unless you submit the DNA samples and have the test performed at a facility which is approved by the consulate then the results will not be accepted. My friend has been trying since November to determine where the consulate requires the DNA collection and test to be performed, and so far the consulate hasn't told him squat. He can only spend one week in Vietnam because he just started a new job, so he's praying he'll be able to get all of the required evidence submitted and the DNA test (if required) before he has to return. Once the CRBA application and evidence have been submitted then you can look forward to waiting a couple of months for approval and ultimately a US passport for your son.

[quann 26]

thx for the info jim but ugh that sounds painful. please lmk any update on your friend when he has one. did he make an appointment? they couldn't give him the DNA answers during that meeting?

i have scheduled for an appt. to CRBA in may (around the same time as the interview hopefully) but you say it takes a couple months to get approved...which suck majorly! i was hoping they'd come over before summer. bleh worst news possible.

Edited March 31, 2011 by quann

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

thx for the info jim but ugh that sounds painful. please lmk any update on your friend when he has one. did he make an appointment? they couldn't give him the DNA answers during that meeting?

i have scheduled for an appt. to CRBA in may (around the same time as the interview hopefully) but you say it takes a couple months to get approved...which suck majorly! i was hoping they'd come over before summer. bleh worst news possible.

My friend's CRBA appointment is in early April. That will be the first time he's spoken to anyone at the consulate face-to-face about it. Hopefully, if they want a DNA test then they'll ask for it at that appointment, and give him the necessary instructions. I've seen two cases on VJ lately where a DNA test was requested AFTER the CRBA was approved. One was at a K1 interview in the Philippines, and another was at an AOS interview with a beneficiary from Canada.

It takes a couple of months because consulates do not grant US citizenship. That authority is reserved for USCIS. However, USCIS does not issue passports. That authority is reserved for Department of State. The consulate has to send the CRBA application through USCIS to have the citizenship approved, and then USCIS has to send it back to Department of State to have the passport issued. There used to be a USCIS field office in HCMC, but it closed yesterday. I don't know if that field office had any role in CRBA applications. If they did, then add another week or two for the CRBA application to make it's way through the field office in Bangkok.

[quann 26]

i just called DoS just to confirm and i do have to go through the CRBA process. the k-2 will automatically drop from K-1 petition, so will only be my fiancee at the interview...at least i save $350 for one less visa (trying to find a positive).

will probably be an interesting interview as i'm sure the CO will bring the situation up.