Question regarding father of my fiancee's son

[laylow 0]

Hello VJ friends,

My fiancee wanted me to reach out to the community hear to see if anyone had first hand knowledge or is aware of any issues that could pop up if the father of her child was incarcerated in the past and could possibly be in jail at this time. She has not had contact with him in over 4 years, but is just a little nervous that at the interview if they ask about him and she tells them the last she remembers he was in jail that it could possibly effect their decision at the interview. I can't see why they would tie his past with hers if she was not involved in the crime committed and also they were never married. If someone has any information that they could share in regards to this issue. My fiancee and I would both appreciate it. Thank you all in advance.

Edited April 15, 2011 by laylow

[Bobby+Umit 161]

The only way that could be an problem is if he is needed to give permission to allow the child out of the country (if it's required and the child is immigrating with her)

Other than that - it would not be an issue.

[laylow 0]

Thanks for your reply Bobby+Umit! Yeah that's also the next problem because we may need to get his approval to have her son leave with her if all goes well. I read under the Colombian law that it's possible if he has not provided support for his son (which he hasn't)and was in jail for over a year or more,that it's possible that she can try to get sole custody. I believe however that could be a long process. Hopefully if his whereabouts are unknown or if he happens to be still in jail that will be a plus for us. I think we might have to acquire a lawyer down there to see if he can be located and if so hopefully he can sign a permission form to let his son leave with his mother. I'll be crossing my finger as this could be a showstopper.. Thanks again your reply is much appreciated.

[Jenny & Danny 0]

We did not receive any questions at all in regards to the father of my fiances son. He dosent have a criminal past as far as we know. You may have issues when you are ready to take the child from Colombia.You either need the documentation showing full custody or a DAS permission letter from the father.

[laylow 0]

Jenny & Danny,

Thanks fo your reply.. Were you able to bring her son also at this time or will he be following at a later date? Just curious to see if you were able to why wasn't it necessary to obtain the permission from the father allowing the child to leave? Thanks

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Hello VJ friends,

My fiancee wanted me to reach out to the community hear to see if anyone had first hand knowledge or is aware of any issues that could pop up if the father of her child was incarcerated in the past and could possibly be in jail at this time. She has not had contact with him in over 4 years, but is just a little nervous that at the interview if they ask about him and she tells them the last she remembers he was in jail that it could possibly effect their decision at the interview. I can't see why they would tie his past with hers if she was not involved in the crime committed and also they were never married. If someone has any information that they could share in regards to this issue. My fiancee and I would both appreciate it. Thank you all in advance.

Nothing he did should affect her interview just because they were married. If she has no criminal record, she is fine.

Does she have written permission from the father to get a visa for the child?

[laylow 0]

No, we are in the process of trying to locate his whereabouts. We're thinking he might be in the slammer!, so I guess we need to figure that out and then have the document sent to wherever he is and according to what I have read, my fiancee would then have to go along with a lawyer to a notary and she would then sign it. Also she was never married to him. Thank you very much for your reply and we appreciate the input.

[kuhio 1]

I had a very similar situation to you. Father of my fiancee's child is in jail. We did not know his location as she had not seen him for over 3 years (before the child was born). We did not know he was in jail and had no idea of his whereabouts. He had never met her child or supported her in anyway. They were never married. In Thailand, because they were not married and he never registered as the father my fiancee has sole parental rights. However, the US Embassy still requires either the father to sign off, or a court order (not common in Thailand for mothers who were not married and therefore takes a long time and $$$$ to get).

Anyway, we ended up being able to find him by sending letters to some known addresses of his family members. They told us he was in jail. We later found out he was in jail for rape. My lawyer, contacted the Embassy for guidance, and we were told we still need him to sign off but they would accept a signature from the warden of the prison because the father obviously could not travel to the Embassy or to a local government notary to sign.

Through the fathers family we were able to set up a meeting between the father and my lawyer in the jail where we hoped he would sign off. The day before the meeting, the fathers family contacted my lawyer to say that the father will not sign if both my Fiancee' and her child were not present in the jail. Since she lived about 20 hours away, we had to cancel the meeting. We later decided to heed the request and I traveled back to Thailand (I lived there for a year but have since moved back to the States to wait for the K1) to go with my Fiancee to the prison. Actually, I did not plan on going in with her, I just wanted to be there for moral support. So, finally the meeting took place in the prison and in the end the guy signed off, luckily he did not really realize that he was in a great position of extort a bunch of money from us.

If you find that the father is indeed in jail, I would suggest contacting the Embassy to see how they want you to handle the situation.

Edit: We handled this situation during the time we had waiting for NOA2 at CSC. We have since gotten our NOA2 approval and have returned packet 3, probably will interview in May, so I have not yet gone to the interview.

Edited April 17, 2011 by kuhio

[laylow 0]

Kuhio,

Your scenario is exactly like mine except for the fact that the father did spend one year with his son when he was still together with my fiancee. We have also just last week sent back packet 3 and awaiting an interview date. I was just recently in Colombia with my fiancee and we went to the Family & Children services there and spoke with one of their representative and was told basically the same scenario that has to be done in order to

[laylow 0]

Kuhio,

Sorry I hit the enter button by accident before I was done with the post in it's entirety..

Your scenario is exactly like mine except for the fact that the father did spend one year with his son when he was still together with my fiancee. We have also just last week sent back packet 3 and awaiting an interview date. I was just recently in Colombia with my fiancee and we went to the Family & Children services there and spoke with one of their representative and was told basically the same scenario that has to be done in order to have her son leave the country with her. What a pain in the butt this part is. Here is a father that doesn't provide support and like I said is probably in jail and you would think especially in your case where he was charged with rape, that the court system would grant sole custody to the mother without getting any permision from him! Oh well I guess that's how things work. This week we are going to try very diligently to locate him and hopefully he is willing to give her permission to take her son. If not, I'll be starting a whole topic! I'll be crossing my fingers and praying hard... Thank you so much for sharing your experience with me. It was very helpful information and we appreciate very much... Good luck at the interview and hopefully all goes well from this point on.. Thanks again