DNA results render terrible blow...what now???

[USA UK 1]

Sorry I don't have any advice. I just wanted to wish you good luck!

[patient2010 93]

I'm speechless........

[SuperDuper! 230]

Move on??? It's easier to said than done

He love the kids as his own.

Adoption is another option but it will take a loooooong process.

So then it boils down to his staying where the kids are and being a dad to them. Sometimes we have to sacrifice our own dreams for the sake of the kids. Makes ya walk the walk and prove what is most important to ya.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

USCIS will not recognize the adoption for visa purposes unless the biological parents are deceased. Sorry. Otherwise people would adopt all sorts of nieces and nephews for immigration.

Best of luck.

[Jojo92122 1,924]

The OP cannot bring the children as his Immediate Relatives since he is not their biological father. The only ways he can bring them to the US is to establish a stepfather relationship with them by eventually marrying his fiancee. He can bring them over on K-2 visas as the children of his fiancee. If he marry his fiancee, he can bring the children over as Immediate Relative stepchildren.

Adoption for an immigration benefit will not work since the biological parents are alive just as Harpa Timsah has pointed out.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

The biological father at this point is unknown and the children have been abandoned by their bio mom. I am sure she will sign off rights ( which could create an allowable adoption ) and there is no doubt that he can show that he has behaved as a father for all these years. It won't be an easy fight but it may be doable , get a good consult.

[Richard-Y-Abigail 18]

Correct me if I have this wrong. You are the father, but recently found out that your children have the DNA from another man. You have cared for the children since their mother left you guys to fend for yourselves. Now you are engaged to get married, and the children stood to get a K-2 Visa. Because you and the mother's children were born out of wedlock, immigration required the DNA tests, as this is normal procedure.

Okay. Not easy to fix, but not impossible. The biological father would need to surrender their rights as the legal father; considering that "he" has had nothing to do with them up to now, I don't know that you will have all that much trouble. You would then go before a judge, present your case, and legally adopt them. Then, once they are yours, you can then submit the necessary forms for foreign adoption to USCIS. Once the children are cleared, they will receive their American citizenship automatically. This may be better in the long run.

No sacrifice is too great for your children. Time is your biggest investment. Follow your heart. Don't think of this as suffering, or as a sacrifice. It is your obligation of love. I will do anything for my children, and it is no secret that I am their stepfather, but they will never be my "stepchildren." Understand?

I am sorry if I have this wrong. Gather what you can from my words. I wish you the best.

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Richard, unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. For US immigration purposes,m the children need to be orphans to be adopted snd then brought here. Abandonment doesn't count.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

I have no words of advice, but I just wanted to express how sorry I am that you, your husband, and the children have to deal with the repercussions from someone's dishonesty.

Stay strong, I wish you all luck.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Abandonment does count in some cases and I think this one qualifies.

Who is an Orphan?

Under U.S. immigration law, an orphan is a foreign-born child who:

does not have any parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents

OR

has a sole or surviving parent who is unable to care for the child, consistent with the local standards of the foreign sending country, and who has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption

The chldren have long been abandoned/deserted by their biological parents.

[Harsh_77 718]

Thank you for your reply...

It is difficult to think of innocent children as "rubbish"...

if anyone is a parent then perhaps can understand now finding out that what you have always known as yours...really isn't...

Devastating!! at the least....

My husband has been the victim of lies and misplaced compassion....his own responsibility for sure...

The children are innocent and we wish to protect them.

The lies and all the facts were hidden from your fiancée, is an internal matter for your fiancée and his ex-wife.

US Gov is not responsible for that nor that impacts your case anyways. So you look from US Gov’s point it could very well be a fraud. This just could be a new way to make sure the children get entry into US.

[Nero 17]

I don't know the law in nigeria, but I know the law in the US. In the US if your name is on the birth certificate you have assumed responsibility for the children. Therefore, if a man signs a birth certificate only to later find out through DNA testing that the child is not his, he is still legally obligated to take care of the child because you've signed yourself into paternity. I've seen it happen in divorce procedings where the man tried to get out of paying child support because the children weren't biologically his, but the judge said "guess what buddy, you signed the birth certificate you're SOL... pay 1/2 your paycheck until they're 18"

This is the way it is int he US. He is on the birth certificate and the children have no other legal guardian. These sites are nice because everyone has some experience with some portion of the visa process. In special cases like youres, however, not everyone has the legal background that can help you. If you can afford it at all I would see what a lawyer can do for you.

By signing the children's birth certificate he did what is officially known as an "acknowlegement of paternity" which DNA has nothing to do with. Once that acknowlegement is legally set it takes someone else entirly adopting the child for the acknowleged father to lose / give up his rights. Well with the new abandonment laws maybe you can give up your rights more easily, however, they can not be stripped of you that easily.

My suggestion would be to speak with a lawyer, or if you have any legal savvy of your own go to www.uscis.gov. All the laws governing how they process visas are directly on that site. If your husband can print the section of the law that would support his claim of legal custody over the children, then he needs to do so. If not (it will take more time and money, but you are 100% legally able to do this) you need to legally adopt the children in a seperate proceding. It will take at least a year or two, but once you have legally adopted his children they are yours and no one can take them from you.

I would strongly suggest your husband research Nigeria's abandonment laws (in regards to the mother) as well as paternity law. In most US states his name being on the birth certificate would be enough to keep them by his side (ESPECIALLY since the mother isn't in the picture). I would hire a good nigerian lawyer and a good US Immigration lawyer.

Another option: Petition your congressman/ senetor with your situation and ask them to assist you in getting amnisty for his children. Try to find other orginizations that will help you petition them with you as well. If you can get a small community supporting what you want done, I beleive your congressman will help in anyway he can (he needs the votes afterall)

God Bless - Hope that helped

[bigdog 376]

Well, fiance completed DNA results on the children and the results came back showing the children are not biologically his...this is a terrible blow to him as he has been taking care of the children for now 8 years and the children know him as father...embassy will receive the results soon...fiance has custody papers and birth certificate indicating him as father....what to do now??? Help.

As you can imagine...fiance is devastated and angry that the children's mother has lied to him all these years...

Before DNA, he was meant to return to embassy after the results to continue visa processing....don't want to screw up the children's chances of coming to US...

[SimranS 9]

USCIS will not recognize the adoption for visa purposes unless the biological parents are deceased. Sorry. Otherwise people would adopt all sorts of nieces and nephews for immigration.

Best of luck.

Richard, unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. For US immigration purposes,m the children need to be orphans to be adopted snd then brought here. Abandonment doesn't count.

Are you really unaware of all the thousands of children adopted from orphanages around the world and brought to the US by USC parents? Many many of these kids were simply abandoned because their parents were too poor to care for them, etc. My own cousin was adopted from another country with her biomom very much alive and giving permission for the adoption. To state that the bioparents must be deceased for an adoption to be recognized by the US govt for immigration is simply incorrect. Nigeriaorbust quoted the law which confirms this.

[bigdog 376]

This is a sad situation, I would see a family law attorney and an immigration attorney, i have seen a good one on this site out of Houston TX. Best Wishes.