Bringing LPR's daughter to the US

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

Hello everyone,

I need help for a situation for my sister story:

My sister is a LPR now in the US for 4 years already. Her husband did IR1 for her back in 2004. When they were doing the process in Vietnam, she didn't declare she had a daughter from first marriage. The girl is 19 now last week. She wants to bring her to the US but doesn't know if it could be bad because she didn't declare the daughter on the forms in 2004. She did declare her first marriage and divorce though. Could you all please verify for her in this situation?

And if it is okay to proceed, is Child Status Protection Act applicable if she does the paper right now?

Thank you and be blessed.

Nancy.

Edited March 9, 2012 by NancyNguyen

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

It's bad that she didn't declare her at first, but not an automatic denial, as it is not a material fact- she should be prepared for questions as to why the daughter was not declared. There may well be a DNA test requirement as it is strange she didn't declare the daughter first time around.

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

It's bad that she didn't declare her at first, but not an automatic denial, as it is not a material fact- she should be prepared for questions as to why the daughter was not declared. There may well be a DNA test requirement as it is strange she didn't declare the daughter first time around.

Thank you Penguin, because she was afraid that her current husband would not be comfy with the fact she had a baby, yes it is stupid in Vietnamese culture about children from previous marriage.

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

Hello there...

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Thank you Penguin, because she was afraid that her current husband would not be comfy with the fact she had a baby, yes it is stupid in Vietnamese culture about children from previous marriage.

It's not only Vietnamese culture. It's relatively common in many cultures. In fact, it's inherent in the nature of men everywhere. Many men just aren't comfortable with marrying a woman who has children from a prior marriage. Some men don't like the idea of raising someone else's children. Some men don't like the idea that the child creates a permanent link between their wife and their wife's prior husband, and that link isn't broken by the divorce. For most men, it becomes less of an issue as they or the children get older. It wasn't an issue for me because my wife's kids were all late teens/early 20's, and their biological father is a drunk whom they almost never have any contact with. They're also really great kids.

Anyway, you know how the consulate in HCMC is. They will almost certainly bring this up. A man might have a reasonable excuse because he could claim he wasn't aware he had a child at the time he filled out the forms, but a woman could never make this claim. The consulate will probably be highly suspicious of any evidence she presents. Birth certificates containing virtually any type of information are reasonably easy to obtain in Vietnam with a little coffee money. Pictures of the petitioner with the child at various points in the child's life are only evidence that there is a connection between the petitioner and child, and don't necessarily prove that the petitioner is the child's parent. An aunt or older sister could easily produce this sort of evidence and claim to be the child's parent.

I think a DNA test is certainly possible.

[NancyNguyen 1,658]

Thank you Jim, you are always with reliable advices.