Amend or Withdraw I-130?

[Eric D 0]

As I said to the two people who said there is something wrong in what I asked, I will reply that such an interpretation is specious. With that said, I will try again.

A US citizen father from Vietnam had a child out of wedlock in Cambodia in 1965 with a Vietnamese mother, when they were both living in Cambodia, but they never married. The child is now married and over 21, living in Vietnam.

The US citizen father, on his I-130, said the child was born in Vietnam. He did this erroneously because there no records exist from Cambodia, and the mother, in 2001 registered the birth in Voetnam. All the parties concerned fled Cambodia to Vietnam in or around 1970 and never returned. The father-child relationship was established for the child's first five years in Cambodia, but interrupted by the war.

The I-130 was filed in 2004 and denied in 2010, and the father appealed. An RFA just received asks for secondary evidence of a bona fide relationship. This could only be shown, if at all, by obtaining secondary evidence showing the child was actually born in Cambodia, which will conflict with the I-130 and supporting documents filed years ago.

I wanted to know what would be the effect of withdrawing the I-130 entirely and starting fresh? Or can the existing I-130 (filed July 2004) be amended? Or is the error fatal to the present denied petition and any future petition that may be filed?

This is not like a sham marriage. There is a biological connection, and the father supported the daughter financially starting in the 1990s once he believed it was safe to make contact, as he was affiliated with the South before finally escaping to Thailand and the USA, and feared reprisals from Vietnamese officials if the information became known.

I did not file the petition in 2004, or make the mistake, but wanted to understand the effects and see if a remedy can be found that would allow family reunification in a case where any primary and perhaps secondary records were destroyed by the Khymer Rouge.

Edited February 21, 2013 by Eric D

[Mellow 8]

As I said to the two people who said there is something wrong in what I asked, I will reply that such an interpretation is specious. With that said, I will try again.

A US citizen father from Vietnam had a child out of wedlock in Cambodia in 1965 with a Vietnamese mother, when they were both living in Cambodia, but they never married. The child is now married and over 21, living in Vietnam.

The US citizen father, on his I-130, said the child was born in Vietnam. He did this erroneously because there no records exist from Cambodia, and the mother, in 2001 registered the birth in Voetnam. All the parties concerned fled Cambodia to Vietnam in or around 1970 and never returned. The father-child relationship was established for the child's first five years in Cambodia, but interrupted by the war.

The I-130 was filed in 2004 and denied in 2010, and the father appealed. An RFA just received asks for secondary evidence of a bona fide relationship. This could only be shown, if at all, by obtaining secondary evidence showing the child was actually born in Cambodia, which will conflict with the I-130 and supporting documents filed years ago.

I wanted to know what would be the effect of withdrawing the I-130 entirely and starting fresh? Or can the existing I-130 (filed July 2004) be amended? Or is the error fatal to the present denied petition and any future petition that may be filed?

This is not like a sham marriage. There is a biological connection, and the father supported the daughter financially starting in the 1990s once he believed it was safe to make contact, as he was affiliated with the South before finally escaping to Thailand and the USA, and feared reprisals from Vietnamese officials if the information became known.

I did not file the petition in 2004, or make the mistake, but wanted to understand the effects and see if a remedy can be found that would allow family reunification in a case where any primary and perhaps secondary records were destroyed by the Khymer Rouge.

If the only RFE is proof of relationship b/w father and daughter, then they have DNA testing. The father can call or write NVC (or wherever the case is now... is it in USCIS, NVC or US embassy?) to verify if a DNA testing is sufficient to approve the case.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

I suggested earlier that you contact Marc Ellis. You are beyond what do it yourself can help you with and this is too important for you to leave it to the advise or misadvise you get online. No matter the reason for bad information on the petition you need the best possible lawyer you can afford.

[Eric D 0]

If the only RFE is proof of relationship b/w father and daughter, then they have DNA testing. The father can call or write NVC (or wherever the case is now... is it in USCIS, NVC or US embassy?) to verify if a DNA testing is sufficient to approve the case.

Thanks. DNA testing is not the issue stated in the USCIS RFA. It is the need to show a bona fide relationship beyond the biological. I was trying to get some input if there is any way to fix this error, or if the USCIS might be receptive to an amendment or something else.

[Eric D 0]

I suggested earlier that you contact Marc Ellis. You are beyond what do it yourself can help you with and this is too important for you to leave it to the advise or misadvise you get online. No matter the reason for bad information on the petition you need the best possible lawyer you can afford.

I hear you. I am not going to accept everything here as gospel, but it does not mean that input from others is useless, either. I appreciate the info.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

What a mess that was totally preventable.

[Eric D 0]

What a mess that was totally preventable.

Yes, a total mess. Looking to see if there can be a timely retraction, although mist of the language relates to aliens and not petitioner citizens.

[Mellow 8]

I hear you. I am not going to accept everything here as gospel, but it does not mean that input from others is useless, either. I appreciate the info.

Bonafide relationship is not shown only by means of the BC. In fact the father's name can be written on it without having any relationship later on. Documents to show bonafide relationship are report cards with the father's signature, letters written by the father to the daughter, receipts of school fees paid by the father, properties inherited from the father (through a deed of sale or donation with the father as donor and daughter as donee), etc.

[Eric D 0]

Bonafide relationship is not shown only by means of the BC. In fact the father's name can be written on it without having any relationship later on. Documents to show bonafide relationship are report cards with the father's signature, letters written by the father to the daughter, receipts of school fees paid by the father, properties inherited from the father (through a deed of sale or donation with the father as donor and daughter as donee), etc.

Aside from the issue of the erroneous I-130, there are no such documents as you mentioned from Cambodia, as the Communist government at the time destroyed all of the archives where such information was stored. But all that is academic if the representation and birth record from Vietnam cannot be somehow rescinded or subject to retraction or waiver.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

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