I-130 denial (stepdaughter petition)

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

Hi vj friends and family,

What a shocking news to start my new year. Our petition got denied. As of yet I am not sure what's the reason of the denial as we are still waiting for the letter in the mail. Please help us how to get through this. It shouldn't happened. We want my daughter to be here.

We filed the petition on Oct 1st. I believed we submitted the correct documents as well as supporting docs. I checked our case today and it said that they mailed the letter of denial yesterday december 30.

In case like this what should we do? Any advice?

Edited January 1, 2014 by Kathy and Jesse

[aleful 1,905]

hi

so sorry to hear this, you can reapply. was the marriage before the child's 18th birthday?

what documents did you send with the i130?

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

That denial happened very early in the process, which makes me think either they are saying there is no petitionable relationship (you didn't show she was the bio daughter of your wife, you married after the child was 18), or there was something fundamentally wrong with the paperwork (wrong amount on check, forgot to include one of the main forms).

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

We followed the instruction letter of I-130 and the guidelines here in vj. We also sent the right amount of payment for I-130. My daughter is 6 years old.

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

We followed the instruction letter of I-130 and the guidelines here in vj. We also sent the right amount of payment for I-130. My daughter is 6 years old.

[aleful 1,905]

hi

what supporting documents did you send with the i130, please describe in details to help. maybe something was missing

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

Just another info. my daughters case is very complicated. Her birth certificate got corrected by the court in the Philippines. I was a single mom and she was named after my parents until 2013 we had a court hearing and the judge approved it. I've sent the new copy of her birth certificate but didn't include any court documents of how it get corrected. I thought we will received RFE but didn't expect to get denied.

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

Here are the contents of our packet:

Payment of $420

Form g-1145

Form I-130

Our marriage license

Birth certificate of my husband, my daughter and I

Copy of my husbands passport showing Philippine arrival and departure stamp

My husbands Colorado state I'd

Copy of my passport

Copy of my visa

Copy of my gC

Divorce decree of my husband from prior marriage

Money transfer history transaction showing that we are sending a money for my daughter 2-3 times a month

Pictures of my daughter and my husband during his visit in PI

And lastly screenshots..

Am I missing anything here? I know some of them are probably not needed but we sent it anyway thought it would help.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Sounds like the recently corrected birth certificate is the issue. They think you changed it to bring over someone. Did you provide any explanation of the recent change and any proof to back it up. was your daughter ever legally adopted by your parents ?

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

I did not provide any back up in regards of changing the name. I thought it was ok that I have sent the new BC copy. I thought they will gonna send us RFE. She was not legally adopted by my parents.

[Ning 619]

Just another info. my daughters case is very complicated. Her birth certificate got corrected by the court in the Philippines. I was a single mom and she was named after my parents until 2013 we had a court hearing and the judge approved it. I've sent the new copy of her birth certificate but didn't include any court documents of how it get corrected. I thought we will received RFE but didn't expect to get denied.

Who was indicated as the bio father of the child? Did that person provide the release docs allowing the child to emigrate? Do you have a court order of sole custody?

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

The father never exist. He neglected me after I got pregnant.

[Ning 619]

The father never exist. He neglected me after I got pregnant.

I understand but in a legal sense the child has a bio father of course, The question remains; what does the B C indicate?

[Kathy and Jesse 16]

The "new" Bc said to change the mother into my name and delete the entry of father and place of marriage. It has the annotation. I am not going to deal w the father of my daughter because he never exist. My daughter live with me since the day she was born.

I do not know what is the reason of denial but I am asking for advice in regards of this case. Appealing or re-apply? Which one is our option? When my husband petitioned me with fiancé visa we didn't have any problem. It went so smoothly. I have declared on the said petition that I have a daughter and she was indicated with the approval. We didn't meet the timeframe of k2 due to the slow process of her BC correction that is why my husband filed for step daughter petition.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

You will probably have to wait for the official letter , but it is probably about the facts of your daughters birth. Many times a new petition is cheaper and quicker than an appeal. Appeals are usually only successful if they made an error based on the facts they had. Looking at the questions you have been asked here start thinking about how you will answer any of the above questions.