Should husband list Step-child on form I-751

[GJen 9]

Hey everyone

I have a friend who is applying to Remove conditions on his Greencard. He's filling out the form I-751, but in the Part 4 They ask him to list all their children. Now his wife has a 9 year old girl and he is her Step-Father. Is he supposed to list her as a child of his own? or should he say he has no kids of his own? I told him I personally think he should list her because even though its not his child, they are still a family, but I'm not 100% sure so I wanted to ask you guys. Thank you

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

He can list her and then check 'NO' for the question that asks if the child will be applying with you.

[Peace.... 281]

I never listed my daughter from my previous marriage from beginning of K1 through AOS and ROC. It's been a topic here through out the years, some add their step child and USCIS overlooks that they are USC and then they are sent an RFE stating a biometrics fee was not paid for the child. Others have made it through with no problems. I called three times in January and talked with three different tier 2 reps., all three said do not include step children and I also did this during my AOS application. During our AOS interview, the CO was looking at our I485 and ask if we have children, I said together no, but I have a daughter from previous marriage. I also asked her was I suppose to add her to the application, her reply NO.

Edited February 19, 2014 by foreverwaiting

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

It was more of a confusion on the old form edition. And I had read many of the older posts about listing the step children. I only saw the one person that had been asked for bio fee for the USC child they listed. It was not something that was happening a lot or anything. The new form edition pretty much fixed the confusion by adding the question to mark off Yes or No for whether or not the child is applying with you. The old form did not have that.

Did not list the step children for AOS, but did for ROC. Had evidence that went along with listing them, such as the kids being beneficiaries on my husband's life insurance, he being listed as a parent for our daughter's financial forms for school, and he also has her on his vision plan through his work as well. All stuff that helps with proving the marriage is real. We used the old form edition even, and had no problems.

I do not think there is a requirement to list them one way or the other, but with the new form, it is much easier to list them and have no confusion come about.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

Hi there! I was browsing the forum and found your posts and thought maybe you could help me. I’m a LPR and my husband is a USC. I will file for ROC January next year but I’m already looking into the forms. My husband has a son from a previous relationship, and I realized that I didn’t list him in the children section of my form i485. It was a stupid mistake on my part! I plan on including him for ROC, but do you think that I will have any issues? Will USCIS doubt of our relationship because I didn’t list him on form i485? Do you think I’ll need an attorney for ROC? I’m freaking out!!! Thanks! 

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

On 6/16/2021 at 1:02 PM, ra0010 said:

Hi there! I was browsing the forum and found your posts and thought maybe you could help me. I’m a LPR and my husband is a USC. I will file for ROC January next year but I’m already looking into the forms. My husband has a son from a previous relationship, and I realized that I didn’t list him in the children section of my form i485. It was a stupid mistake on my part! I plan on including him for ROC, but do you think that I will have any issues? Will USCIS doubt of our relationship because I didn’t list him on form i485? Do you think I’ll need an attorney for ROC? I’m freaking out!!! Thanks! 

Take a breath and calm down. There is enough anxiety through this whole process. You don't want to make yourself sick worrying over things you don't need to. You should have listed the stepchild on the I-485 because the current versions do ask for that (older ones did not, just for naturalization), BUT I think you will be fine going forward and listing the child on your I-751. You didn't forget to list your biological children or any children that were/are immigrating with you, so I am fairly sure you will be alright. USCIS likes to see joint mingling of finances as a main proof of a valid marriage.

[Rocio0010 5,579]

29 minutes ago, KayDeeCee said:

Take a breath and calm down. There is enough anxiety through this whole process. You don't want to make yourself sick worrying over things you don't need to. You should have listed the stepchild on the I-485 because the current versions do ask for that (older ones did not, just for naturalization), BUT I think you will be fine going forward and listing the child on your I-751. You didn't forget to list your biological children or any children that were/are immigrating with you, so I am fairly sure you will be alright. USCIS likes to see joint mingling of finances as a main proof of a valid marriage.

Thank you! We don’t have any bio kids yet. Also, earlier today I called an attorney to shop around. Other than this little hiccup, our case is pretty straightforward. Do you think we’ll need an attorney?

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

2 hours ago, ra0010 said:

Thank you! We don’t have any bio kids yet. Also, earlier today I called an attorney to shop around. Other than this little hiccup, our case is pretty straightforward. Do you think we’ll need an attorney?

You're welcome. 

 

In my opinion, no, but that's entirely up to you. You do whatever makes it less stressful and feels more comfortable for you.

[carmel34 3,631]

On 6/16/2021 at 2:02 PM, ra0010 said:

Hi there! I was browsing the forum and found your posts and thought maybe you could help me. I’m a LPR and my husband is a USC. I will file for ROC January next year but I’m already looking into the forms. My husband has a son from a previous relationship, and I realized that I didn’t list him in the children section of my form i485. It was a stupid mistake on my part! I plan on including him for ROC, but do you think that I will have any issues? Will USCIS doubt of our relationship because I didn’t list him on form i485? Do you think I’ll need an attorney for ROC? I’m freaking out!!! Thanks! 

My husband filed for ROC in May and did not include my adult children as his stepchildren because the form simply asked for the children of the LPR applicant.  The form and instructions do not clarify whether or not stepchildren should be listed or not.  So some include them, some don't, and from my research it doesn't seem to be a problem either way for ROC.  The N-400 form and instructions clearly state to list all children, including stepchildren, so we will do that when filing the N-400 next year even though it seems strange to do so as they are adults in their 30s and my husband does not consider them as his children at all since they are adults.  But to be thorough I will encourage him to add them to his N-400.  They were listed on the I-130 petition I did three years ago so USCIS knows and may ask about them if they are not listed.  Good luck with your ROC process and beyond!

[Chancy 6,241]

10 hours ago, carmel34 said:

They were listed on the I-130 petition I did three years ago so USCIS knows and may ask about them if they are not listed.

 

Now you got me worried 😕  We did not list my USC husband's adult child in our I-130/I-130A/DS-260 forms.  Our thinking was: his child was already an adult at the time of our wedding, so no step-parent/step-child relationship was created, based on USCIS and DOS definition.  But we did include our family photos in our bona fide evidence and his child's name is in the photo descriptions.  Our petition was approved, so I'm hoping that means USCIS doesn't mind the omission in the forms.

 

[KayDeeCee 4,893]

14 hours ago, carmel34 said:

My husband filed for ROC in May and did not include my adult children as his stepchildren because the form simply asked for the children of the LPR applicant.  The form and instructions do not clarify whether or not stepchildren should be listed or not.  So some include them, some don't, and from my research it doesn't seem to be a problem either way for ROC.  The N-400 form and instructions clearly state to list all children, including stepchildren, so we will do that when filing the N-400 next year even though it seems strange to do so as they are adults in their 30s and my husband does not consider them as his children at all since they are adults.  But to be thorough I will encourage him to add them to his N-400.  They were listed on the I-130 petition I did three years ago so USCIS knows and may ask about them if they are not listed.  Good luck with your ROC process and beyond!

Yes, The I-751 still just says to list all children without going into detail. However, he will have to list them on the N-400. The instructions let you know that age of the children does not matter. 

Item Number 1. Indicate your total number of children. Count all of your children, regardless of whether they are alive, missing, deceased; born in other countries or in the United States; under 18 years of age or over 18 years of age; married or unmarried; living with you or elsewhere; current stepchildren; legally adopted children; or children born when you were not married.

Item Number 2. Provide information about all your children listed in Item Number 1., regardless of age. 

 

3 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Now you got me worried 😕  We did not list my USC husband's adult child in our I-130/I-130A/DS-260 forms.  Our thinking was: his child was already an adult at the time of our wedding, so no step-parent/step-child relationship was created, based on USCIS and DOS definition.  But we did include our family photos in our bona fide evidence and his child's name is in the photo descriptions.  Our petition was approved, so I'm hoping that means USCIS doesn't mind the omission in the forms.

 

I would not be worried. If and when you file for citizenship, you will list them on the N-400. That's the form that has the very specific instructions about how all children are to be listed.