First passport for foreign child for visa application

[Btranquilo 2]

My wife and I are confused regarding the next steps in the NVC visa application for her daughter who is 5 years old and does not currently have a passport. Her daughter was born in Costa Rica and my wife is Nicaraguan. A year and a half ago my wife moved back to Nicaragua (from Costa Rica) with her daughter; the daughter has been living in Nicaragua since January, 2015 and has legal residency status in Nicaragua. My wife has been living here in the US since September, 2015.

We understand that we need to obtain a passport for the daughter in order to complete the application process for her visa to live with us in the United States. Our question is should we obtain a Costa Rican or Nicaraguan passport for her daughter and does it make any difference with the US government if she has either a Costa Rican or Nicaraguan passport?

Also, can anyone provide any advice on obtaining a first passport for a child of five years who is living in Nicaragua; it seems the process should be straightforward however we cannot get a clear answer on the process from the Nicaragua embassy in Miami, Florida and trying to obtain information from the Costa Rica department of Immigration which issues passports is impossible.

We would like to avoid the expense of a trip back to Costa Rica and / or Nicaragua for my wife for the sole purpose of obtaining a passport for her daughter. (We will be happy to go back to Nicaragua and bring the daughter back with us once she has the US visa of course).

I cannot proceed further with the NVC application process for the visa without submission of a valid passport for the daughter. Any advice or user experience would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,408]

Is the daughter a Nicaraguan citizen? Or a Costa Rican citizen? Or is she both?

[aleful 1,905]

hi

is she a dual citizen, meaning is she considered a Nicaraguan citizen? if not then she has to get a Costa Rican passport

There should be a Costa Rican Embassy or Consulate in Nicaragua to find out

here's the link

http://www.rree.go.cr/?sec=relaciones%20bilaterales&cat=representaciones%20de%20cr%20en%20extranjero&cont=482&idmision=24

Edited July 13, 2016 by aleful