Do We Need Consent of Father?

[Doug&Alex 3]

Hello All, 

 

        I've been reading a lot on this Forum trying to learn as much as I can but I need some help.... 

My fiancee and I have been together almost 2 years now, (in November I'll have my 5th trip with her),  and have filed the I-129F through an Immigration Lawyer. NOA1 was received Aug. 17th 2017.  

 

My Fiancee has a 6 year old daughter, soon to be 7 named Sarah. Until recently (two weeks ago), Sarah lived with her Grandparents in the Province. No court order to do so, no legal paperwork. Just her living there instead of with my fiancee. Recently it's come to light that Sarah's father and her grandparents were not taking very good care of her, so the fiancee has had enough and has taken custody of Sarah. 

 

When we filed for our I-129f, Sarah was not included on there. We were intending to bring her in about 6 to 8 months time after the future wife gets here to the States. However now that she has taken custody of Sarah, we are having Sarah added to our application next Monday. 

 

Here's the deal:

1. Sarahwill be 7 in November

2. Sarah is illegitimate

3. Fiancee has never been married

4. Unknown if Sarah's father is even listed on the BC or not (we have a BC coming from NSO soon)

 

My delima:

 

1. Do we need Sarah's father's permission for my fiancee to bring Sarah with her? 

2. What Legal recourse does Sarah's father have towards keeping my fiancee from immigrating with Sarah? 

3. Will the USEM even care about Sarah's father's wishes? 

 

Is there anyone on this Forum, with Fiancee's having come from the Philippines, with young children?  Did they need the father's permission to do so? 

 

Thanks for your help! 

 

Sorry for the first post. I couldn't find the answers I'm looking for. 

 

[f f 725]

in short yes, taking her out of the country without the other parents consent is called international kidnapping.

 

the us government does care if you do this. since it shows them you will disregard laws when they are inconvenient as well as they think kidnapping is bad

[gypsyqueen 103]

58 minutes ago, Doug&Alex said:

Hello All, 

 

        I've been reading a lot on this Forum trying to learn as much as I can but I need some help.... 

My fiancee and I have been together almost 2 years now, (in November I'll have my 5th trip with her),  and have filed the I-129F through an Immigration Lawyer. NOA1 was received Aug. 17th 2017.  

 

My Fiancee has a 6 year old daughter, soon to be 7 named Sarah. Until recently (two weeks ago), Sarah lived with her Grandparents in the Province. No court order to do so, no legal paperwork. Just her living there instead of with my fiancee. Recently it's come to light that Sarah's father and her grandparents were not taking very good care of her, so the fiancee has had enough and has taken custody of Sarah. 

 

When we filed for our I-129f, Sarah was not included on there. We were intending to bring her in about 6 to 8 months time after the future wife gets here to the States. However now that she has taken custody of Sarah, we are having Sarah added to our application next Monday. 

 

Here's the deal:

1. Sarahwill be 7 in November

2. Sarah is illegitimate

3. Fiancee has never been married

4. Unknown if Sarah's father is even listed on the BC or not (we have a BC coming from NSO soon)

 

My delima:

 

1. Do we need Sarah's father's permission for my fiancee to bring Sarah with her? 

2. What Legal recourse does Sarah's father have towards keeping my fiancee from immigrating with Sarah? 

3. Will the USEM even care about Sarah's father's wishes? 

 

Is there anyone on this Forum, with Fiancee's having come from the Philippines, with young children?  Did they need the father's permission to do so? 

 

Thanks for your help! 

 

Sorry for the first post. I couldn't find the answers I'm looking for. 

 

First, you should wait for the birth certificate to see if the father is listed on it then you'll know if the father has the right to the child. If they were never married and the child is illegitimate then by Philippine law, the mother has the custody.

• Illegitimate children

The Family Code of the Philippines vests the mother with the parental authority over an illegitimate child (Article 176).

1. If travelling with the mother, a DSWD travel clearance is not required.

Read thru this link https://www.philippine-embassy.org.sg/the-philippines-2/dswd-travel-clearance-for-filipino-minors-2/ for more info.

 

To answer your questions:

There is no need to get the father's permission. There is nothing that the father can do to hinder your fiance and the child to migrate to the US. 

[JFH 12,190]

What answer did you provide to question 39 on page 7 of the I-129F? I'm confused what you mean by "the child was not included on the I-129F". ALL children must be listed, regardless of whether they are immigrating or not. There are no trick questions on these forms. 

Edited August 31, 2017 by JFH

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

19 hours ago, f f said:

in short yes, taking her out of the country without the other parents consent is called international kidnapping.

 

the us government does care if you do this. since it shows them you will disregard laws when they are inconvenient as well as they think kidnapping is bad

Sorry but you are wrong. If the father is not on the BC and the child is illegitimate and taken care of by the mother then by Philippine law the custody goes with the mother. She can take the child out of the country with no problem. 

[f f 725]

the father and his parents take care of the child also so he may be able to show it is joint custody.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

20 hours ago, Doug&Alex said:

Hello All, 

 

        I've been reading a lot on this Forum trying to learn as much as I can but I need some help.... 

My fiancee and I have been together almost 2 years now, (in November I'll have my 5th trip with her),  and have filed the I-129F through an Immigration Lawyer. NOA1 was received Aug. 17th 2017.  

 

My Fiancee has a 6 year old daughter, soon to be 7 named Sarah. Until recently (two weeks ago), Sarah lived with her Grandparents in the Province. No court order to do so, no legal paperwork. Just her living there instead of with my fiancee. Recently it's come to light that Sarah's father and her grandparents were not taking very good care of her, so the fiancee has had enough and has taken custody of Sarah. 

 

When we filed for our I-129f, Sarah was not included on there. We were intending to bring her in about 6 to 8 months time after the future wife gets here to the States. However now that she has taken custody of Sarah, we are having Sarah added to our application next Monday. 

 

Here's the deal:

1. Sarahwill be 7 in November

2. Sarah is illegitimate

3. Fiancee has never been married

4. Unknown if Sarah's father is even listed on the BC or not (we have a BC coming from NSO soon)

 

My delima:

 

1. Do we need Sarah's father's permission for my fiancee to bring Sarah with her? 

2. What Legal recourse does Sarah's father have towards keeping my fiancee from immigrating with Sarah? 

3. Will the USEM even care about Sarah's father's wishes? 

 

Is there anyone on this Forum, with Fiancee's having come from the Philippines, with young children?  Did they need the father's permission to do so? 

 

Thanks for your help! 

 

Sorry for the first post. I couldn't find the answers I'm looking for. 

 

This is actually a very common problem in the Philippines. If the birth father is not on the BC then there is nothing he can do at all and the USEM won't care one bit. But if he is on the BC pretty much you need his permission for the child to leave the Philippines. I have heard on here where people have actually bribed the birth father into letting the child go to the USA. If there are ANY Philippine related questions then come on over to the Philippine subforum and we can help you out. 

 

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/129-philippines/

 

 

3 minutes ago, f f said:

the father and his parents take care of the child also so he may be able to show it is joint custody.

If he is NOT on the birth certificate then by Philippine law the child is illegitimate. But if the father is on the BC then that changes things a great deal.

[Doug&Alex 3]

18 hours ago, JFH said:

What answer did you provide to question 39 on page 7 of the I-129F? I'm confused what you mean by "the child was not included on the I-129F". ALL children must be listed, regardless of whether they are immigrating or not. There are no trick questions on these forms. 

Hi!  On the 129F Sarah's name is listed, but it's misspelled. Well have that corrected when I talk to the Lawyer tomorrow. However on the form it is marked "Does the child reside with the beneficiary?" we marked "no". At the time we filed the 129f, Sarah was living with her grandparents. Now Sarah is living with her mother so we'll have this corrected as well. 

 

 

[NikLR 13,227]

You can't correct the I-129F once filed.  You can only update once you get to the DS-160

[Doug&Alex 3]

Hello Everyone! Thanks for the quick responses! I appreciate all your efforts! 

 

Shortly after Sarah was born, my fiance separated from her father and moved away from the province into the city without any means of caring for herself or her daughter. At that time a deal was struck between my fiancee and Sarah's grandparents (Sarah's father's parents) that they would care for Sarah until my fiancee was able to become established and take care of herself.  Sarah's been living with her grandparents since she was about 3 months old (or thereabout).  - Like I said she turns 7 in November. 

 

Earlier this year my fiancee tried to gain physical custody of Sarah and received a ton of push-back from the grandparents. There was a lot of vitral and bad talk coming from them and a HUGE guilt trip placed on her. So my fiancee relented and let Sarah stay with them. Recently, my fiancee's younger siblings came to visit and tried to bring Sarah with them, but when they went to Sarah's place to pick her up, Sarah's father refused to let her go with them. My fiancee's Mom then went to Sarah's dad and guilted him into letting Sarah go. 

 

Once my fiancee saw Sarah and how bad off Sarah was; head full of lice, yellow and chipped teeth, and horrible skin conditions (Sarah inherited my fiancee's skin allergies - she's allergic to just about everything), my fiancee made the command decision that Sarah would stay with her. Since then she's received a lot of threats from Sarah's father and his family and found out this morning that Sarah's father and mother have filed a kidnapping complaint against my fiancee's Mom because she was the one that picked Sarah up from them last week.  "Mom" has a hearing on Tuesday and I've got a lawyer to pay for when she can locate a decent lawyer there to represent her on Monday (today is a Federal Holiday there and most attorneys do not work on the weekends). 

 

We did acquire Sarah's BC from NSO yesterday and her father is not listed on there anywhere. Not on the front or the back. SO at least we have that in our favor. 

 

This is further complicated by the fact that Sarah's grandmother is a  high-level secretary for the leaders in the local government who have direct ties to larger drug dealers... It's a tangled web. The corruption there is extreme and we're quite a bit worried that the grandmother will be able to use her considerable connections to severely hurt my fiancee both legally (through illegal means) and even my fiancee's mom.... SO  this is probably going to get a bit interesting.  It seems like they're attacking my fiancee's mother because they don't have a lot to go on against my fiancee directly. 

 

According to Philippine law, Sarah's dad and g-rents can claim "abandonment" and "immoral behavior" against my fiancee. But those are easily argued. My fiancee has never "abandoned" Sarah. She came to visit her quite a bit and was always a big part of Sarah's life. It's just that Sarah lived with her grandparents. And the "immoral" clause, is BS. I'm the only man she's ever allowed near or around her daughter or in sight of her daughter (or her family in the province for that matter) and we're soon to be married. But it might complicate things none-the-less. 

All in all, thank you everyone for your replies! It gives me avenues to continue my quest for answers. 

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

2 minutes ago, Doug&Alex said:

Hello Everyone! Thanks for the quick responses! I appreciate all your efforts! 

 

Shortly after Sarah was born, my fiance separated from her father and moved away from the province into the city without any means of caring for herself or her daughter. At that time a deal was struck between my fiancee and Sarah's grandparents (Sarah's father's parents) that they would care for Sarah until my fiancee was able to become established and take care of herself.  Sarah's been living with her grandparents since she was about 3 months old (or thereabout).  - Like I said she turns 7 in November. 

 

Earlier this year my fiancee tried to gain physical custody of Sarah and received a ton of push-back from the grandparents. There was a lot of vitral and bad talk coming from them and a HUGE guilt trip placed on her. So my fiancee relented and let Sarah stay with them. Recently, my fiancee's younger siblings came to visit and tried to bring Sarah with them, but when they went to Sarah's place to pick her up, Sarah's father refused to let her go with them. My fiancee's Mom then went to Sarah's dad and guilted him into letting Sarah go. 

 

Once my fiancee saw Sarah and how bad off Sarah was; head full of lice, yellow and chipped teeth, and horrible skin conditions (Sarah inherited my fiancee's skin allergies - she's allergic to just about everything), my fiancee made the command decision that Sarah would stay with her. Since then she's received a lot of threats from Sarah's father and his family and found out this morning that Sarah's father and mother have filed a kidnapping complaint against my fiancee's Mom because she was the one that picked Sarah up from them last week.  "Mom" has a hearing on Tuesday and I've got a lawyer to pay for when she can locate a decent lawyer there to represent her on Monday (today is a Federal Holiday there and most attorneys do not work on the weekends). 

 

We did acquire Sarah's BC from NSO yesterday and her father is not listed on there anywhere. Not on the front or the back. SO at least we have that in our favor. 

 

This is further complicated by the fact that Sarah's grandmother is a  high-level secretary for the leaders in the local government who have direct ties to larger drug dealers... It's a tangled web. The corruption there is extreme and we're quite a bit worried that the grandmother will be able to use her considerable connections to severely hurt my fiancee both legally (through illegal means) and even my fiancee's mom.... SO  this is probably going to get a bit interesting.  It seems like they're attacking my fiancee's mother because they don't have a lot to go on against my fiancee directly. 

 

According to Philippine law, Sarah's dad and g-rents can claim "abandonment" and "immoral behavior" against my fiancee. But those are easily argued. My fiancee has never "abandoned" Sarah. She came to visit her quite a bit and was always a big part of Sarah's life. It's just that Sarah lived with her grandparents. And the "immoral" clause, is BS. I'm the only man she's ever allowed near or around her daughter or in sight of her daughter (or her family in the province for that matter) and we're soon to be married. But it might complicate things none-the-less. 

All in all, thank you everyone for your replies! It gives me avenues to continue my quest for answers. 

Where in the Philippines is she from and living na? At least you have that in your favor and she can do pretty much whatever she wants in regards with her daughter. Do you or she know if ANYTHING was formalized in writing and signed off by a attorney? 

 

As I said before this kinda of situation is VERY COMMON in the Philippines where family members will assume custody and/or just start taking care of a child due to the family member running off or working and taking care of the child monetarily. So if there are anymore questions come on over to the Philippines Subforum and we will gladly help you out no problem.

 

The same kind of situation happened with my brother in law with his child in regard to her being mistreated and it's sad really. My brother in law seperated from his wife and mother of their child after she cheated and got pregnant by someone else, and she ran the family business in the dirt. So he left and still lives in the same town because he still takes care of and feeds his daughter, if he didn't do that then she wouldn't get fed. The mother kept the child from him for one month one time and the next time he saw her she was pretty much emaciated. It was so bad she weighed as much as my 3 year old when Ecel is 6 years old. 
 

 

Stand firm.......

[Doug&Alex 3]

Well now that my fiancee has Sarah full time, Sarah's father and grandmother are threatening to take this to the "highest court" in attempt to bar my fiancee from leaving the country with Sarah. We'll be getting lawyers involved and hopefully get this resolved before the USEM Interview. 

 

I don't think the Philippine Government is going to put a travel ban on Sarah until there's been an actual court proceeding or ruling on the case. By that time, Sarah and my fiancee will be in America so it wont really matter. :-)  However if they try dragging this out I'll be filing counter suit to recover my money  spent on attorney's, travel, court fees, and an additional (ridiculously large) sum for damages, etc...  The thing about it, and what they're failing to realize is, I have a lot more money to throw at this than they do.  - Boons of being a financially independent & debt free American.  

 

They can either wise up and start realizing what is best for Sarah, or get ready for a real-life roller coaster ride. I'm not playing with these wackadoos.  Sarah's dad wanted little to nothing to do with her while she was there. Basically letting her raise herself when they were together, constantly bringing different girlfriends around Sarah, drinking, smoking, and gambling around her....   Now all of a sudden he wants to be the best most involved dad on the planet?  Pfft.... day late and dollar short. It's amazing what a man will do once his ego's been challenged. 

[Umka36 781]

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2017 at 2:26 PM, Doug&Alex said:

...

According to Philippine law, Sarah's dad and g-rents can claim "abandonment" and "immoral behavior" against my fiancee. But those are easily argued. My fiancee has never "abandoned" Sarah. She came to visit her quite a bit and was always a big part of Sarah's life. It's just that Sarah lived with her grandparents. And the "immoral" clause, is BS. I'm the only man she's ever allowed near or around her daughter or in sight of her daughter (or her family in the province for that matter) and we're soon to be married. But it might complicate things none-the-less. 

All in all, thank you everyone for your replies! It gives me avenues to continue my quest for answers. 

Since the father is not listed on the BC, your fiancée has full custody based on Philippine law.

 

This part of the story confuses me, you said your fiancée was always a big part of her daughter life but she never notice the neglect of her daughter until recently. Sarah's been with her grandparent since she was 3 months old, so it's hard for me to believe that they are really that bad and no one did anything about it.  

Edited September 1, 2017 by Umka36

[Doug&Alex 3]

On 9/1/2017 at 3:37 PM, Umka36 said:

Since the father is not listed on the BC, your fiancée has full custody based on Philippine law.

 

This part of the story confuses me, you said your fiancée was always a big part of her daughter life but she never notice the neglect of her daughter until recently. Sarah's been with her grandparent since she was 3 months old, so it's hard for me to believe that they are really that bad and no one did anything about it.  

Up until recently it wasn't a big deal, but the older Sarah gets the less and less that they've taken an active role in her care. Sarah has basically fended for herself unless it was time to feed. Thats provincial life. Things like yellow teeth and lice really aren't that big of a deal to most people in the province. I've spent months there, and I've been appalled with some of the things that I've seen there that people thing is just "normal". 

[K1applicant 12]

On 8/30/2017 at 1:42 PM, Doug&Alex said:

Hello All, 

 

        I've been reading a lot on this Forum trying to learn as much as I can but I need some help.... 

My fiancee and I have been together almost 2 years now, (in November I'll have my 5th trip with her),  and have filed the I-129F through an Immigration Lawyer. NOA1 was received Aug. 17th 2017.  

 

My Fiancee has a 6 year old daughter, soon to be 7 named Sarah. Until recently (two weeks ago), Sarah lived with her Grandparents in the Province. No court order to do so, no legal paperwork. Just her living there instead of with my fiancee. Recently it's come to light that Sarah's father and her grandparents were not taking very good care of her, so the fiancee has had enough and has taken custody of Sarah. 

 

When we filed for our I-129f, Sarah was not included on there. We were intending to bring her in about 6 to 8 months time after the future wife gets here to the States. However now that she has taken custody of Sarah, we are having Sarah added to our application next Monday. 

 

Here's the deal:

1. Sarahwill be 7 in November

2. Sarah is illegitimate

3. Fiancee has never been married

4. Unknown if Sarah's father is even listed on the BC or not (we have a BC coming from NSO soon)

 

My delima:

 

1. Do we need Sarah's father's permission for my fiancee to bring Sarah with her? 

2. What Legal recourse does Sarah's father have towards keeping my fiancee from immigrating with Sarah? 

3. Will the USEM even care about Sarah's father's wishes? 

 

Is there anyone on this Forum, with Fiancee's having come from the Philippines, with young children?  Did they need the father's permission to do so? 

 

Thanks for your help! 

 

Sorry for the first post. I couldn't find the answers I'm looking for. 

 

I believe your fiancee needs to have full custody of her daughter in order to take her out of the country. The father may need to waive his parental rights or give permission, but I would wait to see if he is on the birth certificate because if he's not then she might just have full custodial rights. Whatever the case may be, you need to get that sorted out before trying to take her out of the country for sure! Maybe even consult a lawyer on that? I don't know if anyone on here is really qualified to answer this question properly. 

 

And I have to second what another user has already said, what do you mean she wasn't included in the I-129F package when it asked if your beneficiary has children? I sincerely hope you did not answer 'no' when she has a daughter...

Edited September 5, 2017 by CanadianMomtobe