Will I get rejected?

[deftone 11]

Hey everyone, 

 

I have been a long time lurker on here and this time I am personally reaching out for support and assistance!

 

I applied for naturalization based on the 5 year GC (as my wife and I divorced after 3 years). After an 11 month wait I finally have my interview next month at the New Orleans field office. While doing my civics study and reading up on peoples interview experiences I think I have found something that may lead to my rejection and I am a little concerned. The issue is that I have a child back in my home country that I have not paid child support to in several years. There is no court ordered support, and I have no idea how to even contact my ex (she left me for someone else so literally changed phone numbers etc overnight).

 

I put my son on my application, along with the children from my marriage to my American ex-wife.  I do pay child support to her, it is all up to date etc. Everything else on my application is fine, I have always paid taxes, hold a good job, attended college etc. With all that being said, is the officer going to reject my application? And more importantly, how do I go about resolving the situation if it is rejected? Will I be unable to apply again until I pay 13 years child support? 

[Villanelle 4,122]

Bottom line, yes you will be rejected for failing to support your child. And yes, you have to be current on support to get approved.

So you have no idea where your child is (or has been) for 13 years? Thats horrible. 

[marknir 12]

What country did you come from?

[Holt 73]

United States takes Child Support obligations vey seriously. Failing to support your child makes you become a no good moral character. As a result, your N400 will be denied, and you might face a very serious consequences at both states and federal level.

I believe you must have to explain about it. Obviously, "can't get in touch with your son's mother" is not a good reason because this is your responsibility to take care of him. 

However, good luck to you.

[deftone 11]

6 hours ago, Damara said:

So you have no idea where your child is (or has been) for 13 years? Thats horrible. 

 

Around 6 years ago I went back to track her down. After knocking on the doors of the few family members I was aware of I managed to track her down for a few weeks. I managed to spend some time with my son but upon my return to the US she gradually disappeared again and contact was lost. So for the last 6 years or so I have not been able to contact him. 

4 hours ago, marknir said:

What country did you come from?

I am from Scotland (United Kingdom)

[deftone 11]

36 minutes ago, Holt said:

United States takes Child Support obligations vey seriously. Failing to support your child makes you become a no good moral character. As a result, your N400 will be denied, and you might face a very serious consequences at both states and federal level.

I believe you must have to explain about it. Obviously, "can't get in touch with your son's mother" is not a good reason because this is your responsibility to take care of him. 

However, good luck to you.

I am curious to what consequences there could be at a State level? I have taken care of my Child Support Obligations for my children from my American wife. The issue here is with a child overseas. 

[Going through 5,671]

This is all subjective to the IO, unfortunately, during your interview next month, and you may have a tough time.

 

If you can prove that you did not willfully avoid paying child support for your son/daughter living overseas, you stand a chance getting approved.  The fact that you *have* been supporting your USC children after your divorce (hopefully you can provide proof of this as well) will also work in your favour.  

 

You said you did not provide support for the overseas child "for several years"----do you mean that you *were* providing support before and can prove that up until the mother and you lost contact 6 years ago?

Edited October 17, 2017 by Going through

[deftone 11]

4 hours ago, Going through said:

This is all subjective to the IO, unfortunately, during your interview next month, and you may have a tough time.

 

If you can prove that you did not willfully avoid paying child support for your son/daughter living overseas, you stand a chance getting approved.  The fact that you *have* been supporting your USC children after your divorce (hopefully you can provide proof of this as well) will also work in your favour.  

 

You said you did not provide support for the overseas child "for several years"----do you mean that you *were* providing support before and can prove that up until the mother and you lost contact 6 years ago?

I have proof for my USC childrens child support, there has never been an issue there and I could probably get a letter from their mother also as we are on decent speaking terms (right now).

 

I have provided support for my overseas child on and off through the earlier years when we were in touch, and regularly when I was still living there. I may have some sporadic receipts for payments, but its unlikely after all these years. I no longer have access to the bank accounts I was using at that time. 

 

[candybabe 46]

6 minutes ago, deftone said:

I have proof for my USC childrens child support, there has never been an issue there and I could probably get a letter from their mother also as we are on decent speaking terms (right now).

 

I have provided support for my overseas child on and off through the earlier years when we were in touch, and regularly when I was still living there. I may have some sporadic receipts for payments, but its unlikely after all these years. I no longer have access to the bank accounts I was using at that time. 

 

Is the child support for your child overseas mandated and documented by the divorce decree / court ordered ? Or is it simply your choice whether you want to do it or not.

[candybabe 46]

if it has been court ordered through the divorce decree and you have stopped the payments then you are in breach and you could be denied based on lack of good moral character - if no child support was formally requested / mandated by the court , in my opinion that would not be considered a legal liability - you can send Christmas cards / gifts but you are not bound legally to send a monthly stipend.

 

I am not an immigration specialist / lawyer.

[deftone 11]

10 minutes ago, candybabe said:

Is the child support for your child overseas mandated and documented by the divorce decree / court ordered ? Or is it simply your choice whether you want to do it or not.

The child support for my overseas child is not court ordered or referenced in our divorce decree. 

[candybabe 46]

1 minute ago, deftone said:

The child support for my overseas child is not court ordered or referenced in our divorce decree. 

so then why do you even call it child support ?!?

 

child sup·port

noun

noun: child support; plural noun: child supports

1. court-ordered payments, typically made by a noncustodial divorced parent, to support one's minor child or children.

I would not use confusing terms -  I would mention that no child support has been court ordered.

 

In addition, whenever possible , when the mother allowed you to know the location of the child , you would send gifts in $$ or items although no legal obligation to do so exists.

 

Key point being - it is a choice and you are not in breach of any court issued mandate.

 

I am not an immigration lawyer / specialist.

 

[charmander 692]

You should read the section from the USCIS Policy Manual: https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartF-Chapter5.html#S-K

 

Regarding your no court order claim, it says " Even if there is no court-ordered child support, the courts have concluded that parents have a moral and legal obligation to provide support for their minor children, and a willful failure to provide such support demonstrates that the individual lacks GMC. "

 

I think you should carefully plan how to present why you didn't provide any child support. There was a bunch of denial stories on VJ just last year alone due to failure to provide child support. Use advanced search function and read those stories.

[Going through 5,671]

2 hours ago, deftone said:

I have proof for my USC childrens child support, there has never been an issue there and I could probably get a letter from their mother also as we are on decent speaking terms (right now).

you don't need a letter from the USC ex-wife.  Your proof of payments is enough.

[SteveG1003 1]

If no court order you to pay child support, and it's in your home country, not the US, then it's kind of a grey area & I don't think the USCIS know. It's all depend on how you present it. Maybe talk to a lawyer for help.