What is the fastest way to prove citizenship (RFE needed for I-130 petition)?

[jan22 3,053]

3 minutes ago, Geisinger said:

Our lawyer submitted the package, I am not sure if he added all pages of her passport, I am afraid not.

 

However the RFE is clear that the passport is not enough.

 

Unfortunately she does not have a photocopy, this was probably lost many years ago as she grew up thinking that only her passport was enough to prove that she is an US citizen, her original birth certificate was properly kept.

I am not optimistic about you getting a replacement FS-240 in time to respond to a RFE. 

 

Has she had previous passports?  If so, does she still have the old ones?  Perhaps copies of all pages of all passports might be convincing.

[Geisinger 13]

Just now, jan22 said:

I am not optimistic about you getting a replacement FS-240 in time to respond to a RFE. 

 

Has she had previous passports?  If so, does she still have the old ones?  Perhaps copies of all pages of all passports might be convincing.

We need to have it delivered by November 17, time is tight.

 

She has previous passports, we are planning a backup in case we cannot get it by early november.

 

Maybe USCIS consular officer verifying that she is a US citizen with valid passport, all copies from previous passports.

 

Honestly we still don't have a solid backup plan.

[jan22 3,053]

2 minutes ago, Geisinger said:

We need to have it delivered by November 17, time is tight.

 

She has previous passports, we are planning a backup in case we cannot get it by early november.

 

Maybe USCIS consular officer verifying that she is a US citizen with valid passport, all copies from previous passports.

 

Honestly we still don't have a solid backup plan.

USCIS does not have consular officers.  Even if they did, a consular officer will not verify that a person with a US passport is a citizen.  The passport speaks for itself on that.  

 

Have you asked the lawyer to show you what he submitted?  Maybe he didn't even include her passport documentation...who knows.  A passport is usually the only evidence needed, so the lawyer may have screwed something up.

[Highmystic 234]

38 minutes ago, jan22 said:

USCIS does not have consular officers.  Even if they did, a consular officer will not verify that a person with a US passport is a citizen.  The passport speaks for itself on that.  

 

 

Actually, they are now scrutinizing certain US passports.  There is a very recent case, a man from Texas, US born (mid wife, no hospital) may raise a red flag.  He was US Army, and works as corrections officer.  For some reason they decided maybe he was "not" born in the US.  Due to the fact that you can "buy" passports and drivers license from most anywhere now,  they are doing extra work to weed out the fakes.

[geowrian 22,337]

28 minutes ago, Highmystic said:

Actually, they are now scrutinizing certain US passports.  There is a very recent case, a man from Texas, US born (mid wife, no hospital) may raise a red flag.  He was US Army, and works as corrections officer.  For some reason they decided maybe he was "not" born in the US.  Due to the fact that you can "buy" passports and drivers license from most anywhere now,  they are doing extra work to weed out the fakes.

There's also a case on VJ this week where they are requiring evidence of the petitioner being a USC despite having and using US passports in the past. They were born through a midwife, who's wife had forged their name on US birth certificates, so now they are requiring other evidence of being a USC other than just the passport in that circumstance.

[Ryan H 3,812]

***Duplicate threads merged; do not start multiple threads on the same topic.***

Edited September 2, 2018 by Ryan H

[jan22 3,053]

10 hours ago, geowrian said:

There's also a case on VJ this week where they are requiring evidence of the petitioner being a USC despite having and using US passports in the past. They were born through a midwife, who's wife had forged their name on US birth certificates, so now they are requiring other evidence of being a USC other than just the passport in that circumstance.

Those cases all involve midwife-attended births on the US-Mexico border, where there was a history of fraud for years.  OP's fiancee was born in Spain, a different story altogether.

[geowrian 22,337]

3 hours ago, jan22 said:

Those cases all involve midwife-attended births on the US-Mexico border, where there was a history of fraud for years.  OP's fiancee was born in Spain, a different story altogether.

No doubt....I was just giving an example where the passport was insufficient to prove citizenship.

[pushbrk 12,877]

My backup plan would be to submit a good color copy of every page of her US Passport, copies of data pages from as many expired passports as she has, and a letter indicating you have requested a copy of the CRBA.

 

By now, you should know a birth certificate, won't do, as she was born in Spain, there IS no Naturalization Certificate or Certificate of Citizenship.  The CRBA was enough to get her first passport and that HAS been all she needed to prove US Citizenship.

 

I would be asking the lawyer a direct question as to whether every page of her passport, or any page of it was submitted with the petition.

[Geisinger 13]

4 hours ago, pushbrk said:

My backup plan would be to submit a good color copy of every page of her US Passport, copies of data pages from as many expired passports as she has, and a letter indicating you have requested a copy of the CRBA.

 

Thank you very much that sounds like a solid plan.

 

We already wrote a letter to request the copy of the CRBA, we are sending this letter Tuesday.

 

The processing time is from 4 to 8 weeks, with expedited shipping we should get early November the latest, so we still have time to answer the RFE which is to be delivered until November 17.

 

Or do you think we could answer the RFE right away with all the photos of her US Passports and the letter indicating that we requested a copy of the CRBA and that she will present the CRBA to her interview?

[pushbrk 12,877]

1 hour ago, Geisinger said:

 

Thank you very much that sounds like a solid plan.

 

We already wrote a letter to request the copy of the CRBA, we are sending this letter Tuesday.

 

The processing time is from 4 to 8 weeks, with expedited shipping we should get early November the latest, so we still have time to answer the RFE which is to be delivered until November 17.

 

Or do you think we could answer the RFE right away with all the photos of her US Passports and the letter indicating that we requested a copy of the CRBA and that she will present the CRBA to her interview?

That's a tough call, but presenting the CRBA at interview is not going to help you with USCIS.  The two major steps of the process are petition and visa application.  USCIS approves the petition and it is USCIS that determines whether the petitioner is a US Citizen or not.  The Dept. of State handles the visa application based on the approved petition.  Consulate knows by the approved petition that the petitioner is a Citizen.

 

The safe bet is to submit the CRBA.  You haven't answered whether you even asked the attorney what was included as evidence of US Citizenship.  I would want that answer before making further decisions.

[Geisinger 13]

On 9/2/2018 at 10:09 PM, pushbrk said:

Consulate knows by the approved petition that the petitioner is a Citizen.

 

The safe bet is to submit the CRBA.  You haven't answered whether you even asked the attorney what was included as evidence of US Citizenship.  I would want that answer before making further decisions. 

Hello pushbrk,

 

I was talking with my wife and her father mentioned he never got her a CRBA.

 

" The child’s parents may choose to apply for a U.S. passport for the child at the same time that they apply for a CRBA. Parents may also choose to apply only for a U.S. passport for the child. Like a CRBA, a full validity, unexpired U.S. passport is proof of U.S. citizenship. "

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/birth-abroad.html

 

We've been asking the lawyer to see if he submitted any proof of US citizenship, however our lawyer keeps postponing to answer us.

 

The lawyer is not giving us any attention or direction, we are considering to change lawyer as soon as we obtain the copy of the package that was sent.

 

If he did submit proof of US Citizenship we will be in a complicated spot, no?

[pushbrk 12,877]

1 hour ago, Geisinger said:

Hello pushbrk,

 

I was talking with my wife and her father mentioned he never got her a CRBA.

 

" The child’s parents may choose to apply for a U.S. passport for the child at the same time that they apply for a CRBA. Parents may also choose to apply only for a U.S. passport for the child. Like a CRBA, a full validity, unexpired U.S. passport is proof of U.S. citizenship. "

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/while-abroad/birth-abroad.html

 

We've been asking the lawyer to see if he submitted any proof of US citizenship, however our lawyer keeps postponing to answer us.

 

The lawyer is not giving us any attention or direction, we are considering to change lawyer as soon as we obtain the copy of the package that was sent.

 

If he did submit proof of US Citizenship we will be in a complicated spot, no?

Is this a case where both parents are US Citizens at the time of birth?  If so, I would submit evidence of that in the form of their birth certificates, signed notarized statements by them, her foreign language birth certificate with certified translation showing the names of her parents, and a copy of every page of her US passport and as many (just the data page) of prior passports as she has available.  Fire the lawyer.  You may or may not need a new one.

[Geisinger 13]

1 minute ago, pushbrk said:

Is this a case where both parents are US Citizens at the time of birth?  If so, I would submit evidence of that in the form of their birth certificates, signed notarized statements by them, her foreign language birth certificate with certified translation showing the names of her parents, and a copy of every page of her US passport and as many (just the data page) of prior passports as she has available.  Fire the lawyer.  You may or may not need a new one.

Her father was a US citizen by time, he was naturalized and became citizen 10 years prior to her birth.

[pushbrk 12,877]

1 minute ago, Geisinger said:

Her father was a US citizen by time, he was naturalized and became citizen 10 years prior to her birth.

And the mother?