Child Born IN Wedlock Abroad (Philippines) - Complete DS-5507 Anyways?

[i2017 0]

Hi all,

 

My daughter was born in the Philippines to me and my wife - in wedlock - just yesterday.  I could not be present for the birth and cannot be present for the CRBA appointment.  I've been having a hell of a time deciding whether or not to go to my local Department of State Passport Agency to have a Passport Specialist certify a Form DS-5507 to include with all the other required documents I will be mailing to my wife for the CRBA appointment.  A potential complication is that our daughter was likely conceived while we were both on vacation in Rome.

The descriptions of DS-5507 are very open-ended and make me uncertain whether it would be a waste of time to complete this form, or a good idea under the circumstances.  It seems others on this forum have had the same issue, and many people in the relevant threads appear to be giving advice based on an analysis of the text rather than their own experience, which confuses things even more.  

The DS-5507 form is a unclear on who should complete it.  There are no separate instructions, and Part II is for "All Applicants with a Child Born Out of Wedlock" - which suggests some applicants might be completing this form despite their child having been born in wedlock.  The CRBA Application (Form DS-2029) doesn't improve the situation.   On page 3, it states:

 

Quote

NOTE: If a U.S. citizen parent transmitting citizenship to the child born out of wedlock is not present, he or she may complete State Department Form DS 5507 Affidavit of Parentage Physical Presence and Support and submit separately. Only the U.S. citizen father of a child born abroad out of wedlock must complete the acknowledgement of paternity and agreement to provide financial support.

 

HOWEVER, Page 1 states:
 

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NOTE: (If the U.S. citizen parent transmitting citizenship to the child is not present, he or she may complete State Department Form DS 5507 Affidavit of Parentage Physical Presence and Support and submit it separately. The parent completing this application should provide as much information on the parent completing the Form DS 5507 as he or she has.)

 

This raises two questions:  Is DS-5507 just an "option" for married fathers?  And two, does the official certifying the form collect it at the time of signing (hence the words "submit it separately")?  The most recent version of the Manila CRBA checklist doesn't mention Form 5507.  If it is submitted to the official certifying it, then I at least don't need to worry about including it in the envelope I will mail to my wife.

However, her immigrant visa to come here to the USA expires October 1st and we NEED to ensure our daughter's CRBA is processed ASAP and cannot afford a delay due to a missing "optional" document that the embassy might request.   At the time, we had no idea the visa medical exam starts the 6-month clock on her visa and ended up getting her visa much earlier than we wanted.  This is forcing us to try to rush the CRBA process so that she can immigrate with our children before the visa expires.

Does anyone have experience with Form DS-5507?  Is it submitted directly to the official certifying it?  Should I complete it anyways, despite it appearing to be optional, in order to reduce the chance of a hiccup during the CRBA interview?

Any advice based on experience or first-hand knowledge would be very much appreciated!

 

Edited July 7, 2019 by i2017

[i2017 0]

UPDATE:

I have re-read the CRBA checklist, and have determined that, if required, they would prefer Form DS-2029, Item 28 over Form DS-5507. 

Quote from the latest version (4/2018) of the CRBA checklist:
 

Quote

If the applicant was born out of wedlock to a U.S. citizen father, the U.S. citizen father must complete Item 28, page 3 of the form DS-2029. He must wait to sign it in front of the Consular Officer at the interview. If the U.S. citizen father will not be present at the interview, he must complete all parts of Item 28 and sign the form in front of a U.S.-commissioned notary.

 

It's not perfectly clear that this requirement doesn't apply to fathers of children born IN wedlock who will not be present for the interview.  However, Item 28 simplifies the possible requirement as I can complete it in front of a notary rather than a consular officer of Passport Agent as DS-5507 requires.   Since a copy of my passport and Form DS-3053 (authorizing the issuance of a passport) must be notarized anyways, I can have DS-2029, Item 28 notarized at the same time, which makes it much easier.

Looking at Item 28 on DS-2029, I see that it says, "Only the U.S. citizen father of a child born abroad out of wedlock must complete the acknowledgement of paternity and agreement to provide financial support."  However, there are four separate check marks for statements in Item 28, and only one of them pertains to children born out of wedlock.  This leads me to believe that the other 3 statements included in Item 28 could be completed by a married father of a child born in wedlock, and the embassy may require as much.  I'm going to try e-mailing them about it to see if they will answer this question, and will report back here if they give a non-dismissive response. 

 

In the absence of a clear and authoritative answer I will, out of an abundance of caution, complete and notarize Item 28 of the CRBA application.

[i2017 0]

Well I'll be damned!  I got two separate responses to my one email from the Manila Embassy, saying in substance the same thing.  Maybe they had some extra time on their hands or something. 

For future reference, here is the more pithy response:

 

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Dear Sir,

If the child was born in wedlock, then you do not need to notarize the DS2029, however, you would still need to submit a completed, notarized Form DS-3053 (Statement of Consent to Issue a U.S Passport to a Minor) which would enable the child’s mother to complete the passport application without your presence at the interview.  The document is only valid for 90 days after the date of signature.

We trust that you will find the above information helpful. Should you require further assistance, you can contact the Citizenship Unit at (63)(2) 301-2000 extension 2532, between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. (Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays except Philippine and U.S. holidays).

Sincerely,

American Citizen Services Unit, U.S. Embassy in the Philippines

 

Mystery solved!  I already had the damn thing notarized today, and that was apparently unnecessary.  Guess it can't hurt.  Fortunately, the notary cut me a break on 3 and didn't charge me for the third one (the DS-3053 and a full copy of my passport being the other two), so all is good!

 

Case closed.

Edited July 10, 2019 by i2017