Ben Dover

Hello, I was taking care of my terminally ill mother for the first half of this year until she passed away. During that time, I wasn't working. I just started a new job in July. My annual income at my job is more than enough to meet the requirements for the affidavit of support for my family size. The problem is that since I will only work about half of this year, the income stated on my 2024 tax return will be less than half of what I should earn in a year, and I won't qualify to sponsor my wife on that income. I just filed the I-130 in May 2024. I'm expecting NOA2 sometime around May 2025. My question: Is the affidavit of support required around the NOA2 period or will I have time to work one full year (2025) and have a complete tax return that I can send to my wife to take to the interview which should be in 2026? Thank you!

I wasn't planning to, but I certainly wouldn't mind traveling with them if it makes things better somehow.

Thanks for the input. My main concern with using the Nigerian passport was whether a dual citizen could use the passport of a third country he is neither residing in nor applying from to get a visa to enter the United States. On the other hand, my concern with using the Filipino passport is that I assume you have to enter your passport number on the visa application and since both the name and passport number are likely going to change halfway through the visa process (once the adoption is recognized), I assumed that would cause serious issues when someone with a different name and passport number shows up for an interview.

They never responded regarding DCF, and we left the country before the B visa appointment came up.

The human trafficking concerns are with children of unknown origins from adoptions through the orphan and Hague processes. We went through the third option which is a family-based petition so there is no such concern in our case as I am married to his biological mother, his biological father is deceased and we went through a legitimate process. There is evidence of all of this. https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/immigration-through-adoption/family-based-petition-process Also, it's completely legal to adopt a child in a new residence. I.e. a child relocates to the United States and establishes residency there for the required period and is adopted by someone in a New York court. The parent would not have to travel back to the Philippines to adopt that child. All adoptions are not required to take place in the country of birth. Otherwise, the Philippines wouldn't have a process in place and established Supreme Court rulings for acceptance of foreign adoptions of Filipino-born children. But this has turned into a debate about the merits of adoption when I am simply seeking advice about which name to use on an application. I got legal advice from lawyers in all 3 countries prior to filing the adoption so I am not really seeking legal advice about adoption. I really just wanted to know if anyone can advise on the name to use until the name change is finalized in both passports but it seems I'll have to pony up and contact my lawyer for an hour session.

It might not have been necessary for immigration purposes but I didn't adopt because of immigration the same way you shouldn't only get married for immigration reasons.

There is a whole section on the adoptive step-parent relationship here https://fam.state.gov/FAM/09FAM/09FAM050203.html and no, the adoption did not sever the step-parent relationship for the purposes of immigration. The I-130 can still be used and yes it does meet USCIS standards for immigration once the 2-year legal and physical custody period has been met. We have a whole thread on this and you can check my history if you want to learn more.

Adoptions do not only take place in the country of birth. They can also take place in a foreign country where residence has been established by the parents and/or the child. This is not uncommon which is the reason the Philippines has a court process to recognize adoptions that take place overseas in the first place. I am not at all concerned about that as this was well-researched in advance and I sought legal counsel on this. I am simply seeking advice regarding which name to use for the application process since I am essentially about to start a long process of a name change. Anyone who may have changed their name during marriage or any other process that can provide input would be appreciated.

Hello all. I'm a US citizen who adopted my Filipino stepson while living in Nigeria last year. In Nigeria, my son is legally recognized by his new name (my last name) and even obtained Nigerian citizenship, so he has a Nigerian passport with my last name on it. I have since left Nigeria and moved back to the United States, and my wife and son are now in the Philippines. I plan to start the I-130 process this week so I can bring them over. The problem is that the Philippines does not automatically recognize adoption decrees from foreign countries. There is a court process for a judge to decide on "recognition of foreign adoption" which, if approved by the judge, would mean that the Philippines recognizes that adoption as valid and my son's name can be changed to my last name in his Filipino passport. Unfortunately, this process takes between 1 year and 1.5 years and I have not started that process yet. So for now he basically has two identities. Do I have to file the I-130 using the name in his Filipino passport which is the name I plan to change and may have already changed in the middle of the immigration process? Or can he use his Nigerian passport to apply to avoid confusion since this passport already has his new name in it even though he will be residing in, applying in, and coming from the Philippines?

Totally unrelated. She applied for a tourist visa about 3 years ago while we had no plans of relocating but due to the long wait in Lagos, the appointment date is just approaching.

Yeah, she definitely would be heading home while they process the paperwork. Totally forgot about the DCF option but I'll see if it's available. Haven't actually accepted the offer yet. I just want to know what I'd be getting myself into as far as immigration before making a decision.

Thanks for this detailed response and the link. It perfectly addresses everything I needed to know. We've been married for over 5 years, and just to clarify, we've had a joint residence for more than the required 2 years, so I believe we've met the physical custody requirement. It's mainly the legal custody requirement I'm concerned about since the adoption was only finalized 3 months ago.

My wife is the biological parent and has had physical custody his entire life (11 years).

Hello. I am a US citizen who has been living overseas basically for the last 12 years. However, I now have a good job opportunity, so I might be moving back to the US in January. I recently finalized a local adoption of my wife's son in May, and I would like to start the process of bringing my family over to be with me as soon as possible. Given that the I-130 process requires two years of legal and physical custody for adopted kids before starting the immigration process, and we are only 3 months into the legal custody part, can my son still be classified as a stepchild for immigration purposes so that we don't have to wait two years or is he simply viewed as my child by USCIS once the adoption is complete? Thanks!

Nope, she's not eligible for ESTA.

We have lived in several different countries including Nigeria where we currently live (she is not Nigerian). We will continue to travel regardless of whether my wife gets the tourist visa or not; it would just be nice to be able to show her my home country. As far as her getting a job, it really wouldn't work for our situation right now. Interesting. I recently heard another story of nonchalance from a guy who dressed sloppily and deliberately bombed his tourist visa interview by giving one word answers because he had no interest in visiting the US. He was only doing it because his family wanted him to come visit and they paid for the B2 application. To his surprise, his nonchalance actually worked in his favor and he got approved.

After almost 3 long years of waiting, the countdown seems more bearable as my wife and son have a B2 visa interview coming up in January 2024. We don't live in the US and have no plans of living there anytime soon. However, I want to take my family on a visit next summer. I hear chances of a USC spouse getting a tourist visa are slim to none, and to make matters worse, she is a housewife. Is there anything I can do to improve the odds of my wife and son getting the visa? Am I allowed to go with them to the interview and if I go, would that help? They have never been to the US (including my newborn USC daughter) who would be traveling with us. We live in Lagos, Nigeria. Thanks!

I don't know much about recognition of foreign divorce, but I am currently looking for a Filipino attorney to file recognition of foreign adoption and so far, I have been quoted nearly 5 times the figures you are mentioning. I wouldn't mind having that lawyer's details.

We just took photos of my wife visibly pregnant, while out at various places, while she was being examined during her check up and my wife wanted to have professional photos to later show our kid, so we also submitted those shots (but professional photos are not a requirement). I was in the professional shots, which we took as a family.

Just thought I'd give some insight into my experience applying for a CRBA and getting approved the first time as it seems a lot of posts here talk about getting denied (sometimes multiple times) before finally getting approved. I'm a US citizen; my wife is not. We currently live in Lagos, Nigeria, where my daughter was born, so I applied for the consular report of birth abroad and passport at the Lagos US Consulate. I like for my family to always have valid passports in case of emergency or last minute trips, so I started reading the Consulate website and gathering evidence even before my daughter was born in order to hit the ground running. During my wife's pregnancy, we were already gathering lots of evidence of her pregnancy such as her pregnancy photo shoots, ultrasounds, medical reports, hospital receipts and appointment records to satisfy the prenatal records requirement. High school transcripts and college transcripts were obtained as evidence of physical presence. For proof of parents' relationship, we provided our marriage certificate, about a dozen pictures of us in several different countries and at several different points over the years showing we have been together for a while. I also provided itineraries, passport stamps and residence permits showing we were living in various countries together and therefore had access to each other.. As evidence of parents' location during the time of conception, I submitted the stamped passports showing we were both in Nigeria. My passport was provided and US citizenship proof, and I also provided my US driver's license as further ID as well and my wife's passport and ID. We provided photos of my daughter at birth, at her naming ceremony and at various stages (although you are not required to provide "growing up pictures" unless the child is at least 1) just to have extra proof. Once my daughter was born, I filled out the Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Application for a US Passport, and Affidavit of Physical Presence, and we took some passport pictures (2x2 inches, eyes open), sent these along with the birth certificate and our passport scans, by email requesting the earliest date possible. Despite applying just 5 days after my daughter's birth in late December last year, they didn't give us an appointment until mid-March, so plan well ahead if you plan to travel with your young one. On the date of the interview, we arrived with all the requested documents/photos and 2 photocopies of each. I was called up to a window by a woman who requested the required documents. She browsed through and labeled each set and then told me to make the payment of $235 or the naira equivalent, cash only. She then asked me to sit down while she more thoroughly went through the documents for about 20 minutes before handing them off to the interviewer at the next window who went through the documents for about another 20 minutes and then called both my wife and I up for the interview. Questions asked by the interviewer: 1. To both of us: How did you meet? 2. To my wife: When did you get married? 3. To me: Where did you go to school? After the brief interview, she asked us to both raise our right hands and confirm that we had given truthful information, sign the forms and then said the CRBA and passport were approved and would be ready for pickup in 3 weeks. She then asked us to turn our sleeping baby around for a quick look just to confirm it is the same person in the photo. The Lagos Consulate doesn't seem to be as strict as others I've read stories about because there were a few things that I thought should have been seen as red flags that they didn't even ask about. We also made sure we had a massive stack of evidence and didn't take any chances so that may have helped. For example, the website asks for 1 copy of each but the appointment confirmation email asks for 2 of each so we went with 2 to be safe. The biggest thing is to just to be prepared and remember that the burden of proof is on you, so bring more than enough. There was a guy there who was applying for a CRBA for his 3 kids, and I overhead him say he didn't have any prenatal evidence and also didn't bring cash as required, so he had to go out and try to get money before the deadline they had given him. Final tip for those in Lagos: ignore those touts in the parking lot who tell you to surrender your bag or cell phone for safekeeping (for a fee) because they are not allowed in the Consulate. We were allowed in with both of those things.