Father's Consent

[Ferrari328GTSi]

My understanding is that a father's consent form is required for K2 visa. I have gone back and forth with my fiance regarding the need for the form and wether to hire a visa consult company in China versus hiring an American Immigration attorney. She agreed to hire the immigration attorney but the attorney reviewed her divorce decree and stated it was sufficient for the k2 without father's consent. Originally the Consult company stated no consent was necessary (which is why I wanted to hire the attorney) but now they say we need father's consent. Reading the USCIS website I believe father's consent is a document necessary to secure a K2 visa even though the site states that under certain custodial circumstances it's not necessary.

 

According to my fiance, "In China, there are two kinds of divorce. The first one: the man and woman reach an agreement of divorce. They sign a Divorce Agreement which also includes child custody in the civil administration department. The agreement will take effect with a special seal of civil administration department. Such kind of Divorce Agreement has force of law, without need of any legal document from the court. The second one: if the man and woman can¡¯t reach an agreement, then they will go to court to let the court adjudicate their divorce. The court will show one document of divorce, in this document, the child custody is also defined. My divorce is the first kind of divorce. When I divorced with my ex-husband, we signed a Divorce Agreement and we also reached an agreement of the custody of our child." The consult company also said that the consent form is not required when filing the visa application but should be brought to the interview. I told my girl that without the consent form submitted with the application she will never be awarded with the interview.

 

The relevant parts of the divorce decree are, "Custody of The Child: 1.The Woman has the custody of the child 2.The child will live with the woman and be raised by the woman before university graduation. 3.During the period the child lives with the woman, the man has the visitation right. But the man can only bring the child for one daytime weekly, he can¡¯t stay with the child at night. 4. In any case, the man can¡¯t bring the child secretly without the woman¡¯s permission. I divorce of my own accord, totally agree with the arragement of this agreement without different views. If false, I would like to undertake the corresponding legal responsibility.

Chengdu Qingyang District Bureau of Civil Affairs

 

 

The attorney's response, "Your divorce court order should be sufficient to evidence your custody of your child." This concerns me because it's not a court order but a divorce decree from the District of Civil Affairs i.e. Civil Administration Department.

 

I'm seeking a second opinion and I will error on the side of caution by getting the father's consent. She has custody but the father has visitation. My girl's opinion is that since she has custody she does not need the father's consent. The USCIS website states that this may be a possibility. I hired an attorney because of the child custody issue and to resolve any misunderstanding between my fiance and myself. Now the attorney's judgement concerns me which my fiance then used to bolster her argument for a Chinese visa consult company. Now I'm thinking of hiring the consult company because their current position is that father's consent is needed. She has agreed to secure this document.

 

Does anyone on this website have any useful experience relevant to the requirement for father's consent that could be helpful to my situation?

 

Thanks

 

David