Problem with spouse son petition.

[bullmastiff]

Hello all CFL members ;

 

I just checked my wife's I-130 petition status on line for her 13 years old son and it said it was denied on Feb 7 ,2017 .

Have not received the letter and the explanation for denial reason .

 

He was living with his father but he is biological son of my wife . His father has recently signed a transfer for his custody to my wife . We did not include this court document in the I-130 application .

My wife has been in this country for over 5 years and still maintaining her LPR status .

 

I am confused what could be the reason ?

Waiting anxiously for the USCIS letter .

 

Anyone who wants to guess ?

[dnoblett]

Hello all CFL members ;

 

I just checked my wife's I-130 petition status on line for her 13 years old son and it said it was denied on Feb 7 ,2017 .

Have not received the letter and the explanation for denial reason .

 

He was living with his father but he is biological son of my wife . His father has recently signed a transfer for his custody to my wife . We did not include this court document in the I-130 application .

My wife has been in this country for over 5 years and still maintaining her LPR status .

 

I am confused what could be the reason ?

Waiting anxiously for the USCIS letter .

 

Anyone who wants to guess ?

Why did she file, and not you file petition? If your marriage to her happens before age 18 that makes him your step son and eligible to be petitioned for by US Citizen Step Parent.

[bullmastiff]

I did not know that I could file . She is the biological mother . My marriage happened when he was only 6 years old .

 

Please help me what category can I file for him ? and what documentation will be needed ? You mentioned about US Citizen Step Parent.

Is the visa priority be faster than she 's filing ? what kind of time frame ?

 

The strange thing is we never received any RFE or letter before this , unless they are lost in the mail for some reasons. Strange why the I 130 is denied .

[dnoblett]

Visa priority is Immidiate, this is the same as if you married overseas and filed two petitions for spouse and step child, they both get visas at same time.

 

You file petition, with evidence of relationship, (Marriage cert of marriage to his parent and copy of his birt cert showing relationship to his mother.)

Time frame is 4-5 months USCIS, a couple months at NVC, then a month or so to an interview.

 

If you are a U.S. citizen and the father or stepparent of the child or son or daughter, you must file the following with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

 

Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative

A copy of your birth certificate or U.S. passport

If you were not born in the U.S., a copy of either:

your Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship or

your U.S. passport

A copy of the child's birth certificate showing the child's name and the names of both parents

A copy of civil marriage certificate showing the names of both parents, or proof that a parent/child relationship exists or existed (if you are petitioning for a stepchild, your marriage to the child's parent must take place before the stepchild's 18th birthday)

A copy of any divorce decrees, death certificates, or annulment decrees that establish the termination of any previous marriages entered into by you or your spouse

Fathers petitioning for a child born out of wedlock must provide evidence that a parent/child relationship exists or existed. For example, the child's birth certificate displaying the father's name, evidence showing that the father and child at some point lived together, or that the father held out the child as his own, or that he has made financial contributions in support of the child, or that in general his behavior evidenced genuine concern for and interest in the child. A blood test proving paternity may also be necessary.

If anyone's name has been legally changed (if it differs from the name on his or her birth certificate), evidence of the name change must be submitted.

 

http://www.visajourney.com/content/childpet

[bullmastiff]

Since I am a USC and his biological mother is LPR ( not a conditional LPR ) , once he entered the US , what is this kid status going to be ? an LPR , a USC or a Conditional LPR ? He is 12 years old now. Thanks.

[dnoblett]

He will be an LPR 10 year permanent greencard, and if you choose to adopt him, his status would become USC based on your citizenship.

[bullmastiff]

Thanks. Adoption is a separate process from being a step son ? It can be done later after he is already in the US ?

 

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Still waiting for the denial letter from USCIS issued on Feb 7 , 2017 . Strange that we never receive any RFE before . All we got was the receipt for the application 8 months ago . I made an appointment to see the Detroit USCIS office next Wed .

Hopefully , it is a simple matter which essentially was a classification mistake in which I could petition him as an immediate relative .

[Randy W]

Thanks. Adoption is a separate process from being a step son ? It can be done later after he is already in the US ?

 

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Still waiting for the denial letter from USCIS issued on Feb 7 , 2017 . Strange that we never receive any RFE before . All we got was the receipt for the application 8 months ago . I made an appointment to see the Detroit USCIS office next Wed .

Hopefully , it is a simple matter which essentially was a classification mistake in which I could petition him as an immediate relative .

 

 

You should find out why it was denied - it may have been something as simple as an incorrect fee or possibly that she didn't include the custody documents. It was NOT rejected due to a "classification mistake" - your wife CAN petition for an Immediate Relative visa for her son. Current wait time for a child of an LPR from China is about 20 months. The child of a citizen would have a visa immediately available. A step-child is considered a "child for immigration purposes" - this means that YOU can file an I-130 for your step-child, thereby saving about 20 months.

 

Your spouse's child is a step-child. Adoption is the process through which they legally become your own child.

[bullmastiff]

Thanks again.

 

We have made an appointment with USCIS Detroit office next Wed , this way at least if the letter never gets here , we will find out the reason why ?

 

Just a speculation ..... indeed , she did not have the custody Chinese court document along with the I 130 petition application , also, in the divorce agreement , it says that her son stays with her former husband family . Indeed , only after we filed , last year in August , she went home and had the court with the agreement of her former husband issued a custody agreement paper on her son to her . This document is in Chinese . Where can this be translated to English ? In China , they have notarial service , how about here in the US ? for convenience sake to proceed forward , just in case this is the missing piece to establish the family connection , ie. eligibility to immigrate under immediate family status.

[dnoblett]

Anyone who is conversant in both Chinese and English can translate it and make a notation at the bottom of their translation that they are conversant in both languages that they certify it and provide contact info if officer has questions about the translation.

 

In the past I have translated documents electronically and had a friend conversant in both languages compare and certify my translation.

[bullmastiff]

Still have not received the notice of denial yet , so , we have no idea why the I130 was denied ? Strange , we never receive any RFE either . Usually they would send an RFE prior to denial notice.

regardless, we already made an appointment to see the local USCIS next week ,

[bullmastiff]

we went to the USCIS Detroit office this afternoon . The officer checked the application that my wife filed for her son as a child of LPR . He said that the application was last reviewed on Feb 8 ,2017 in California and still in process or under investigation . I told hime then that according to the USCIS case tracking , the application was denied on Feb 7 . He then checked a different system and confirmed this denial . Unfortunately, he was not able to tell us the reason for denial. If we have not received the denial letter by Feb 22 , then, we need to go to the link to request the denial letter.

 

Our address is good because we received the application receipt in the mail in June last year .

 

 

I am really puzzled but have no option other than going to the link and make the request to resend the denial notice .

[bullmastiff]

Got the email response from the California Service Center stating the case was denied and the notice was sent on Feb 2 and expect to receive it within 2 weeks.

 

Really waste of time ..... don't know what to do next other than writing to the California Service Center to send us the denial notice with the reason for denial and any action forward that can be used to appeal .

 

Really so difficult to get to the bottom of it .

[Randy W]

Got the email response from the California Service Center stating the case was denied and the notice was sent on Feb 2 and expect to receive it within 2 weeks.

 

Really waste of time ..... don't know what to do next other than writing to the California Service Center to send us the denial notice with the reason for denial and any action forward that can be used to appeal .

 

Really so difficult to get to the bottom of it .

 

 

It may be time to simply move along with YOUR "child of a citizen" I-130 - perhaps get a lawyer to review your previous application for what went wrong, but even that may simply be a waste of money.

Edited March 2, 2017 by Randy W (see edit history)

[bullmastiff]

Correct . Already filed IR-2 of USC last week ,,,,, on the mean time, I sent a letter already to CSC to ask the supervisor for I-130 to resend the denial notice and the reason for denial.

More than likely, the dead line for filing an appeal has already passed . However, we would like to know the reason for denial . If I may speculate, most likely we did not send the " custody " or Child Raising Court agreement . In reading the certified translation of that document , my wife would not have the right to bring him over to the United States , let alone , she would not have the right to be raising her son because the divorce agreement indicated the son's child rearing responsibility was solely with his father and she was only helping to pay alimony ( expense ) . Now, as of last year in August ( after the filing of the I -130 ) , when she went home to visit her son, the ex husband agreed in the court as the defendant to transfer the custody to her . This document is signed by the local court and the judge.

Again, in my opinion, without this custody agreement , there is no way, an established family relationship that allows the son to be apart from his father would have been given and therefore the I-130 can not be supported due to the lack of established family relationship to qualify for immigration benefit . He is a minor at this time.