Questions about visa to the US for my son's father..

I'm really confused by your first paragraph. If you are the biological father of the 2 year old boy he is both American and Dominican so I do not understand why your 2 year old had to hide the fact that he has an American father and his son? Did you mean his mother?

You can also check this website for answers Dominican Immigration - Dominicans to the USA - Index

You may have to marry legally in the DR as your partner's lack of candor during his visitor visa interview may come back to haunt him.

Hey, well first and foremost I think it'd work in his favour to declare his son and the mother of his child as US Citizens, because that gives him a sort of much-needed link to the USA, right? I'd recommend you guys get started on the papers again, stat...

I don't know how the USA works, but in Canada you'd be legally responsible for him for 3 years (financials and all...) so they want to ensure that you're secure there and that your marriage or relationship is out of love and not fraud. It sounds harsh, but that's how the system works

I am NO legal expert but I'm a Canadian who was once married to a Dominican, and I'd suggest going through with the marriage and you getting back to the USA and starting the paperwork from there. Perhaps look into consulting a lawyer or even calling the Immigration Department directly and trying to talk to a real person. At times it's a long wait, but worth it if you can get a human voice and great advice

Wishing you good luck, and make sure, like Belmont says, you get that change made asap because withholding info like that on an application could hinder the progress...

It seems as though you have two options: a K-1 visa which would allow you to bring your partner to the US on a visa, then marry him in 90 days; or a K-3 visa which would require you to be already married. From what I understand, they take about the same amount of time. The site AnnaC mentioned has lots of good information.

However, since he essentially lied on his original application in the eyes of the US government (not mentioning his son), like Belmont I think your chances of getting a K-1 (fiance) visa are not good. And definitely don't mention the original plan to bring him over on a tourist visa then get married there- US government considers that fraud.

Either way, you must be able to show that you are able to support him financially. When my now husband and I did the K-1 visa, I left the DR to establish myself in the US while I waited for him. From the time I filed to paper work to the time he was granted the visa after our interview, it took 6 months.

You should start gathering evidence of your relationship right away- leases with both of your names on it, bank accounts with both your names on it, proof that you have been together for the 4 years, etc. You will have to prove the authenticity of your relationship, which will be a challenge since he did not list your son on his renewal. (They will think it is odd that he "suddenly" has a son when he didn't have one when applying for the other visa.)

Good luck!

Patience young Jedi, first change your attitude and forget about next spring. Unless you are wealthy or well employed you’re going to need to be very patient and start working on your problem methodically. Unless you’ve got a steady income of $27,562.00USD or better annually for the last three years, or equivalent net worth, or you have a family member with an income higher than that in the third column in I-864P on the row appropriate for a household the size of their own plus you three, who will agree to be his sponsor, you are going to have to start developing a history of fiscal responsibility. If you want for him to get a permanent residency visa I’m pretty sure the fastest way will be through family member sponsorship. If he doesn’t already have close family that are US citizens then it’s going to have to be you or your family. Once a new immigrant arrives in the US, whoever the sponsor is will be held fiscally responsible for ten years or until the immigrant attains citizenship. So it is in everyone’s best interest for the immigrant to become a citizen as soon as possible. I believe the fastest way for this is for the immigrant and sponsor to have been married at least two years when the immigrant arrives (another benefit of this is that the visa that is issued won’t be conditional). In that case they only have to wait three years to apply for citizenship. I think he would have to wait five years after arrival otherwise. The sponsor will have to be up to date with the IRS going back at least three years. Assuming you want to go through this, and that you will be the sponsor, and that you haven’t been gainfully employed to the tune of $27,562.00USD or better annually for the last three years, your best course of action would be to get married then go back to the US and become gainfully employed ASAP, start working on squaring yourself away with the IRS, and start studying the forms in the links below and start living to comply with the financial requirements of I-864. It’s going to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000.00USD all told in application fees and medical exams and the like to get his green card, but it won’t be all at once. Neither will it include airfare which will include his one way to the US and your round trip for the interview at the US embassy. It wouldn’t hurt to make a few visits there in the interim also. After the wedding the first thing you are going to want to do is file the I-130. You should start looking at it and the instructions now, and get his biography down, and have him sign what he needs to sign before you leave him, to start building a financial history of your own. Once you’ve submitted that with the filing fee (now $420.00) the national visa center will start communicating with you by email with further instructions. Save all the emails between you and them and don’t let the time between consecutive communications with them exceed the limit (I believe it is one year) or you will have to re-file (with a new fee). When you are granted an interview, if you two are as familiar with each other as you say you should be fine. If you each have the same story of your history together, there shouldn’t be a problem. Maybe bring a few documents and pictures to corroborate it. This is one way to do it that I know will work. There may be others, for instance if you were married and living in the Dominican Republic together for a few years there are other things that I don’t know about that come into play. Maybe someone else knows. Good luck, it should be easy if you apply yourself, but not if you don’t. The following advice is not pertinent to the visa process, but will help with the separation: At Metro PCS you can get cell phone service with unlimited national and international calling to the Dominican Republic house phones(not cell phones), unlimited texting and unlimited internet for $60.00/month or less.

I-130 Petition for Alien Relative Instructions:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130instr.pdf
I-130 Petition for Alien Relative Form:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf
I-864 Affidavit of Support Instruction:
Affidavit of Support Instructions
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864instr.pdf
I-864 Form:
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864.pdf
Minimum Income Requirement for Use in Completing Form I-864 (I-864P):
http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/DATAOBJECTS/I_864P.pdf

abretusojos10 said:

I am the biological Mother and the US citizen ... my son is american.. my husband is dominican, he hid the fact that he has an american gf/mother of his son, and son ........

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Did you obtain your son's report of birth abroad certificate and his US passport? If yes I believe thenbest bet is to get married therevand file the K1 visa along with the I-130 petition for alien spouse or relative.

abretusojos10 said:

Ok guys I'm not sure how to word this so I am gonna try my best.
I have been living in the country for 4 years, I am 24 years old. I have partner and we have a son who is 2years old. Me and my son are both american citizens, he is Dominican. We have been together for 10 years. He has had 2 visas before for paseo* he went friday to renew it. As we were counseled he didnt mention me or his son in order to not have any issues. He didnt get the renewal but we believe it had to have been due to some credit bull****. He was getting his visa so that we can go to the states, marry there, and start all the paperwork so he can get his papers and we can stay there. We are dying to get out of this country. It's great if you are from here and are used to the bull****, or if you have a very very very good income. You must all know this. anyways.

My question is what is the best possible way for us to get out of here??? Wait and go back and apply for visa but as a family... or get married and then file paperwork that way...or me moving to the states starting to work and do it from there... i actually want to know if i am able to *pedirlo while working 'here'... what would be the FASTEST and also least expensive way???


I'm sure these questions may be answered somewhere here, I am actually gonna look now, I just need a response asap... We would like to be gone before spring....

Thanks again...

send me a message or abre.tus.ojos @ gmail.com

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The biggest hurdle you were going to face by the consulate basics is now behind both of you! The kid is living proof that this is not developing into an arranged marriage (as happens to be the case in most situations).

He DID not lie in the application for the visitor visa, since you guys are NOT married in the DR (as you posted) but have a kid (again this part is of no consequence to his B1/B2 application before).

A K1 will allow him to go to the USA and marry you there. What you need to do is to have at least two people willing to offer financial backup to your plans when the papers for such fail safe is asked for (they're only telling the gov that if he's to fall into dire straits he won't become a burden to taxpayers in the sort term). This is rarely if ever enforced in the US when it happens, so they need not worry much about it.


It's recommended to apply for the K1 and for you to already be living and working in the USA for the petition!

The least expensive way is to do it all yourself, but one mistake in the paperwork can set you back months or even years later... Best to hire a lawyer for the initial filing in the USA.

Believe me! The worst part is done with already, which is to provide proof that the marriage is not a sham...

abretusojos10 said:

wuarhat.... thanks ... a lot of info on there!!! It's gonna take forever

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You?re welcome. It will take forever if you never start. If your fianc?e doesn?t have any close family in the US that will sponsor him, then you will have to marry him. Get an appointment for consultation at the US consulate in Santo Domingo. There are a lot of people on the internet that will tell you stuff that is wrong. The consulate will tell you if a K1 will be faster than a CR1 in your situation. I haven?t heard anyone other than PICHARDO claim that a K1 would be faster than a CR1 since 2008, but maybe if you can convince the consulate that your fianc?e is the father of your child it will be different for you. Bring a filled out copy of Form G-325A Biographic Information for your fianc?e to your appointment and get consultation on that also. You will need that document either way. If you can find someone who will sign the Form I-864 Affadavit of Support (http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-864.pdf) for you, ask the consulate about the Form I-864 Affadavit of Support and how to have someone other than yourself take the financial responsibility for your fianc?e.

If the K1 is faster than the CR1, it falls short in all other comparisons. If you are diligent in the pursuit of the visa and can prove that you can somehow support him financially, you can have a CR1 visa complete with residency within a year. If you are serious about it then you will have to marry him, the sooner you get that detail out of the way, the better. It will be cheaper and easier in The Dominican Republic, and the longer you?ve been married when he reaches the US the sooner he will be eligible for US citizenship. If neither one of you has any significant assets or liabilities (savings or debts) there?s no need for a pre-nuptial agreement.

You can start working on filling out the Form G-325A Biographic Information (http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/g-325a.pdf) (one each for you and your future spouse) and the Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative (http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-130.pdf) immediately. These forms are not too hard to fill out by yourself. There is a woman named Dilia who runs an operation out of an office on the second floor of 807 Broad Street in Providence that will do these forms for you. She charged me $150.00 for these forms back in 2008. Back then money was a lot cheaper though, and if I knew then what I know now I?d have done it myself. The truth to be told is that she held my hand after I filled in the form in long hand, and then she entered the data into her computer and printed it out nice and neat. For all I know she was using the fillable forms on the USCIS website from the above links. I must say that what she produced turned the key at the Department of Homeland Security, and I was promptly handed over to the National Visa Center, but my recommendation is still to do it yourself. I just needed to know a starting point, and it cost me $150.00 to find it. I?m telling you where to start. If you have specific questions about filling out the forms the consulate is supposed to answer them for you or, inside the US, you can call (800) 375-5283.

If you can?t get a financial sponsor other than yourself, you will probably have to go the US, get a job and an address. Get the Form G-325A Biographic Information filled out and and signed by your fianc?e before you leave. The Form I-130 Petition for Alien Relative doesn?t need his signature so you can finish that in the US. Once you can pull a tax year with the $27562 AGI or, actually that year?s equivalent minimum, you will have no problem getting an interview. (I'm not sure if you need three consecutive years over the threshhold or one, but you do need to provide three consecutive tax returns.) The interview will be a piece of cake compared to the rest of it.

Wuarhat thanks for all the info I do have concern about saying the KI visa being faster though. Tim who runs the site dominicanstotheusa.com has said that the CR1 visa is faster these days. Things change fast

AnnaC said:

Wuarhat thanks for all the info I do have concern about saying the KI visa being faster though. Tim who runs the site dominicanstotheusa.com has said that the CR1 visa is faster these days. Things change fast

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And I agree that it has been that way for at least the last three years, but abretusojos10 seemed ready to act on another poster's suggestion that the K1 is a faster trip to the US. I know a married couple with three immigrant children, one citizen child, and one immigrant spouse that took less than six months to get their IR1 visa (with residence which is another six months of BS with a K1 visa). They had been living in Santo Domingo for three years since their marriage, and did everything through the embassy. So I told abretusojos10 to go to the US consulate for consultation on that and a couple of other issues rather than having to make a decision based on conflicting information from internet strangers. The hard part for her will be making it over the support hurdle. I know people with K1s who got distracted after their marriage, missed a few deadlines, and have to had to live in the shadows for most of their adult lives. So by no means am I recommending a K1. I would even recommend spacing it out so that the visa is issued after two years of marriage so that you get an IR1 rather than the CR1, but I doubt abretusojos10 wants to hear that.

abretusojos10 said:

Thanks for all the advice everyone!!
I am thinking of just going to get married this week. I just don't want to get married here and then find out I should have just filed K1 and marry in the states. He has family that can sponsor him in the states but you know the last thing a dominican man wants to do is ask anyone for help. and honestly I wanted to do it without anyones help. But if it needs to be done then it will get done. I just want to get this done the fastest way possible...I do think the cr1 is faster and soundsl like the best thing for us to do in our situation. I am still considering either consulting a lawyer or see how I can go in to the embassy for consulting or maybe by calling with the pin

a lot of people give the wrong advice and a lot of things that work for some dont work for others so i am extremely stressed out i just dont wan to prolong everything...
it should be a piece of cake considering he's been to the states on a tourist visa twice before and has a wife and son who are us citizens... but in DR they always put everything in 'chino' to complicate and suck more $ out of u....


lets see:ermm:

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As a US citizen you have a right to request an appointment at the embassy for consulting. It will definitely take longer to do it all by yourself unless you have been clearing that $27K+/year hurdle here in the DR. Somebody with some financial means is going to have to assume the financial responsibility to support him. The embassy should help you with how to accomplish that. Make the appointment! Here's a link to contact information: Embassy of the United States Dominican Republic - Contact Us