Children and fiacee visas

[Pete E]

A friend(he doesn't follow this list) of mine is bringing his novia here on a fiance visa.She has agreed not to bring her son,age 8 or so,for the 90 day period while they are deciding on marriage.He is then thinking about returning to Colombia with her and getting married there if all goes well.Then bring her back on a spousal visa,with the kid.
Seems like 2 different processes are being combined here,which may complicate things.
If he doesn't bring the kid with the fiancee visa within the 90 days can the kid enter later on the fiancee visa?Would they have to adjust the status then before the kid could enter?Just thinking through what might happen if they decide to marry here.
If you follow the fiance visa with a spousal visa is there a problem with that,other than more paperwork and fees?It would  eliminate the asdjustment of the fiance visa if there was a spousal visa,right?
Any help here would be appreciated.He is trying to think it through.I brought my wife on a spousal visa and know that issue by itself.But what problems could this 2 step thing involve?

Pete

[mudd]

... in response to Children and fiacee  visas, posted by Pete E on Sep 28, 2002

question, is he going to adopt the child after marriage?

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Children and fiacee  visas, posted by mudd on Sep 29, 2002

I don't think so.There really is no reason to.Plus it requires court action in Colombia where the father gets the right to object.I considered doing that to get around the fathers permission to leave issue,but it was easier to do it other ways.There is no real advantage I don't think.The disadvantage is if you split you can be on the hook for child support.

Pete

[Craig]

... in response to Children and fiacee  visas, posted by Pete E on Sep 28, 2002

Sorry left out one of your questions. Yes, the kid can come here at later time after the 90 day period which they are required to marry in. I think it's up to one year, unless you get a special dispensation form the embassy in Bogota. They can do it but it's done on rare occasions.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Children and fiacee  visas, posted by Craig on Sep 29, 2002

Craig,
Could he bring her here on a fiance visa that included the kid,not bringing the kid immediately,marry her here,get whatever permission she needs to travel after the marriage(while adjustment is pending),go back to Colombia,marry her there also if she likes,then return with the kid all under the fiance visa with pending adjustment?Are there time lines for getting the permission to travel after the marriage here?

Pete

[Craig]

... in response to Possible scenario, posted by Pete E on Sep 30, 2002

I think the answer is Yes to all except the marriage in Colombia. Now take this with a grain of salt but I think It's like this... The INS in the USA considers it a marriage if that marriage would be legally binding in the USA. For example. A Catholic wedding in Colombia without a civil wedding would not be legally binding in Colombia, but in the USA it would... so there's the problem. At that point he would need to file a spousal visa making the K-1 void. But in Colombia he would not be able to file a marriage visa because it's not a valid marriage. So it's a catch 22. He would never be able to file the correct visa for his current situation. Yes there are times and it's called early parole. I don't know all the facts but you would have to do some research.

[Craig]

... in response to Re: Possible scenario, posted by Craig on Sep 30, 2002

I'm wrong but here it is from the alt visa website...The government distinguishes between legal and nonlegal marriages. If the marriage is legal in the country in which it is performed, the US will consider it a legal marriage. It doesn't matter if it is a civil or religious marriage.

[Pete E]

... in response to Re: Re: Possible scenario, posted by Craig on Sep 30, 2002

Craig,
If he got married here,brought the kid in on the fiance visa they could return to Colombia and have a church wedding if she wanted but not change anything with immigration.The wedding in the US would be the one that would count to INS.They don't even need to know about the other one and it shouldn't make any difference to them since they are already married and its just a second church wedding.
But the other part of the question,once they marry here and the 90 days is up what does she need to do to have permission to travel?Just apply for the status adjustment and recieve temporary permission or wait untill the status adjustment is approved.Also when can she go to work?

Pete

[Craig]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Possible scenario, posted by Pete E on Oct 1, 2002

I think she needs to apply for early parole at her local INS office to travel after her adjustment of status has been filed. As far as the work permit goes at one time a form was given or stamp which allowed authorization for work. This was given by the INS at the intake interview if requested. I understand it's different now and rarely given. So this leaves you to file with the local INS office for work approval. Also this approval varies from each office. In some areas you can apply for a social security card without the INS approval. As you can see there's no rhyme or reason to any of this and it's a crap shoot depending on where you live and the which way the wind blows for that day.

[Craig]

... in response to Children and fiacee  visas, posted by Pete E on Sep 28, 2002

Pete
Keep in mind about your questions that the interviewer at the embassy in Bogota can find reason to delay or reject the petition if they perceive some form of complication or problem. In this case it seems fine except for the fact that your going to have them do tons of paperwork twice. If they remember the name it could cause trouble for your friend. They don't even have to reject it. Just place it on administrative review for who knows how long. Also remember that even if the son is not coming on the K-1 he still must list her on the I-129F. This can be confusing because the son will derive K-2 status from the mothers K-1. Which may lead them into thinking he will be coming. All that needs to be done is to list in a cover letter that the dependent children of the mother will not be coming. Also it seems that the embassy in Bogota has stricter requirements than most other embassies. For instance at the interview in Bogota on the I-134 Affidavit of Support for a K-1 visa they require 3 years of tax returns including W-2's. This requirement is almost exclusive to the Bogota embassy. I can only guess why except that many Colombians never return from the USA on tourist visas which makes it hard for the rest of us.  My answer is not to do what he has suggested.

[Craig]

... in response to Re: Children and fiacee  visas, posted by Craig on Sep 29, 2002

. All that needs to be done is to list in a cover letter that the dependent children of the mother will not be coming
Forgot to add that if they will be coming in the one year period write: the dependent children of the mother will not be coming "at this time" also if they will be planing to come list them on the affidavit of support.

[Pete E]

... in response to Children and fiacee  visas, posted by Pete E on Sep 28, 2002

nt