Adoption Nightmare (FReeper Help Requested)

Sept 17, 2005 | TankerKC

[TheOracleAtLilac]

Sissy !

[TankerKC]

Have you applied for a new birth certificate in your state based on the adoption? Then use that birth certificate to get her citizenship documented?

We have the new birth cert. We were still denied citizenship and a SSN number.

[lastchance]

You might have to hire a lawyer who specializes in foreign adoptions. I too recommend contacting your senator and representative. Be persistent.
The other thing is to keep trying with the SS and other agencies. Believe it or not sometimes you can get as many different answers as the number of people you speak with.
If and when you do get a yes, get it in writing.

[TankerKC]

They can't even prove the child has Mexican citizenship, except for the word of a drug addict(the sister).

True, but they are not questioning that the mother is a citizen. They are questioning the illegal entry of the child into the US. It was illegal to put the baby under her shirt and driving into the US. Should the child now suffer because her drugged out birth mother acted like an ass? She has now been with us for 4 1/2 years. We have adopted her and paid for every bit of her support. Don't you think that they can determine that she is a citizen, give her a SSN number and let us move on?

[TankerKC]

Also can/would the child's mother swear out an affidavit re the circumstances of the child's birth? Then use that to go forward with the paperwork bureaucracy?

That already happened. It was in the latest package that the INS denied.

[TankerKC]

The other thing is to keep trying with the SS and other agencies. Believe it or not sometimes you can get as many different answers as the number of people you speak with.

Witness! We have been run around with wrong answers for years now.

If and when you do get a yes, get it in writing.

We thought we did that when the state of Alabama gave us a birth certificate for her with our names on it.

Thanks for the advice. We'll keep trying.

[Cheburashka]

If they had any sense of course.

Actually, the problem is that they are bureaucrats. They have to follow the rules, no matter how obviously wrong the outcome is. If they don't follow the rules they can be fired. Or penalized.

Your objective is to find somehow a way of interpreting the rules so the correct outcome is achieved.

You don't know the rules. you need help from someone who can "help them" interpret the rules so that the correct outcome is achieved. If you can't afford an immigration lawyer - a lawyer with expertise in citizenship matters, you have to go to your congress people and and see if they can "encourage" INS to find the interpretation that achieves the correct outcome.

It's tough to fight bureaucratized indifference, but your child's future depends on you keeping up the fight.

God bless you. I was going to say don't give up, but of course you won't.

[Cheburashka]

In this case sissy means smart.

If the paper trail didn't exist, well...

But it does.

[TheOracleAtLilac]

Remember: Forgiveness is easier to obtain than permission.

[Cheburashka]

Remember: Bureaucrats love paper trails. They get very anal about them.

[Alien Gunfighter]

What a horrible mess. I have INS problems myself (foreign spouse), so I know how ignorant, bullheaded, and impossible-to-get-a-straight-answer-out-of-them they can get.

In your case, it's a waste of time to talk to the National Call Center or the desk jockeys at your local office. Cheap route first--call your congresscritters to see if they are willing to sort it out (next year is an election year, after all). If not, all you can really do is grit your teeth and contact an immigration lawyer. You can probably get a fund set on on Free Republic once we verify you are telling the truth (I'm sure you are, but cleverer scams have been committed) and those of us who want to help can pitch in. I know I would, because believe me, I feel your pain in regards to INS.

The grim, running joke at our house is "call INS ten times, get fifteen different answers." I'm sure you have something similar. Hang in there!

[lastchance]

This is the State Department website. I am sure you already have this info but in case it has anything new I am posting it for your benefit. http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_419.html The other suggestion I have is to contact Catholic Charities in your area. If I remember you are in Alabama so I am posting the Catholic Charities info for the Diocese of Birmingham. http://www.bhmdiocese.org/viewsocsrv.php?id=1 I realize you may not be Catholic but the CC has many years experience in helping adoptive parents. I believe their services are open to all regardless of religious affiliation. It might be worth a look see. God bless

[lastchance]

I forgot to include this in my last post

Catholic Family Services 256-536-0073
1010 Church Street
Huntsville AL, 35804
Laura Dinwiddie, Director

[Dog Gone]

Yes, that became clear later on in the thread. But thanks.

[lastchance]

HI it's me again. I also found this info on the State Department Web site. http://travel.state.gov/family/family_issues/birth/birth_593.html Documentation of U.S. Citizens Born Abroad.

[foreshadowed at waco]

Can you obtain DNA from your sister and establish that her mom was an American citizen?

[Shannon]

A thought. What if the "officials" didn't know about the birth mother's bringing the baby into this country illegally? What if they thought she had the baby here but never got a birth certificate because she was hiding out?

[politicalwit]

"Well, my real concern is that they will not let us return with her. We are all that she knows"

This may sound strange but have you considered getting her a Matricular Card for identification so she could regain entry into the USA should you elect to head to Mexico.

[sweetliberty]

"Also can/would the child's mother swear out an affidavit re the circumstances of the child's birth? Then use that to go forward with the paperwork bureaucracy?"

It seems that with the prevalence of DNA testing to support it, that would be adequate, esppecially with the mother being a US citizen, but I don't want to tell you wrong. Let me look into it and see what I can find out.

Like Tanker said, it would probably be easier if the the child hadn't been born to an American, or at least less complicated to go the "illegal" route.

[blu]

Go to Mexico, obtain a birth certificate

Don't you have to show a birth cert to get a child INTO the US? What if they aren't given a birth certificate in Mexico?