How can my son get a visa?
Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,
My son’s father was recently filed for to live in the United States. Is it possible for him to carry his three-year-old son to the US Embassy and get a visitor’s visa?
I don’t want my son to live there, but I would love for him to visit at times.
AB
Dear AB, Depending on who filed for the child’s father, the child may be eligible for a green card. If the father is the beneficiary of a visa filed by his parent, sibling, or spouse – the child is an eligible derivative beneficiary. Even if the father has already received the green card, he may advise the US Embassy that he wants the child to ‘follow to join’ him in America. The US Embassy would then begin the process of consular processing for the minor child.
Receiving a green card would require the child to live in America, or at least to spend the majority of his time in the US. You indicated that you do not want your child to live in America but only visit his father. With a green card that might prove difficult. You could apply for a Re-Entry Permit for the child that would allow him to live outside of the United States for up to two years without jeopardising his US immigration status – but that would be a short-term fix, not a long-term one.
Also, permitting the father to take the child to America would imply that you have given him de facto custody of the child. I always suggest to clients that they secure a Custody Order in the Jamaican courts that clearly defines who has custody of any minor child if you do not intend for the child to live with the parent in America.
What starts off as an amicable arrangement can sometimes become hostile.
One can always apply for a visitor’s visa, but even a child would have to show that he will be returned to Jamaica after visiting with his permanent resident father. Getting the Custody Order before applying for the visitor’s visa may be helpful in demonstrating to the consular officer that this child would only be visiting and not going to be kept in America by the adults in his life.
Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator, and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com *