Proving to immigration that you’re the father
Years ago, children born out-of-wedlock were only eligible to obtain U.S. Immigration benefits through their mother. Thankfully, times have changed and biological fathers are now allowed to file for their children if the father had a bona fide parent-child relationship when the child was under 21 and not married. So what does that mean exactly? Well, it means that there exists more than just a tie by blood, rather, that there is a genuine parent-child relationship or there was such a relationship prior to the child becoming twenty-one years of age.
While the Immigration Service determines each case based on the specific facts presented, the Service can look at any number of factors including whether the child ever lived with the father, whether the father financially and/or emotionally supported the child and whether the father acknowledged the child as his own within the community. Evidence of such factors can range from proof of financial support such as Western union receipts to show money was sent to the child’s mother to help support the child, affidavits from family and friends who can attest that the father has publicly acknowledged his out-of-wedlock child, photos of the father and child together in the past, school records showing the father’s name listed as a parent or correspondence between the father and the child. The type of evidence accepted by the Immigration Service is varied and widespread, as long as it goes to show the “biological father” had a more than just a “biological relationship” with his child.
The above information should not be misinterpreted to mean that biological fathers cannot file for their adult children. For example, a seventy-year old U.S citizen or lawful permanent resident father can file for his fifty year old out-of-wedlock child as long as he can show that he maintained a bona fide relationship prior to his now fifty year old child’s twenty-first birthday
Lastly, the petitioner/father does not need to show evidence of this relationship for all of the child’s young years, as long as there is some valid evidence to show that he demonstrated an active concern for the child’s support, instruction and general welfare before the child reached twenty one years of age.