Immigration Corner | Can my baby be added to my file?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

I am seeking advice on my current immigration case.

I’m being filed for by my father, I already did my medical examination and interview. However, I was pregnant. My case was delayed and I had my baby in Jamaica. I would like to know if my child can be added to the filing even though I have already completed the interview.

Thanks. Looking forward to hearing from you.

BH

Dear BH,

I am not clear on your situation – you said you already had your interview, but your case was delayed. It doesn’t say if you delayed leaving Jamaica, or if the US Embassy delayed completing your case because you were pregnant.

Contact the embassy about adding the baby to the application, and do so quickly. Obtain the baby’s birth certificate and passport. The embassy would create a file for the baby, and you would need to pay the visa fee. The sponsor would now have to add an additional beneficiary (a derivative beneficiary) to the affidavit of support in calculating whether he has enough income to support an additional immigrant. Once all requirements are met, the embassy would approve the baby for a green card as a derivative beneficiary of your father’s petition.

For those green card holders who give birth to a child outside the United States during a visit abroad, they are allowed to return to the United States with the baby without the need to apply for a green card for that infant – the return must be within two years of the birth of the child, and must be with the mother’s first trip back to America. Those US permanent resident mothers must apply for a waiver of the green card for the child’s first entry and the Customs and Border Protection officer will create the green card record for the child at the port of entry.

You are not a green card holder – permanent resident until you make your first entry into the United States.

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