Need some help here. I'm a U.S. citizen. I moved back to the States in 2009 and brought my Japanese wife and her son from her first marriage with me on CR-1 and CR-2 visas, respectively. I legally adopted my son in Japan when my wife and I got married; he's in Japanese records as my adopted son and took my last name (we still have the records and translations). However, when we did our I-130s, they said that since he hadn't lived with me for at least 2 years, he couldn't be considered my son for immigration purposes, so he'd have to come on a CR-2 as my wife's child instead of an IR-something as my adopted child.
They also said that after he'd been in my physical and legal custody for 2 years, he'd automatically attain U.S. citizenship and we wouldn't have to do anything further for him, i.e., we wouldn't have to submit I-751 by the 2-year anniversary of him arriving in the States. However, not doing anything would leave him with no record of U.S. citizenship since he doesn't have an American birth certificate, American passport, etc., so we were considering getting a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600) for him since it's been over 2 years that he's been with me and we should be able to get one. We went to our local USCIS office (Honolulu) to ask if that sounded like the right idea and if so, how we should fill out the part of I-751 that asks about dependents who immigrated with my wife. The USCIS officer there told us we have to list him on I-751 with my wife and to just attach a note explaining the situation and that we weren't planning to pay the $85 biometric fee for him because we'd be filing for an N-600 later on (but soon).
We did what she recommended, but we got a letter back today from USCIS in California stating that they can't do anything until we pay the extra $85 for our son... despite doing exactly what the local USCIS officer told us (of course none of that is in writing).
So we're kind of not sure what do do now. Here's what we're thinking:
1) If we go ahead and file for the N-600--and assuming we get it soon enough--, we were thinking we could send that back to USCIS and say my son is now a citizen so he doesn't need to do the biometric check, please give my wife her new green card, etc. But I'm kind of afraid that they'd then say, "You'll have to resubmit I-751 for your wife only without your child listed and repay the $505 fee plus $85 biometric fee," and, since they've already cashed my first check, that'd really screw us over by an extra $590.
2) We've also thought about resending them a letter again stating that we're preparing N-600 for my son because he's already become a citizen under Sec. 320 of INA, so he shouldn't need the biometric check (all of which I put in the original letter), etc., and try to get them to say in writing that if we submit a copy of his N-600, they won't re-require the whole $505 + $85 for my wife to refile or any sneakiness.
3) We could just pay the extra $85 for my son and get his green card extended for a few years and worry about the N-600 at a later date. This would be the cheapest and safest option, I think (especially since I think they're just trying to screw us out of more money), since we have it in writing that we just need to submit $85 for him and all will be good, but if my son's already become a citizen, I'd kind of like him to not have to have a green card anymore, you know?
So that's the dilemma. We have 87 days to reply for my wife's I-751. Any help? It's been hard to figure out what to do because our situation is kind of unique. I spent hours reading the relevant laws and stuff, and I thought I had it all figured out, so either I missed something, they're incompetent, or they're just trying to dick us out of more money (maybe all three!).
As a side note, does USCIS purposely try to screw people of money?
Thanks.
Jeff
They also said that after he'd been in my physical and legal custody for 2 years, he'd automatically attain U.S. citizenship and we wouldn't have to do anything further for him, i.e., we wouldn't have to submit I-751 by the 2-year anniversary of him arriving in the States. However, not doing anything would leave him with no record of U.S. citizenship since he doesn't have an American birth certificate, American passport, etc., so we were considering getting a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600) for him since it's been over 2 years that he's been with me and we should be able to get one. We went to our local USCIS office (Honolulu) to ask if that sounded like the right idea and if so, how we should fill out the part of I-751 that asks about dependents who immigrated with my wife. The USCIS officer there told us we have to list him on I-751 with my wife and to just attach a note explaining the situation and that we weren't planning to pay the $85 biometric fee for him because we'd be filing for an N-600 later on (but soon).
We did what she recommended, but we got a letter back today from USCIS in California stating that they can't do anything until we pay the extra $85 for our son... despite doing exactly what the local USCIS officer told us (of course none of that is in writing).
So we're kind of not sure what do do now. Here's what we're thinking:
1) If we go ahead and file for the N-600--and assuming we get it soon enough--, we were thinking we could send that back to USCIS and say my son is now a citizen so he doesn't need to do the biometric check, please give my wife her new green card, etc. But I'm kind of afraid that they'd then say, "You'll have to resubmit I-751 for your wife only without your child listed and repay the $505 fee plus $85 biometric fee," and, since they've already cashed my first check, that'd really screw us over by an extra $590.
2) We've also thought about resending them a letter again stating that we're preparing N-600 for my son because he's already become a citizen under Sec. 320 of INA, so he shouldn't need the biometric check (all of which I put in the original letter), etc., and try to get them to say in writing that if we submit a copy of his N-600, they won't re-require the whole $505 + $85 for my wife to refile or any sneakiness.
3) We could just pay the extra $85 for my son and get his green card extended for a few years and worry about the N-600 at a later date. This would be the cheapest and safest option, I think (especially since I think they're just trying to screw us out of more money), since we have it in writing that we just need to submit $85 for him and all will be good, but if my son's already become a citizen, I'd kind of like him to not have to have a green card anymore, you know?
So that's the dilemma. We have 87 days to reply for my wife's I-751. Any help? It's been hard to figure out what to do because our situation is kind of unique. I spent hours reading the relevant laws and stuff, and I thought I had it all figured out, so either I missed something, they're incompetent, or they're just trying to dick us out of more money (maybe all three!).
As a side note, does USCIS purposely try to screw people of money?
Thanks.
Jeff