GC Parent - Trying to Petition Illegitimate ChildIm a GC Holder and would like to petition my child out of wedlock. She is now 22 yrs. Her birth certificate does not show my name as the father. Can I petition her to join us here in the US?
Your child comes under preference category F2B which is for 21 years or older UNMARRIED children of green card holders. This category is backlogged between 9 and 19 years depending on your country of birth. Married children of green card holders cannot be petitioned. You can get US citizenship and then apply for your child. If the child is married at that time, she will come under F3 which also is backlogged several years.
You might need a DNA test to prove paternity.
You must have taken steps in the past to legitimate the child OR must have established a bona fide parent-child relationship and be able to prove one or the other. IF the requiremenst were met in the past, then the adult son or daughter would qualify now. for I-130 purposes.
INA 101(b) [This is the definition of child for immigrant visa purposes.]
(b) As used in titles I and II-
(1) The term "child" means an unmarried person under twenty-one years of age who is-
(A) a child born in wedlock;
(B) a stepchild, whether or not born out of wedlock, provided the child had not reached the age of eighteen years at the time the marriage creating the status of stepchild occurred;
(C) a child legitimated under the law of the childs residence or domicile, or under the law of the fathers residence or domicile, whether in or outside the United States, if such legitimation takes place before the child reaches the age of eighteen years and the child is in the legal custody of the legitimating parent or parents at the time of such legitimation;
(D) a child born out of wedlock, by, through whom, or on whose behalf a status, privilege, or benefit is sought by virtue of the relationship of the child to its natural mother or to its natural father if the father has or had a bona fide parent-child relationship with the person;
additional sections relate to adoptions...