Question about CFO and child with CRBA - travel with filipina spouse

[Crum1515]

Good morning!  After a very long and crazy journey my fiancee got her K1 visa in hand.  She is currently doing a 14 day quarantine (she is in Cebu City) and working on her CFO, travel pass, etc.

We are clear on what needs to be done to get her out of the country but I have a question about our 2 year old child, and would appreciate some other peoples insight.  We have been trying to get ahold of someone at CFO to ask but she says she cannot get through and will keep trying, but the question is basically this - What does our child need to get through immigration and on the plane to the US?

She has her Philippines Passport, US Passport, CRBA, and Philippines Birth Certificate.  

The CFO site says children 12 and under do not need to attend the seminar, but need to register, but when going through the registration page it ask what visa category she is and I don't know what to put.

Thanks for your time, and if I get ahold of someone at CFO I will post their reponse/answer here as well.

[OnMyWay]

38 minutes ago, Crum1515 said:

The CFO site says children 12 and under do not need to attend the seminar, but need to register, but when going through the registration page it ask what visa category she is and I don't know what to put.

That is for a Filipino child.  Your child is a U.S. Citizen (and Filipino) so does not have a visa category and does not have to do anything with CFO.  She should be fine as long as all travel is with her mom.  Double check with CFO if you can get in touch.  The U.S. Embassy might validate that as well.  They have Filipinos and Americans working in U.S. Citizen services, so they often know both sides of the story.

It sounds like you have the rest of the stuff under control.

[Crum1515]

excellent, thank you very much!  I will double check with the embassy, and when the fiancee does the CFO she will double check with them :)

 

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

2 hours ago, Crum1515 said:

The CFO site says children 12 and under do not need to attend the seminar, but need to register, but when going through the registration page it ask what visa category she is and I don't know what to put.

That is true.  We must assume that this is your biological child (no other father on the birth certificate), in which case she will attend the CFO seminar and tell them she has a child who will be coming.  They will give a certificate for her and for child when done.  For us, the most complicated process was jumping through all the on-line hoops that are in English BUT not easily understood by a real English speaker. 

(We finally got over that online crap by having the guard at the CFO do it for her.  He got a small gift for helping)

[carbpow]

A not of caution and to be sure to cover all contingencies review this.

If a child (under the age of 18) is traveling with only one parent or with someone who is not a parent or legal guardian, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) strongly recommends that the accompanying adult have a note from the non-traveling parent (or, in the case of a child traveling with neither parent, a note signed by both parents) stating “I acknowledge that my wife/husband/etc. is traveling out of the country with my son/daughter/group. He/She/They has/have my/our permission to do so.”

CBP suggests that this note be notarized.  If there is no second parent with legal custody of the child (e..g., the second parent is deceased, one parent has sole custody, etc.), relevant paperwork such as a court decision, birth certificate naming only one parent, death certificate, etc., would be useful as well.

While CBP may not ask to see this documentation when the child enters the U.S., the U.S. is very sensitive to the possibility of child abduction and trafficking, and the child and accompanying adult could be detained if questions arise about the situation.  While the U.S. does not require this documentation, many other countries do, and onward travel could be impeded without a notarized permission letter and/or other documentation.  (Canada, for example, has very strict requirements in this regard).

This advice applies to U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike.  More information can be found on the Customs and Border Protection website.

[Crum1515]

41 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

That is true.  We must assume that this is your biological child (no other father on the birth certificate), in which case she will attend the CFO seminar and tell them she has a child who will be coming.  They will give a certificate for her and for child when done.  For us, the most complicated process was jumping through all the on-line hoops that are in English BUT not easily understood by a real English speaker. 

(We finally got over that online crap by having the guard at the CFO do it for her.  He got a small gift for helping)

Yeah the website is a little bonkers!  She is gonna try and get ahold of a human on the phone tomorrow and get the whole process explained and worked on.  Thanks for the info!

 

[OnMyWay]

14 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

That is true.  We must assume that this is your biological child (no other father on the birth certificate), in which case she will attend the CFO seminar and tell them she has a child who will be coming.  They will give a certificate for her and for child when done.  For us, the most complicated process was jumping through all the on-line hoops that are in English BUT not easily understood by a real English speaker. 

(We finally got over that online crap by having the guard at the CFO do it for her.  He got a small gift for helping)

I think you missed something Dave.  No assumption needed.  He said the child has a CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad) and U.S. Passport.  The CRBA is obtained as part of the process of proving the father is a U.S. Citizen and the father of the child, which conveys his U.S. citizen to the child.  The child usually gets the first U.S. Passport at the same time.

If I recall correctly, you mentioned that your wife had a child who I would assume is Filipino.  In that case, the child probably needs something from the CFO.  Of course, it is possible the bureaucracy will require something for the U.S. citizen child and they need to ask.

I agree with the other posters who said bring lots of extra paperwork for mother, child and father.  Everything you can think of regarding proof of relationship.  It probably won't be needed but will give some peace of mind to have it just in case.  Hopefully the OP saved all of his paperwork required to get the CRBA.  That is a good source of this type of paperwork.

[graham59]

Can't see there being any problems.

The child is a US Citizen. U.S. is not going to refuse entry.  Use the U.S.passport when entering the U.S.

Filipino mothers have natural custody rights anyway, until the child is 7 years old... but as stated, US paternity will already have been established when the US passport was being processed... so not an issue.

My first Filipina wife and our UK-born (and UK passported )  son travelled in and out of the Phils, both with and without myself, with never an issue. Her two Filipino kids (my stepchildren) WERE subject to the Philippines travel rules and regs though...so needed CFO certs in their own right (maybe on their mother's certificate...can't recall now), as they only had Filipino passports, when they travelled to the UK. on settlement visas. (They're both adults now, with British Citizenship.).

My current Filipina wife and our dual national Philippines young son, who has both Filipino and British passports... no issues travelling in and out of Philippines either. Always carry and present both passports though, in the case of dual nationals.

By all means check with CFO, but do tell them that the child has dual citizenship.

Edited July 11, 2020 by graham59

[Dave Hounddriver]

7 hours ago, OnMyWay said:

I think you missed something Dave.  No assumption needed.  He said the child has a CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad) and U.S. Passport.

Yep.  I was only thinking of my friends Bill and Ivy (some from Dumaguete will know them).  They assumed everything you said and then tried to go on vacation to Thailand with their young son.  They were refused permission to leave the Philippines as they did not jump through all the right hoops.  They missed the plane and lost their money but it all got sorted out for next time.  

[carbpow]

41 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Yep.  I was only thinking of my friends Bill and Ivy (some from Dumaguete will know them).  They assumed everything you said and then tried to go on vacation to Thailand with their young son.  They were refused permission to leave the Philippines as they did not jump through all the right hoops.  They missed the plane and lost their money but it all got sorted out for next time.  

From my experience it is best to have more documentation than needed. If leaving the Philippines go see immigration and ask what is needed prior to departure. They do not always publicize the rules changes.