Duck Key, FL Immigration Law Firms & Lawyers

As you are being petitioned under the IR (immediate relative child of a US citizen) or F-2A (unmarried child of a permanent resident), you will have to wait until you obtain your permanent residence before you can marry. A marriage would destroy the basis of the immigration petition. I do note the exception that an IR petition would change to F-3 married son or daughter of a US citizen if you marry, but the waiting time would increase to approximately 10 years. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.

You should be able to re-apply after 5 years. I am curious to know what kind of questions they asked and what was the reason. Come and see me for a free consultation.

Problem with the case is as you say, the acquisition of US citizenship upon the birth of your child abroad would depend (usually) on establishing the parent's physical presence in the US for a period of time before the child's birth. And without the cooperation of the parent that can be difficult. The answer to your question is that you do not need the parent's cooperation. However, finding the documentation which would establish the physical presence can be problematic without that cooperation. I know that this answer places you between a rock and a hard place, but these cases require evidence and without the evidence to support the claim of acquisition of US citizenship, the claim will often fail. Wish I could give you a better answer. Perhaps hiring a private investigator in the US to find available records may be helpful, but this will have a cost and of course no promise that the investigative services will lead to anything. Good luck.