[kfoster]

Our daughter came home on an IR4 Visa and we have turned in all the COC paperwork and were expecting to receive her certificate in the mail. Instead, we received a letter today from USCIS stating we needed to mail in her resident card and also sign the front of her 2 passport photos. Has anyone had to do this?? If they needed the resident card, I thought they would have asked for it at our appointment.

Thanks,
Karen

[Carrie7310]

I did have to send in my daughters resident card. I did not have to sign the passport photos. I received the COC a few weeks after I sent in the resident card. I waited 10 months total for the COC from when I sent it in last year.

Hope that helps!

[kfoster]

Thanks Carrie for responding....I thought I might have done something wrong when filling out the paperwork and that maybe it would delay getting the COC..

Karen

[DPline]

It does say in the instructions to write the child's name and A# on the back of the photos. Is that what they want? The instructions say not to sign the photos. Weird!

Are you a long distance from the USCIS office? Is it possible they want you to send in the Green Card and they will send you the COC? For some people who are a long way from their USCS office, they do mail the COC. The instructions do specify to send a 'copy' of the Green Card with the application.

Just the first couple things that came to mind reading your post. Hopefully, maybe, it is some help.

[nathansvolunteers]

We came home on an IR-4 also, and just recently had to go in person to get our COC. We needed to bring the green card with us and hand it in to them to keep. We had to sign the passport pics there in the office.
Maybe since you don't have an appt. they are just having you do this by mail. We are only about 1 1/2 hrs away from our home office, so we had to go in.

Cindy

[Betelnut]

Question:

Did you have to re-adopt in the states to apply for a COC?

[DPline]

Originally Posted by Betelnut

Question:

Did you have to re-adopt in the states to apply for a COC?

If your child comes home on an IR3 visa (both parents, assuming married, saw the child prior to the case exiting PGN) the child is a US citizen upon landing in the US and the COC is sent automatically.

If your child comes home on an IR4 visa they receive a Green Card and are a legal resident, not a citizen. You need to readopt, or what ever the process is in your state, to establish their citizenship. Then apply for the COC.

What you have to do for the readoption varies by state. For example, I am in Michigan and there is no way to readopt. But with an IR4 you do still have to go to court to have the adoption recognized to be able to get a COC. Some states have a very simple readoption process that you can do yourself quickly and easily. Others require an attorney, post placement visits, and can be a long drawn out thing.

[Claudia214]

anyone know what the procedure is for readopting in Louisiana when you bring home on an IR-4

Thanks for any help

[sak9645]

Most USCIS offices do not send the certificate in the mail. They want you to come to an interview.

In most cases, since you were supposed to send photocopies of your child's paperwork with your COC application, the USCIS will ask you to bring the original documents to the interview, so they can verify that photocopies are valid.

If you have received a permanent resident card -- some families do not -- you will be asked to turn it in at the interview, since it is no longer valid once your child is a citizen.

In general, you are told not to sign the photos in advance, but to do so in the presence of the interviewer or hearing officer.

Sharon

[NJRach]

We mailed in the application in March and received a letter to appear for "the ceremony" (?) Nov 24 in the Newark office. They said to bring Manny's green card and two passport photos. Maybe since we live close to an INS office, they make us go in. It seems like if you live too far away you just mail the documents.

Rachael