Niece & Sister-in-law in Phillipines

[donnamwhaley]

My brother who is a U.S. citizen lived in the Phillipines for about three years, he met and married my sister in law and they had a daughter. The government then forced my brother to return to the U.S. Since that time we have been trying in vain to get my family here to the U.S.

The paper-work listed my brother and me as sponsors. They took my nieces' who is not almost six years old Phillipine passport because the embassy said she is a U.S. citizen. But before issuing anything further, my brother was ask to prove he was her father and to prove he was a U.S. citizen. So, I paid for a DNA test, from a company required by them at a cost of almost $700 dollars. The test did prove my brother was her father. He sent in school records, his passport, tax forms, ss card, birth certificate...and was told all of this did not prove he was a U.S. citizen. His wife was approved to come here, but his daughter was not, so now they are still stuck there.

I hired an attorney in Atlanta and paid her a down payment of $500, she looked over the info after our constant nagging and about 3 months later told us that she would take the case if we came up with several more thousand dollars. At this point we did not trust her to actually "do" anything so we just chalked it up to a loss of the down payment.

We are at the end of our ropes and I live in Alabama and my brother in Minnesota, so this has been hard trying to do this anyway. We just do not know what else we could possibly do to prove my brother is a U.S. citizen other than everything we have already done. Also, he has already proven he is her father...they came up with the he needed to prove his U.S. citizenship after the DNA results were revealed...seems they were hoping it would have turned out another result and since he did prove he was her father, they had to move on to something else to prevent them being able to come to the U.S.

Please give me any advice...we have spent so much time and resources on this that we really dont have alot more to put into it.

Thanks,
U.S. Citizen fed up!

 

[army judge]

Please excuse these questions, if you believe them to be intrusive.

The answers are needed for me to understand the situation.

Why was your brother forced to leave the PI?

Why was your brother in the PI?

Your brother produced a birth certificate, US passport - why aren't these enough to establish US citizenship?

What have you been told and by whom?

Are the documents(US passport & birth certificate), originals?

Does your brother have US school or employment records?

Has he paid US taxes?

Does he have proof?

Does your brother have a criminal record in the US, PI, or anywhere else?

Has your brother served in the US military?

 

[donnamwhaley]

Hello,

His Visa ran out and they did allow him to stay until the birth of their daughter. He had to leave the day she was born. My brother's first wife was from the Phillipines and she passed away years earlier, my brother wanted to visit her home. He met his current wife while there. My brother produced all of these documents to the Embassy yes. They said it was not enough to prove his citizenship and they took my nieces Phillipine passport as they said she was a U.S. citizen, yet they will not acknowledge her as being one because they say my brother cannot prove he is a U.S. citizen.

He sent his school transcripts and his tax returns in to them. He does have a record from years ago in the U.S.
Thanks,
Donna

 

[army judge]

Hello,

His Visa ran out and they did allow him to stay until the birth of their daughter. He had to leave the day she was born. My brother's first wife was from the Phillipines and she passed away years earlier, my brother wanted to visit her home. He met his current wife while there. My brother produced all of these documents to the Embassy yes. They said it was not enough to prove his citizenship and they took my nieces Phillipine passport as they said she was a U.S. citizen, yet they will not acknowledge her as being one because they say my brother cannot prove he is a U.S. citizen.

He sent his school transcripts and his tax returns in to them. He does have a record from years ago in the U.S.
Thanks,
Donna

What crime(s) has he been convicted of committing?

How much time did he do in prison?

Is he your FULL brother or HALF brother?

Were his parents US citizens?

If they were NOT US citizens, what was/is their nationality?

If he has submitted proper documentation, and SOMEONE is saying he is NOT a US citizen, why are they saying that?

Have you appealed to your elected federal legislators (congressperson & senators)?

Have you appealed to President Obama?

You are leaving something out, or he isn't being truthful with you.

 

[donnamwhaley]

He was a habitual offender when he was younger, he did a couple of years. He is my full brother and both of our parents were U.S. citizens.

We have appealed and also written the senator for his state in Minnesota, that office sent him a letter back quoting what immigration said, that he was not proven to be a U.S. citizen.
Here is an email my sister in law sent to me with one of the letter contents:

Dear Mr Ennis,

This refers to the application for derivative citizenship for your child lori alexandria japon ennis,
On april 27, 2009 you were requested to provide proof of your legal relationship to lori elexandria japon ennis, and proof of your physical presence in the US for 5 years,two of which were after your age of fourteen and prior to the birth of lori alexandria japon ennis to transmit citizenship, alhough you have submitted additional documents the evidence received are not sufficient to lori alexandria japon ennis's claim to derivative citizenship to the satisfaction of this office, therefore a consular report of birth abroad and or US passport cannot be issued to lori alexandria japon ennis at this time and the application is denied,

Pls note that it is the application that is being denied and not the claim to citizenship or nationality, we will consider any additional evidence you may provide in the futrure. however you would need to file new application and pay the appropriate fees,
By law the passport execution and application fees are non refundable,

the name of the consul signature by bradley wilde

that is the letter from the embassy, i sent already this letter for you and to the atty and larry this morning, may be you got the letter next week,, thank you,

Love,
Nerie,
And this one:
Donna,

I got the letter form the US Embassy last friday , they say lori is denied to issue the US Passport, bec they said larry is luck of documents, they need more proof that larry is a US citizen,i will send this letter to you, to atty and to larry, im really really sad of this bad news for my daugther, she need larry as a father she growing not to see her father,and one of my dream is complete of our family, but its hard to go there bec of that papers,

I sent already the document DS 3032 to the atty last week may be she got the papers this week, The DNA is a proven that larry is the father of lori , is possitive and he sent the papers needed too, but they say more evidence for larry papers, they returned the documents larry here,,

They say need to re apply the papers for lori,, i dont know what is the next steps, we hope the atty helping us of this situation, and thank you donna for helping us, Im praying to God that this problem it will be fix soon, thank you and take care,

Love,
Nerie

Donna,


I got your package last friday dec 4, lori really really like the things, shirts and skirts, cute bag, lipgloss, thumbelina shoes, crown, and set of spiderman coloring books, set of panty , brats doll ,toothpaste, my perfume, walking short and blouse, pepermint and herbal tea, thank you for sending all those things,


Did you get larry's letter from the embassy? US Embassy here is so strick, i dont know what more they need, lori denied bec they more evidence for larry as a US citizen he have birth certificate, school report, passport ect to prove larry is american citizen, and the DNA is also possitive larry is the father for lori, Im pray this our problem will fix it soon, thank you for helping us, i wish our family is a whole soon, lori asking me now about her father, we wish the atty helping us if this situation, thank you and take care,


Love,
Nerie

I got the school records myself and his birth certificate, which he sent along with his passport, tax records and several other items. They refused to accept these items as proof of his citizenship. I am not sure what we could give them at this point that we have not already given.
Donna

 

[army judge]

He was a habitual offender when he was younger, he did a couple of years. He is my full brother and both of our parents were U.S. citizens.

We have appealed and also written the senator for his state in Minnesota, that office sent him a letter back quoting what immigration said, that he was not proven to be a U.S. citizen.
Here is an email my sister in law sent to me with one of the letter contents:

Dear Mr Ennis,

This refers to the application for derivative citizenship for your child lori alexandria japon ennis,
On april 27, 2009 you were requested to provide proof of your legal relationship to lori elexandria japon ennis, and proof of your physical presence in the US for 5 years,two of which were after your age of fourteen and prior to the birth of lori alexandria japon ennis to transmit citizenship, alhough you have submitted additional documents the evidence received are not sufficient to lori alexandria japon ennis's claim to derivative citizenship to the satisfaction of this office, therefore a consular report of birth abroad and or US passport cannot be issued to lori alexandria japon ennis at this time and the application is denied,

Pls note that it is the application that is being denied and not the claim to citizenship or nationality, we will consider any additional evidence you may provide in the futrure. however you would need to file new application and pay the appropriate fees,
By law the passport execution and application fees are non refundable,

the name of the consul signature by bradley wilde

that is the letter from the embassy, i sent already this letter for you and to the atty and larry this morning, may be you got the letter next week,, thank you,

Love,
Nerie,
And this one:
Donna,

I got the letter form the US Embassy last friday , they say lori is denied to issue the US Passport, bec they said larry is luck of documents, they need more proof that larry is a US citizen,i will send this letter to you, to atty and to larry, im really really sad of this bad news for my daugther, she need larry as a father she growing not to see her father,and one of my dream is complete of our family, but its hard to go there bec of that papers,

I sent already the document DS 3032 to the atty last week may be she got the papers this week, The DNA is a proven that larry is the father of lori , is possitive and he sent the papers needed too, but they say more evidence for larry papers, they returned the documents larry here,,

They say need to re apply the papers for lori,, i dont know what is the next steps, we hope the atty helping us of this situation, and thank you donna for helping us, Im praying to God that this problem it will be fix soon, thank you and take care,

Love,
Nerie

Donna,


I got your package last friday dec 4, lori really really like the things, shirts and skirts, cute bag, lipgloss, thumbelina shoes, crown, and set of spiderman coloring books, set of panty , brats doll ,toothpaste, my perfume, walking short and blouse, pepermint and herbal tea, thank you for sending all those things,


Did you get larry's letter from the embassy? US Embassy here is so strick, i dont know what more they need, lori denied bec they more evidence for larry as a US citizen he have birth certificate, school report, passport ect to prove larry is american citizen, and the DNA is also possitive larry is the father for lori, Im pray this our problem will fix it soon, thank you for helping us, i wish our family is a whole soon, lori asking me now about her father, we wish the atty helping us if this situation, thank you and take care,


Love,
Nerie

I got the school records myself and his birth certificate, which he sent along with his passport, tax records and several other items. They refused to accept these items as proof of his citizenship. I am not sure what we could give them at this point that we have not already given.
Donna

That is very, very strange to say the least!

You appear to have an attorney engaged and working on this matter.

I suggest you allow the attorney to continue working on this.

This will take persistence and patience.

Hang in there, something is missing or our Department of State is wrong.

I suggest you send copies of everything to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking her to intercede.

Otherwise, you don't have ALL the facts.

You should also speak privately with your brother.

He's leaving something out.

Whatever he tells you, keep it to your self.

This could get VERY messy!

 

[donnamwhaley]

That is very, very strange to say the least!

You appear to have an attorney engaged and working on this matter.

I suggest you allow the attorney to continue working on this.

This will take persistence and patience.

Hang in there, something is missing or our Department of State is wrong.

I suggest you send copies of everything to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asking her to intercede.

Otherwise, you don't have ALL the facts.

You should also speak privately with your brother.

He's leaving something out.

Whatever he tells you, keep it to your self.

This could get VERY messy!

Thanks, we no longer have an attorney because she took our money and then would not even answer our calls or emails. Finally she said she would take the case if we gave her several more thousand dollars...so now we are looking for answers and if we need to try and find another attorney. I have emailed my sister in law and ask for copies of all the letters given or sent to her by the embassy and I will certainly send letters...I doubt Clinton or President Obama would ever even see them, but I will try.
Thanks for your time.

 

[army judge]

Thanks, we no longer have an attorney because she took our money and then would not even answer our calls or emails. Finally she said she would take the case if we gave her several more thousand dollars...so now we are looking for answers and if we need to try and find another attorney. I have emailed my sister in law and ask for copies of all the letters given or sent to her by the embassy and I will certainly send letters...I doubt Clinton or President Obama would ever even see them, but I will try.
Thanks for your time.

That is horrible what the attorney did.

I know that you feel abandoned.

You don't know me, and I want no money from you.

I sincerely only want to help, if I can.

That said, you do not have all the information.

Someone is pulling the wool over your eyes.

I've never seen our embassies do this.

If anything, they err on the side of the citizen, not against them.

Our country wants to bring all of our citizens home.

I've seen in, inside and outside of our embassies.

You've done everything that they've asked; and yet they resist.

Help me, help you.

If your brother isn't a US citizen, how did he get back in the country.

He is in the country (USA), right now, isn't he?

How old is your brother?

Did any of his legal troubles involve children as victims?

Was the mother of the child (PI citizen) ever convicted of anything?

Things like this don't happen.

I spent two years as a defense attache at a US Embassy.

I wasn't in the State Department.

I was in the army.

I saw cases such as this one, and never saw a reaction such as this, unless something else far more nefarious was at play.

 

[donnamwhaley]

My brother is in the country now, yes. He is 46 I believe this month actually. He had no legal issues involving children at all. My sister in law Nerie has never been in trouble about anything at all.

We keep just wondering what the heck is happening, I am not sure what to do from here. I want to help and try to reassure my sister in law and niece that I am sure that the embassy will release Lori's passport and issue her Visa soon, but that reassurance goes no where fast after this long.

I dont even know if we will have to begin all over again with all the paper-work, and believe me there was alot of paper work both my brother and I completed and mailed in, as a joint or co sponsor I also sent my tax forms, w2 forms, birth certificate, etc.

We really believed the DNA test would be the final thing needed and then when it came back that my brother was the father, they then said they needed more items. We just dont understand what more items that would work since we have sent everything we could think of to send. As you saw in the letter my sister in law emailed to me, they did not list anything that they would accept in addition to what we had already sent that may work for whatever it is they need.

Thank you so much for your concern and advice.