American Vet and his Filipina daughter that need our help

[piglett]

American Vet and his Filipina daughter that need our help
 
his name is Jimmy Edwards & he has been a member of another site that he has belonged to since 2006
 
here is a link to the news story
http://www.wcti12.com/video/29515646/index.html
and here is a link to the petition
 https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/us-citizenship-amerasians-philippines-and-japan/sFtF5qS1?utm_source=wh.gov&utm_medium=shorturl&utm_campaign=shorturl
pig
 
 

[piglett]

anyone know German?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWXM4rMIuAA&feature=player_embedded

[Fuzzyone]

  That is hard to believe that we actually have a law on the books that keeps those children from coming over here. It is too bad that they don't work that hard to keep illegal aliens out of the U.S. as they do with this case. I feel if the servicemen can prove that she is his daughter then what the hell is the problem!!

[Ray]

I read the news story and it doesn’t make any sense.
　

Edwards spent decades searching for Pinky, and when they were reunited, he found she could not automatically become an American citizen.
A 1982 immigration law prevents children from the Philippines or Japan from automatically becoming U.S. citizens if their parents are unmarried.

　
I only know of one way that someone will "automatically become an American citizen" and that is if you are born in the US. Whether your parents are married or are US citizens doesn't matter.
　
A child of an American citizen born abroad can have their birth registered at an American consulate and have a US passport issued to them. The US citizen father could have done this in Manila while he was there or gone back to the Philippines later and registered his daughter’s birth while she was still a minor. It is easier if the father and mother were married, but marriage is not absolutely necessary as I understand it.
　
Also, he said that the Navy denied his request to marry the mother. Local Navy permission was required to marry in the Philippines at that time and permission was sometimes denied for a variety of reasons. However, had he returned to the US and filed a fiancée visa petition, no such permission to marry would have been required from US Navy authorities in the Philippines.
　
If the news story is referring to the Amerasian Immigration Act of 1982, I believe that the law only allowed for issue of immigrant visas (Green Cards) for certain children of US citizens born in several Asian countries, NOT automatic citizenship. Those covered children could self-petition for a visa under the law.
　
The main reason for the law as I understand it was because mixed-race children were often ostracized and treaded badly in those countries. Since that was not the case generally in the Philippines and Japan, the law didn’t apply to children of US citizens born there or in other non-covered Asian countries. US citizenship was not specifically denied for Filipino or Japanese children under that law.
　
In short, it sounds like this guy passed up several opportunities to have his daughter legally join him in the States if he had wanted her to and he simply waited too long.
　
Where is Sir William when we need him?   
　
Ray
　

[z_k_g]

Sad story..

Zulu

[piglett]

I read the news story and it doesn’t make any sense.
I only know of one way that someone will "automatically become an American citizen" and that is if you are born in the US. Whether your parents are married or are US citizens doesn't matter.　
A child of an American citizen born abroad can have their birth registered at an American consulate and have a US passport issued to them. The US citizen father could have done this in Manila while he was there or gone back to the Philippines later and registered his daughter’s birth while she was still a minor. It is easier if the father and mother were married, but marriage is not absolutely necessary as I understand it.
　
Also, he said that the Navy denied his request to marry the mother. Local Navy permission was required to marry in the Philippines at that time and permission was sometimes denied for a variety of reasons. However, had he returned to the US and filed a fiancée visa petition, no such permission to marry would have been required from US Navy authorities in the Philippines.
　
If the news story is referring to the Amerasian Immigration Act of 1982, I believe that the law only allowed for issue of immigrant visas (Green Cards) for certain children of US citizens born in several Asian countries, NOT automatic citizenship. Those covered children could self-petition for a visa under the law.
　
The main reason for the law as I understand it was because mixed-race children were often ostracized and treaded badly in those countries. Since that was not the case generally in the Philippines and Japan, the law didn’t apply to children of US citizens born there or in other non-covered Asian countries. US citizenship was not specifically denied for Filipino or Japanese children under that law.
　
In short, it sounds like this guy passed up several opportunities to have his daughter legally join him in the States if he had wanted her to and he simply waited too long.
　
Where is Sir William when we need him?   
　
Ray
　

I don't have the whole 411 on this deal
my understanding is the mother of Pinky ran off when the child was 7 months old. so this could have been because she made the family look bad having a child & not being married or a million other reasons. i can send the guy a PM & see is he would like to join us here & tell his story.
 
 
pig

[zip316]

Thanks for the invite Piglett.
I am Jimmy Edwards the vet in the TV newscast,I was in the US Navy and I had a daughter born in 1975 in the Philippines, she was 7 months old before I got a chance to see her. Her mother allowed me to see my daughter 3 times before she went into hiding with my daughter. She was afraid I would bring my daughter to the US and leave her there.
 
I looked for my daughter for 27 years and I finally found her the day before she turned 30 years old. I went to visit her in 2005 and that’s when I found out about the nightmare that is called US immigration .
 
I am learning more about immigration laws every day now ,but 30 some years ago I was a young sailor and didn’t know beans about filing papers in Manila etc.
 
The TV reporter said the part about “automatic US citizenship” I didn’t say that, Although I did think that I could apply for and get US citizenship for my daughter.
I applied to get my daughter US citizenship and was denied, I then tried to get her a tourist visa and was again denied. They probably figured she wouldn’t have returned to the Philippines.
 
The law is Public Law 97-359 Act of 10/22/1982,it does not include Amerasians from the Philippines and Japan for various reasons.
　
So now I have a daughter, her husband and 6 grandchildren that I will probably never see again because of my age and health.
That is why I started doing these online petitions too, perhaps I can help a lot of people in similar situations. I am starting a new petition to amend Public Law 97-359 to include Amerasians from the Philippines and Japan soon.

[zip316]

 
I was a young sailor I did not know about immigration laws and such back then,as far as marriage, yes we did have to get permission to marry a foreign national. Many guys went in town and got married but that was a violation of the UCMJ for which you could get a Captains Mast or even court martialed.
 
I always thought that my daughter would be an American citizen like me but I found out that fathers dont transmit citizenship out of wedlock overseas like US citizen mothers.
Read letter below.
PS :Do I have to do the verification every time I post a reply?
  --- On Mon, 5/12/08, ACS InfoManila <ACSInfoManila@state.gov> wrote:
From: ACS InfoManila <ACSInfoManila@state.gov>
Subject: FW: FW: Yabut, Pinky - Citizenship Application
To: zip316j2ya@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, May 12, 2008, 2:59 AM
Mr. Edwards,
　
In the case of Pinky, the petition in superior court should have occurred before her 21st birthday. Petitioning her now could no longer constitute legitimation since she already reached the age of 21. If you want to undergo DNA test to prove that she is your daughter, you may do so. However, positive results of DNA would not help resolve the legal issues between you and Pinky, for purposes of derivative citizenship. 　
Sincerely,
Bradley G. Wilde
Consul
American Citizen Services
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jimmy [mailto: zip316j2ya@yahoo.com ]
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 6:08 PM
To: ACS InfoManila
Subject: Re: FW: Yabut, Pinky - Citizenship Application
Hi Mr. Wilde,
　
Thanks for your reply I appreciate it. What recourse would I have now , am I still able to petition a superior court judge for legitimation for Pinky now . As to DNA although it wound not establish legal relationship wouldnt it prove paternity and then I could petition the court for a legal relationship and American citizenship for Pinky? Thanks for any assistance from you and your office.

Psalm 55:22

MAY GOD BLESS YOU

http://AmerasiansLookingTheirRoots.bravehost.com
　
　
--- On Mon, 5/5/08, ACS InfoManila <ACSInfoManila@state.gov> wrote:
From: ACS InfoManila <ACSInfoManila@state.gov>
Subject: FW: Yabut, Pinky - Citizenship Application
To: zip316j2ya@yahoo.com
Date: Monday, May 5, 2008, 1:54 AM

May 5, 2008
Dear Mr. Edwards:
I refer to your letter dated April 17, 2008 regarding the United States citizenship claim of Pinky Yabut (DPOB: March 28, 1975, Philippines).
Pinky Yabut’s application for derivative U.S. citizenship was disapproved under Section 301(a)(7) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as made applicable under Section 309(a) of the same Act. The reason for the disapproval is because she was not legitimated under Philippine or U.S. law. For purpose of derivative citizenship, DNA testing will not be helpful to establish a legal relationship. It only establishes biological relationship.
Under Philippine law, Pinky is not considered legitimated because you were never married to her mother. Under the U.S. law you did not meet the legitimation requirement of the state of North Carolina , your legal residence after Pinky’s birth and before her 21st birthday. In the state of North Carolina for legitimation occurs only if the father file a petition before a Superior Court in the North Carolina , which you did not do.
I am sorry that this is not the answer you were hoping for. If you have any other questions please do not hesitate to write.

Sincerely,
Bradley G. Wilde
Consul
American Citizen Services

 
 
 
 
I only know of one way that someone will "automatically become an American citizen" and that is if you are born in the US. Whether your parents are married or are US citizens doesn't matter.
　
A child of an American citizen born abroad can have their birth registered at an American consulate and have a US passport issued to them. The US citizen father could have done this in Manila while he was there or gone back to the Philippines later and registered his daughter’s birth while she was still a minor. It is easier if the father and mother were married, but marriage is not absolutely necessary as I understand it.
　
Also, he said that the Navy denied his request to marry the mother. Local Navy permission was required to marry in the Philippines at that time and permission was sometimes denied for a variety of reasons. However, had he returned to the US and filed a fiancée visa petition, no such permission to marry would have been required from US Navy authorities in the Philippines.
　
If the news story is referring to the Amerasian Immigration Act of 1982, I believe that the law only allowed for issue of immigrant visas (Green Cards) for certain children of US citizens born in several Asian countries, NOT automatic citizenship. Those covered children could self-petition for a visa under the law.
　
The main reason for the law as I understand it was because mixed-race children were often ostracized and treaded badly in those countries. Since that was not the case generally in the Philippines and Japan, the law didn’t apply to children of US citizens born there or in other non-covered Asian countries. US citizenship was not specifically denied for Filipino or Japanese children under that law.
　
In short, it sounds like this guy passed up several opportunities to have his daughter legally join him in the States if he had wanted her to and he simply waited too long.
　

[piglett]

good to have you on the board Jimmy.
there are a bunch of guys ( & a few gals) from all walks of life here.
a few are lawyers & really know their stuff.
i'm not really sure what can & can't be done
but maybe someone here does.
 
take care
piglett

[z_k_g]

Welcome aboard Jimmy,

Good luck with your daughter.

Z

[Ray]

Hi shipmate,
　
Sounds like we were over in the PI during the same timeframe (1974-1975). We may have even bumped into each other on Magsaysay Blvd one evening… 
　
I can certainly sympathize with your situation with your daughter and her family. I think there are a whole lot of military vets out there who are just recently seeking out long-lost children that they fathered during the war years. The Amerasian Immigration Act does not include children of American fathers born in Japan and the Philippines as your rightly stated, but it also doesn’t include those Amerasian children born in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and other Asian countries where American GIs visited and may have fathered kids out of wedlock.
　
The reporter who wrote up that story didn’t have his facts straight and made all kinds of erroneous statements and conclusions. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the whole purpose of the Amerasian Immigration Act was to help out those children who had been severely treated and ostracized in their society solely because of their mixed race/American parentage. The Philippines, Japan, and other countries were not included probably mostly because those children were not mistreated in their country as they were in Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Korea, and had nothing to do with any idea that many of the mothers may have been prostitutes in the Philippines or Japan.
　
I wouldn’t hold my breath getting any results from the petition. BTW, I couldn’t read the petition at the link piglett posted because it said it had expired. I would forget about any help from the White House on this. You may have better luck petitioning your congressman/senators directly. In some rare cases, they can even introduce legislation to grant visas/citizenship for individuals for humanitarian reasons. I think I would concentrate on her getting an immigrant visa rather than attempting to get her US citizenship, which is going to be much more difficult to pull off. Have you consulted with an Immigration Attorney on other possible avenues to pursue?
　
If you haven’t done so already, I would go ahead and see if you can get that DNA test done by a reputable lab in Manila, just in case the law is revised some day, and your daughter becomes eligible for immigration benefits through her parentage. That way she will have the proof she may need in case you aren’t around by then (God forbid).
　
Anyway Jimmy, welcome to our forum and I sincerely wish you success in your endeavor. Please feel free to participate here if you wish.
　
Ray
USN/Ret
　

[zip316]

 I just don’t understand the politicians reasoning when they excluded this group.
They say because Japan and the Philippines weren’t war zones ,true but they were staging areas and medical evacuation areas for the war wounded,and R&R .
To my knowledge we never had troops in Cambodia and we certainly didn’t have troops enjoying the local beauties in Laos.
 
The next reason is that we were committing illegal acts with prostitutes, does that make the child any less of an American citizen’s offspring?
Most are not children of prostitutes, when many of our service members were stationed for many months or years at American military bases in Japan and the Philippines.
The majority of the children were born out of committed long term relationships.
 
I did the DNA with a Walmart kit results were 99+%  which  knew,however the US Embassy wont accept it they want the high dollar kit.
 
You would not believe how many times I have contacted my elected officials here in NC and they always reply talking aout immigration reform  and amnesty,they dont care about citizens only illegal aliens.
 
I cant afford a immigration lawyer but I have helped a few immigration lawyers through my website with cases for Amerasians.
I have 2 websites that assist Amerasians and fathers of Amerasians.[/color]http://AmerasiansLookingTheirRoots.bravehost.com
 [/color][/color][/size]http://www.amerasianregistry.yolasite.com/[/u]
 
Thanks for all the welcomes I will post my new petition soon I hope I can count on you all for support, Thanks in advance.