The IR5 visa involves different supporting documents depending on both the parent and the circumstances of the sponsor’s birth. When a mother is applying from outside the United States, a sponsoring child has to submit a copy of their birth certificate that shows their name and their mother’s name and a copy of their U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization if they were not born in the United States.
When a father applies from outside the country, a sponsoring child has to submit a copy of their birth certificate showing both their name and the names of both parents, a copy of their U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization if they were not born in the United States and a copy of their parents’ civil marriage certificate. If a father lives outside the United States and the sponsoring child was born out of wedlock and was not legally recognized by their father before their 18th birthday, then they will have to submit a copy of their birth certificate showing both their name and their father’s name, a copy of their U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization if they were not born in the United States, and evidence of an emotional or financial bond before the child was married or reached 21 years of age. When a father lives outside the country and the sponsoring child was born out of wedlock but was legitimated by their father before their 18th birthday, then supporting documents will be a copy of their birth certificate showing both their name and their father’s name, a copy of their U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization if they were not born in the United States, and evidence that the sponsoring child was legitimated before their 18th birthday through either the marriage of the natural parents, the laws of their birth state or country, or the laws of their father’s birth state or country.
When sponsoring children petitions to bring a stepparent to the United States, they have to submit a copy of their birth certificate showing the names of their birth parents, a copy of their U.S. passport, or a Certificate of Naturalization if they were not born in the United States, a copy of a civil marriage certificate for the birth parent to the stepparent proving that the marriage occurred before a sponsoring child’s 18th birthday, and a copy of any divorce decree, death certificate, or annulment decree demonstrating that any previous marriage entered into by the sponsoring child’s natural or stepparent ended legally.
If the sponsoring child petitions to bring adoptive parents to the country, they will have to submit a copy of their birth certificate, a copy of their U.S. passport or Certificate of Naturalization if they were not born in the United States, a certified copy of the adoption certificate proving the adoption took place before the sponsoring child’s 16th birthday, and a statement proving the dates and places the sponsoring child lived together with their parents.