Immigration DNA Testing
Permanent residents, also known as “green-card holders”, may petition (ask the USCIS for permission) to bring their unmarried children, husband, or wife into the United States, whereas citizens can petition on behalf of a spouse, a parent, children or siblings.
If for any of the scenarios above (except for a wife or husband) there is insufficient documentation of a biological relationship, the USCIS may request proof of any claimed biological relationship in the form of a DNA test to confirm that a biological relationship exists. The DNA test requested may take one of the following forms: a paternity test; a maternity test, or a siblingship test often collectively referred to as “immigration DNA testing“ .Although USCIS is requesting the testing, it does not mean that they will cover the cost of immigration DNA testing. The person making the petition (the petitioner) or the beneficiary (the person who will immigrate to the U.S.) is responsible for payment of fees for the test. Usually the embassy / consulate will provide a list of approved doctors (”panel doctors”) from which the petitioner may select or provide his/her preference from that list to the company they have selected to do their relationship testing.
A petitioner or his beneficiary can expect to pay the fees to have the DNA testing done. These fees are for the DNA test itself, their (petitioner and beneficiary) sample collection, and three-way shipping: (1) kit(s) to Embassy or Collection site in the foreign country; (2) return shipment of the samples from the foreign collection site to the laboratory in the U.S.; and (3) shipment of the report and requested documentation back to the requesting Embassy / Consulate. The procedures may be outlined as follows:
- Send sample collection kit(s) to the foreign Embassy or Collection site
- DNA Collection of Petitioner
- DNA Collection of Beneficiary
- Return Shipment of Samples from Foreign Country to our lab
- Ship Final Report to requesting Consulate / Embassy
At Paternity Express, our testing labs are AABB accredited laboratories with over 35 years of collective experience, and they have processed hundreds of thousands of relationship tests or “immigration DNA tests”.
