Misty,
This seems to me like either a Special Immigrant Juvenile issue - while he is in the custody of his father, it seems he may have been abandoned by his mother and may be eligible for custody and legalized status through the SIJ process.
The other option is a relative petition once the child has been in his father's legal AND physical custody for 2 years - that means dad must obtain legal custody through the courts as well as having him in his physical custody.
Dad should obtain a paternity test - he can do that privately - and may have to do it again through the court system if he applies for any type of custody.
As Alice responded, I don't see how acknowledging paternity through Vital Records is a help here - that does not give him anything but presumptive legal status and there is no NJ record of the child to which an acknowledgment could "attach."
Finally, the Philippines is a Hague country, so adoption as a means of creating legal status is a very hard thing to do and requires special processing and action in the Philippines as well as in NJ. It is unlikely, even if an adoption could be cleared, however, that citizenship could be be conferred upon the child through adoption, as he is not orphaned or abandoned by both parents.
Is there a reason why the father did not attempt to go through the US Consulate in the Philippines to seek a DNA test and a Certificate of Birth Abroad for the child? He is a US citizen and could claim dual citizenship through his proving paternity.
Let me know if you want to talk through any of these possibilities.
Deb
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Debra E. Guston, Esq., C.A.E.
Guston & Guston, L.L.P.
55 Harristown Road, Suite 106
Glen Rock NJ 07452
(201) 447-6660
Fax (201) 447-3831
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Original Message------
if the child was not born in NJ or ever resided here, NJ court may not have jurisdiction.
Alice M. Plastoris, Esq.
(973) 538-7070
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