Immigrant DNA tests fuel unease

WASHINGTON | DNA testing has emerged as a powerful and sometimes controversial tool for U.S. residents seeking to help overseas relatives enter the country legally.

The tests have been invaluable for thousands of citizens or permanent residents who want to sponsor relatives but lack birth certificates or other documents to prove the family relationship. But some immigration lawyers worry that U.S. authorities are increasingly requiring DNA tests even when the paperwork is in order — adding substantial costs and delays to an arduous process.

“What’s troubling is that it seems like the availability of DNA testing is leading to a greater level of mistrust of identity documents that otherwise would have been readily accepted,” said Alison Brown, a lawyer in Silver Spring, Md.

Last year, about 718,000 people were granted permanent residency or a temporary visa on the basis of being a parent, child or sibling of someone who was a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or temporary visa holder.

Officials at the State and Homeland Security departments said they do not track the number of DNA tests submitted by people seeking to sponsor a relative for a visa. The AABB (formerly the American Association of Blood Banks), the accrediting organization for laboratories that do DNA testing for immigration applications, receives about 12 e-mails or phone calls a day from people seeking referrals for immigration purposes, a spokeswoman said.

Immigration lawyers interviewed in the Washington area said that officials who process visa applications at U.S. consulates overseas appear to be driving the increase in DNA testing.

“In many consulates, DNA testing has really become the norm,” said Daniel Park, whose Alexandria, Va.-based practice serves mostly clients from Latin America.