citizenship under Mom

[sjoefl01 1]

I have a neighbor that has filed for citizenship. She has an appointment on 25 January for the test. She has a daughter that will be 18 years old soon. I think the cutoff for coming under her Mom's citizenship is the receipt date of the application. Her mom is worried that it might be the date of the oath. I doubt that would be the case so I am asking the question before I tell her something incorrect.

Is it the receipt date, the passing of the test, or the date of the oath that allows the daughter to sneak through on her mom's citizenship?

Thanks folks. I hate to give bad information.

[aleful 1,905]

I have a neighbor that has filed for citizenship. She has an appointment on 25 January for the test. She has a daughter that will be 18 years old soon. I think the cutoff for coming under her Mom's citizenship is the receipt date of the application. Her mom is worried that it might be the date of the oath. I doubt that would be the case so I am asking the question before I tell her something incorrect.

Is it the receipt date, the passing of the test, or the date of the oath that allows the daughter to sneak through on her mom's citizenship?

Thanks folks. I hate to give bad information.

after her oath ceremony when she becomes a USC. She would need to file the n600 and get her US passport if she qualifies.

she is not a US Citizen at the exam. at the oath ceremenoy she will hand in her GC and at the end of the ceremony she will get her Naturalization Certificate. You aren't a US Citizen until you have sworn and pledged allegiance to this country. The oath ceremony is the final step for citizenship.

her daughter is a legal resident right?

[sjoefl01 1]

I Think I probably worded the question improperly. The mom and daughter are both legal permanent residents.

The daughter turns 18 in March. It's doubtful that the ceremony for her Mom will happen before then.

The mom is worried that the daughter will lose here elligibilty for citizenship under her Mom's application and will have to file on her own if she turns 18 before the ceremony. I am guessing that the daughter simply needed to be under 18 years old at the time that her Mom's application was received.

[aleful 1,905]

I Think I probably worded the question improperly. The mom and daughter are both legal permanent residents.

The daughter turns 18 in March. It's doubtful that the ceremony for her Mom will happen before then.

The mom is worried that the daughter will lose here elligibilty for citizenship under her Mom's application and will have to file on her own if she turns 18 before the ceremony. I am guessing that the daughter simply needed to be under 18 years old at the time that her Mom's application was received.

no, it's when she is aready a US Citizen, filing for citizenship does nothing, she is still a resident until she has taken the Oath ceremony. she needs her Naturalization Certificate to prove citizenship.

[JA Tam 7]

From all that I am reading on the USCIS website, the mom has to get her citizenship, meaning she has to be sworn in at an oath ceremony, before her daughter turns 18 for her daughter to claim derivative citizenship. I hope that she either gets a same day oath ceremony or that she is sworn in before her daughter's birthday.

All the best to her.

[sjoefl01 1]

This doesn't seem fair. We live in a small town and the they wait until they get quite a few people before they have a ceremony. It took us a while. There is really no way to know after taking the test where you fit in the ceremony cycle. Early March after aan end of January test will probably not happen.

The little girl has been wanting to join the Air Force and was told that she should wait for citizenship for more opportunity. As an LPR there were limits on career fields.

It made more sense to me that the receipt date of the application wold be the cutoff due to various processing times. I had forgotten that fairness and good sense has nothing to do with USCIS.

[JA Tam 7]

This doesn't seem fair. We live in a small town and the they wait until they get quite a few people before they have a ceremony. It took us a while. There is really no way to know after taking the test where you fit in the ceremony cycle. Early March after aan end of January test will probably not happen.

The little girl has been wanting to join the Air Force and was told that she should wait for citizenship for more opportunity. As an LPR there were limits on career fields.

It made more sense to me that the receipt date of the application wold be the cutoff due to various processing times. I had forgotten that fairness and good sense has nothing to do with USCIS.

I honestly don't see how it's unfair. Rules are rules and just because they don't work out to your liking, doesn't mean they are unfair; it simply is what it is. Why are they recommending that she waits until after she gets her citizenship to join the Air Force? I have friends who went into the military as LPRs and did not get any impression that they were treated unfairly or not given similar opportunities as USCs.

I hope it all works out in time for her mom and her.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

The air force is the most selective of the service branches. They require higher asvab scores for comparable specialties than other branches because more people want to join the air force. With more competition comes more reasons to be excluded.

[JA Tam 7]

The air force is the most selective of the service branches. They require higher asvab scores for comparable specialties than other branches because more people want to join the air force. With more competition comes more reasons to be excluded.

Ok, makes sense.

How long before the daughter can apply on her own, in case the mom's oath ceremony comes after her 18th birthday?

[sjoefl01 1]

There are also security clearance levels that aren't available to non citizens as well as difficulty with depolyments traveling on a foreign passport. I'm not sure how the visa deal works in other countries for US military members that have foreign passports.

If she is not able to gain citizenship under her Mom she will have to wait two more years to qualify.

I guess it doesn't seem unfair if you are not in the same position. Perhaps you could understand that it is frustrating that if the JAX office did same day oath she would be home free (assuming her mom passes the interview. Even if we were in an area where the ceremonies were more frequent it wouldn't be a problem.

It still seems to me that the date should be the receipt date on the application. After that you are at the mercy of processing times from various offices.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

There are so many steps that could delay things from the point of filing. You could fail the interview/test. It is common that the process needs to be complete before you earn the status. Think of common activities like college degrees ( is it your application date of the date you finish classes and have commencement ceremonies ? ) Even in giving birth, it isn't the date you appear at the hospital, it is the day that little bundle of joy pops out and kills your budget that counts. For citizenship it is the date on the certificate , which should be the date of the oath taking.

[Penguin_ie 5,992]

Can the daughter not get expedited citizenship after she joins the military?

[NickD 202]

Have to agree that the USCIS is very nebulous on their 18 year old dates regarding if it is the application or oath ceremony date. I frankly do not know the answer to this question. But my stepdaughter was barely 18 when my wife could apply and was told no to that.

But from the best of my understanding, the child has to be under 18 when either applying for a US passport with the DOS, or the N-600 with the USCIS, they don't get a certificate with their parent. If my stepdaughter was well under 18, would have opted for the N-600 anyway so she would have a permanent certificate of naturalization, but that's another 400 bucks and a long wait. As it is, had to pay the 675 bucks with another 1,350 miles of driving.

But at least under IRS rules, she still is a dependent and also for our heath insurance coverage. Is under 18 for tailgating ones parent through the USCIS process, expect for the AOS, that stage was big bucks for the USCIS. But while they state under 18 for removal of conditions, and citizenship, as a sponsoring US citizen, can still petition for a child if they are under 21 years of age.

I do take issue with this age thing, its not about family, nor dependents, its about age that is very arbitrary in nature, and too damn many people accept the law for what it is without even questioning it. This pass week, my wife invited two fellow Colombian women over one was naturalized 41 years ago, the other 18 years ago. They perfectly accept that place of birth thing on their US passport and have been maintaining dual citizenship in Colombia for years just for rare occasional visits to their families. Just like sheep that put full trust in their shepherds when being led to slaughter. Why are people like this? I at least have to scream to my congressman, it doesn't do a damn bit of good, but at least showing signs of objection.

Same with the USCIS/ DOS rules on ages, not even a cross the board age limit on all factors. In my opinion, this is crazy, we have a bunch of ####### running this country. Didn't like a kid at the USCIS telling me whom I can marry either, felt like pounding the ####### out of him, but was nice. God, I hate being nice when dealing with idiots.

[w8inglongtime 29]

There are also security clearance levels that aren't available to non citizens as well as difficulty with depolyments traveling on a foreign passport. I'm not sure how the visa deal works in other countries for US military members that have foreign passports.

If she is not able to gain citizenship under her Mom she will have to wait two more years to qualify.

I guess it doesn't seem unfair if you are not in the same position. Perhaps you could understand that it is frustrating that if the JAX office did same day oath she would be home free (assuming her mom passes the interview. Even if we were in an area where the ceremonies were more frequent it wouldn't be a problem.

It still seems to me that the date should be the receipt date on the application. After that you are at the mercy of processing times from various offices.

I agree with your thoughts except the last (BOLDED) sentence. Why should citizenship be conferred on someone who hasn't taken the oath of the country? Applying for citizenship is one thing, getting a NOA is a different thing and taking the oath is another. I don't see why you'd think priveleges reserved for citizens should apply to her just because she has a receipt date. Her mother still has time to change her mind about being a citizen if she wants to. Not to mention her unknown test and interview results.

Edited January 9, 2011 by w8inglongtime

[Inky 1,110]

Can the daughter not get expedited citizenship after she joins the military?

Yes she could.

OP - deployments never use passports. They fly military flights from base to base. My husband pretty much never travels with a passport ever, its always at home in the lock box. He leaves practically every other month on deployments. He has 3 friends that are LPRs that never use passports to travel on deployments and they are gone about the same amount of time he is. They have never had issues with getting jobs or security clearance for their jobs they picked.

The security problems only come if shes trying for officer or higher with high clearance for certain jobs.