N-600 Eligible?

[AmericanCBB 0]

I hope someone has some experience with this. I'm a USC by birth. My step son was born in another country. Originally he arrived in the US on a B-2 visa. He wanted to see what the US was like before deciding on whether he wanted to immigrate here or not. He was under 18 when he arrived and while he was here I wanted to be able to make medical decisions incase of illness or accident. So I petitioned an American court and was granted guardianship and the ability to make medical and educational decisions for him. He had also always wanted my last name (we were unable to change it in his native country)so I went ahead and began the adoption process. After touring a couple colleges he decided he did want to immigrate to the US. The adoption was granted just after his 18th birthday and he was issued a court-ordered delayed registration of birth and was given a US birth certificate listing me as his father and his biological mother as his birth mother. I've had someone at the passport office tell me he was eligible for an American passport but I wasn't sure since his American birth certificate was issued more than a year after his birth. Has anyone been in a situation similar to this one or perhaps would know if he is eligible to file N-600? He was under the age of 18 in 2001.

[Lilyena 10]

Without knowing anything I'd say he's eligible for an american passport, I don't know seems logical if he has the birth certificate now. You should check with the office in the US delivering passports first, no?

[NickD 202]

A stepson, not your own son, would be far more interested in how you are able to adopt him, went around in circles trying to adopt my step daughter. Natural born US citizen friends of ours recently adopted a baby girl from a foreign country, to the best of my knowledge, they didn't have a thing to do with the USCIS.

If you your stepson was issued a US birth certificate, curious about the place of birth and all that, that is all he should need to apply for a US passport, and if over 18 can do this on his own. Should be able to get extra certified copies of his birth certificate at a very reasonable price. Go to the DOS site and find a local agent to you, they have over 9,000.00, Fill out the application and a certified copy of his birth certificate should be all that he needs.

N-600 is only good for kids under 18 to be naturalized, you took a completely different route by adoption.

[nwctzn 55]

I hope someone has some experience with this. I'm a USC by birth. My step son was born in another country. Originally he arrived in the US on a B-2 visa. He wanted to see what the US was like before deciding on whether he wanted to immigrate here or not. He was under 18 when he arrived and while he was here I wanted to be able to make medical decisions incase of illness or accident. So I petitioned an American court and was granted guardianship and the ability to make medical and educational decisions for him. He had also always wanted my last name (we were unable to change it in his native country)so I went ahead and began the adoption process. After touring a couple colleges he decided he did want to immigrate to the US. The adoption was granted just after his 18th birthday and he was issued a court-ordered delayed registration of birth and was given a US birth certificate listing me as his father and his biological mother as his birth mother. I've had someone at the passport office tell me he was eligible for an American passport but I wasn't sure since his American birth certificate was issued more than a year after his birth. Has anyone been in a situation similar to this one or perhaps would know if he is eligible to file N-600? He was under the age of 18 in 2001.

Not sure if he can qualify for US citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act since his adoption was finalized after he was 18. What was/is his status? Was/is he a legal permanent resident?

You are also referring to the passport office. Was this a Department of State (DoS) passport agency or just a USPS passport application site? If it was a DoS office, they might have up-to-date information and the officer who gave you this info might be correct. If the info is coming from an USPS agent, I would not take it as guaranteed.

[aaron2020 11,651]

He is not a US citizen.

Once he became 18 years old, he became an adult. This is an adult adoption. There is no difference in between adopting an 18 years old and a 50 years old.

The adoption was not final until after he was 18 years old. 18 years old are legal adults in the US. It doesn't matter that he arrived in the US when he was under 18 or that a guardianship was established. What matters is the adoption and that didn't happen until after he became an adult.

Would anyone here claim that adopting a 50-year-old would allow the adopting US citizen parent to pass US citizenship on to the adopted adult child?

Do not file for a US passport or the certificate of citizenship. The 18-years old is not a US citizen. Filing for either and claiming US citizenship is a very bad thing. A false claim of US citizenship could majorly prevent him from naturalizing and becoming a US citizen.

Edited June 17, 2012 by aaron2020

[aaron2020 11,651]

A court can order a new birth certificate. But the court does not have the authority to grant US citizenship.

Derivative US citizenship based on having a US citizen parent is determined by US immigration laws. No US immigration law allows a US citizen to pass on US citizenship to an adult child.

Edited June 17, 2012 by aaron2020

[sib 7]

The adoption has to take place before the child is actually 16 to gain citizenship through adoption.

The US birth certificate of my adopted children states that the certificate is no proof for US citizenship. I guess your son's states that too.

What status does he have at the moment?

You wrote he came on B2, what happened then?

What status does his mom have?

Maybe there are other possibilities.

Sib

[MayLiana72 2]

He is not eligible for citizenship if adoption was sighed after his 18, and even 16 (child between 16 and 18 can become citizen under adoption only if s/he was adopted together with his/her siblings under 16). That was in our case, when the judge signed order when my son was 3 days after 18. My younger daughters are citizens, I apply for it now, and my son will wait two years more.

AmericanCBB, you have to find the way to change your son's status from B-2 to GC. I think you should file I-130 as soon as possible, and after approving I-130 your son will wait in the line (don't know how long) here or at his country; you can extend his B-2 year after year while you wait.

[been all over 0]

To sponsor based on adoption, the adoption must be complete before the adoptee is 16, and co-residency between the adoptor parent and adoptee is required for two years -- any two years before filing, which must be by age 21 for immediate relative status. (Otherwise the son or daughter over 21 would be a F-1 or F-3 preference category, with a priority date of about 5 yrs, and must be in status when the priority date becomes current and so then eligible to file I-485.)

So forget adoption. (Foreign orphan adoptions are different.)

Presumably you married the boy's natural mother. That is all that is necessary to sponsor the boy before age 21 as your natural son on I-130 with I-485 one-stop filing, immediate relative. He entered on a visa, inspected and admitted.

If he is over 21 and you haven't filed I-130, and he is here out of status, I think he's screwed. If he's in status as a F1 student (duration of status), he is going to have to stay in status until his priority date becomes current, or marry a U.S. citizen, or hope for CIR (comprehensive immigration reform). Cancellation or withholding are too painful to explain as options here, but be advised of them. Am I right? If things keep going the way they seem, maybe the Dems will run the table, and we will get good CIR next year.