Our story: CRBA for our child denied, entering the US with a baby transportation letter and Citizenship through the CCA

[Darnell 8,478]

suggest you get into CBP office closest to you and sort this out.

It may be you have to pay an immigrant fee of 165 also to obtain a green card (unsure about IF, but certain how to do)

[Mark88 183]

Thanks, Mark for reply.

The immigration officer didn't handed me any I-181 document, but they write down A# on her passport.

Everything is done is on Canada airport.

When I landed in Virginia. I just get out from the airport and come home.

It is almost two month we didn't get any welcome letter nor green card by mail for her.

When I call to USCIS they don't find any record on their system.

So not sure how long do I need to wait?

and Actually Me and my wife is just green card holder, got green card last year.

The I-181 is the proof that the data would be sent to USCIS. It might have been, that he entered it in his system, was assigned an A# but forgot to hit enter. In your case, I would wait another 4 to 6 weeks. If you haven't received anything by then, make an appointment with your local USCIS office. Your babys passport with stamp is her temporary green card for 1 year, so no sweat here.

One more thing would clarify this though: Did you present the IO at the airport in Canada with passport pictures of your child? If this is not the case USCIS won't have a pic to issue a green card. In this case I would make an appointment with your local USCIS office asap.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Mark88

[Mark88 183]

It may be you have to pay an immigrant fee of 165 also to obtain a green card (unsure about IF, but certain how to do)

When receiving an I-551 thorugh parent by birth abroad, and entering the US, the child receives an automatic green card. CBP or USCIS don't charge any fees in this case.

I understand this is hard to beleive, since USCIS charges us an arm and a leg for everything

Edited June 7, 2013 by Mark88

[razib 0]

The I-181 is the proof that the data would be sent to USCIS. It might have been, that he entered it in his system, was assigned an A# but forgot to hit enter. In your case, I would wait another 4 to 6 weeks. If you haven't received anything by then, make an appointment with your local USCIS office. Your babys passport with stamp is her temporary green card for 1 year, so no sweat here.

One more thing would clarify this though: Did you present the IO at the airport in Canada with passport pictures of your child? If this is not the case USCIS won't have a pic to issue a green card. In this case I would make an appointment with your local USCIS office asap.

Thank you so much for your advice.

I make an appointment to USCIS. Lets see what happened.

The immigration officer in Calgary they took one passport picture of my daughter.

[Mark88 183]

Thank you so much for your advice.

I make an appointment to USCIS. Lets see what happened.

The immigration officer in Calgary they took one passport picture of my daughter.

Your most welcome. Please give an update in this thread, if everything worked out.

[razib 0]

Your most welcome. Please give an update in this thread, if everything worked out.

yesterday we had an appointment to local uscis (infopass)

She told me I don't need to do anything.

I should get letter and green card by mail within 1 to 6 month.

And she also told me their system is down and she cant check anything.

[stevie b 141]

yesterday we had an appointment to local uscis (infopass)

She told me I don't need to do anything.

I should get letter and green card by mail within 1 to 6 month.

And she also told me their system is down and she cant check anything.

ouch

I wouldn't trust the should get the letter comment if they can not check your case details

what the officer said is a general statement, not specific to your case

[Mark88 183]

yesterday we had an appointment to local uscis (infopass)

She told me I don't need to do anything.

I should get letter and green card by mail within 1 to 6 month.

And she also told me their system is down and she cant check anything.

I would definatly make another appointment with USICS. As long as you are not sure, that an I-181 was created, I wouldn't trust them.

[han980 0]

Hi!

I kinda have a similar problem. The US consular officer said I need to show documents proving that I was in the US for two years after the age of 14. I showed my passport which has the entry stamp. I.provided documents showing my presence in the US for the 2nd year. The thing is they want proof for every.single month! Shouldn't it be enough proof that there is an entry stamp and no other entry stamp if I did leave US and came back even though I didn't . I forgot to say this when they said I could have had a dual passport (which I don't ) and could have left the country and then come back. What do I do now? They need proof for like 6 months . If she is still denied a CRBA does this mean I have to go back and stay for say another 6 months or does the two year presence have to be continuous ? Btw this is just the two years I'm talking about . They still haven't talked about the three years I was present before the age of 14. That will a whole new problem!

[Penguin_ie 5,993]

Hi!

I kinda have a similar problem. The US consular officer said I need to show documents proving that I was in the US for two years after the age of 14. I showed my passport which has the entry stamp. I.provided documents showing my presence in the US for the 2nd year. The thing is they want proof for every.single month! Shouldn't it be enough proof that there is an entry stamp and no other entry stamp if I did leave US and came back even though I didn't . I forgot to say this when they said I could have had a dual passport (which I don't ) and could have left the country and then come back. What do I do now? They need proof for like 6 months . If she is still denied a CRBA does this mean I have to go back and stay for say another 6 months or does the two year presence have to be continuous ? Btw this is just the two years I'm talking about . They still haven't talked about the three years I was present before the age of 14. That will a whole new problem!

The presence would need to be before baby was born, so adding more time in the USA now won't help.

How long were you actually in the USA, and what proof did you show them? A passport really is not enough, because passports of US citizens are not routinely stamped going in and out of their own country. For example do you have tax filings as a resident, school or university transcripts, did you work and can get a letter from your old employer, lease/ rental agreements, expired drivers licenses.....

[han980 0]

The presence would need to be before baby was born, so adding more time in the USA now won't help.

How long were you actually in the USA, and what proof did you show them? A passport really is not enough, because passports of US citizens are not routinely stamped going in and out of their own country. For example do you have tax filings as a resident, school or university transcripts, did you work and can get a letter from your old employer, lease/ rental agreements, expired drivers licenses.....

Oh I guess that makes things more difficult . ok so I showed the entry stamp, my learners permit , transcripts , and employment records. For the first 9 months i wasn't doing anything so I can''t really provide anything . I was paying in state tuition which proves I was a resident of that state for a year but they just don't want to consider that information .

[Mark88 183]

After going through all this myself, I don't want to get your hopes to high. In our case, the CO only accepted really hard evidence (like me going to college showing transcripts with the occaisional doctor visit during the same time period). At the end I guess the CO just didn't want to help me out. Tax returns won't help, since you have to file them anyway as a USC even you live abroad.

If you can't show hard proof for the 5 year requirements, prepare to file I-130 for your child (to get a green card). At least he/she will receive automatic USC once you travel to the US with him/her.

[han980 0]

After going through all this myself, I don't want to get your hopes to high. In our case, the CO only accepted really hard evidence (like me going to college showing transcripts with the occaisional doctor visit during the same time period). At the end I guess the CO just didn't want to help me out. Tax returns won't help, since you have to file them anyway as a USC even you live abroad.

If you can't show hard proof for the 5 year requirements, prepare to file I-130 for your child (to get a green card). At least he/she will receive automatic USC once you travel to the US with him/her.

At first the CO was like I need evidence for the last year that I was there. When I later sent in the evidence (transcript and employment records) they were like ok now we need proof for the first year you were there. It's as if they just didn't want to my daughter the CRBA and her passport.

I provided everything I possibly could.

As for preparing to file I-130 , will my child be guaranteed to get a green card? I'm not a US resident so all I would have to do would be to travel to the US with her? After that how will she get her citizenship?

[newacct 688]

At first the CO was like I need evidence for the last year that I was there. When I later sent in the evidence (transcript and employment records) they were like ok now we need proof for the first year you were there. It's as if they just didn't want to my daughter the CRBA and her passport.

I provided everything I possibly could.

As for preparing to file I-130 , will my child be guaranteed to get a green card? I'm not a US resident so all I would have to do would be to travel to the US with her? After that how will she get her citizenship?

The I-130 is to apply for a green card for family reunion. That means you must reside in, or will move back to, the U.S. So if you have no plans to move back to the U.S., then that may not work. To answer your other question, how it works is, after she gets an immigrant visa, when she enters the U.S., she automatically becomes a permanent resident. And then, assuming that she is "living with you" in the U.S. at that time, she automatically becomes a U.S. citizen by INA 320. (Although, again, I am not sure if you going there for a brief visit can count as residing with her.)

I don't doubt that your daugher is a U.S. citizen. It sounds like you are just getting bad luck with a particular person at that consulate. Chances are if you apply somewhere else (with a different person, at a different consulate, etc.) they will accept your evidence. Can you talk to a different person at the consulate?

Another idea I can think of is to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship with USCIS, using form N-600. It is pretty expensive, and it take many months. However, the USCIS is a different agency than the consulates, and a different person will look at it, so there is a good chance that you will get a different result.

Or, the next time she plans to visits the U.S., you can get a U.S. visa for her (since they won't giver her a CRBA, it would be unreasonable for them to deny her a visa because she's a citizen). Then, while in the U.S., you can just apply for a passport for her at a post office or any of a million places. However, you might still want a more permanent document like a CRBA or Certificate of Citizenship.

[Mark88 183]

At first the CO was like I need evidence for the last year that I was there. When I later sent in the evidence (transcript and employment records) they were like ok now we need proof for the first year you were there. It's as if they just didn't want to my daughter the CRBA and her passport.

I provided everything I possibly could.

As for preparing to file I-130 , will my child be guaranteed to get a green card? I'm not a US resident so all I would have to do would be to travel to the US with her? After that how will she get her citizenship?

This is absolutly the same thing what happend to me: I gave them evidence, they demanded more evidence. I was just running in circles. There came a point, where I just realized, thant they just don't want to grant me CRBA. Sometimes I have the feeling they need to fill a certain qouta for denied applications. No idea if this is true. Which consulate did you file with?

The I-130 is to apply for a green card for family reunion. That means you must reside in, or will move back to, the U.S. So if you have no plans to move back to the U.S., then that may not work. To answer your other question, how it works is, after she gets an immigrant visa, when she enters the U.S., she automatically becomes a permanent resident. And then, assuming that she is "living with you" in the U.S. at that time, she automatically becomes a U.S. citizen by INA 320. (Although, again, I am not sure if you going there for a brief visit can count as residing with her.)

The green card is intended for immigration. However, if you travel to the US with your child, she will be in the "physical and legal custody" of you and this makes her a citizen under the child citizenship act of 2000 just once she crosses the border (with a green card). If you decide two weeks later to go back to a different country, that would be your decission.

I don't doubt that your daugher is a U.S. citizen. It sounds like you are just getting bad luck with a particular person at that consulate. Chances are if you apply somewhere else (with a different person, at a different consulate, etc.) they will accept your evidence. Can you talk to a different person at the consulate?

This won't make any difference. I even made an appointment with the US General Consul. All what he did is have a two minute chat with me, that he is more the general manager and his vice consules make the decisions conserning consular affairs. That was it. Basicly your at the grace of a single CO. Even going to a different consulate won't help much, since they will have the first denied application on file, and I don't think they will admit that the other consulate did a bad job and just deny it based on that.

Another idea I can think of is to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship with USCIS, using form N-600. It is pretty expensive, and it take many months. However, the USCIS is a different agency than the consulates, and a different person will look at it, so there is a good chance that you will get a different result.

To apply for a N-600 from overseas without going the green card route, you still have to fullfill the residency requirements. You might have another shot with USCIS though, if it didn't work out with DOS.

Or, the next time she plans to visits the U.S., you can get a U.S. visa for her (since they won't giver her a CRBA, it would be unreasonable for them to deny her a visa because she's a citizen). Then, while in the U.S., you can just apply for a passport for her at a post office or any of a million places. However, you might still want a more permanent document like a CRBA or Certificate of Citizenship.

Just a visa won't be enough, since there are foreign citizens (i.e. Japan, Germany) who don't even need a visa to enter the US as visitors (they can do this with ESTA). In able for the CCA to work, your child needs to enter the US with an immigrant visa I-551 (green card)! So if going to a post office, their first question will be where is the (temporary) green card.