Passport as evidence of citizenship for I-864

[criticalchris 13]

Hey,

My wife, who is the petitioner, will be using her passport as evidence of her citizenship as she was naturalised through her parents and doesn't have a certificate. The only problem is, the passport is in her maiden name, and we are now married and she has legally changed her name and filed that name change with Social Security. Will this cause problems if we send a copy of the passport off as her proof of citizenship? Do we need to get a new passport in her married name before we can send it off as evidence?

Also, her father, who will be the joint-sponor as she is a student, is in an interesting position as he was born in the States as an American, renounced his citizenship, and then managed (years later) to get it back, so is now a citizen through naturalisation. He told me that he is worried the USCIS will be confused if they see that his birthplace was in America but his proof of citizenship is a copy of his naturalisation certificate. He says we should send a copy of his passport instead, which is a lot more hassle and I trust less (we got an RFE for a copy of a passport before with seemingly no reason - 2nd copy no RFE) Would that really cause any problems? In my mind, he is legally a citizen, and his birthplace is irrelevant. I'm sure the USCIS can work out what happened, and he can't be the only person in history to be born in America but then have to regain citizenship through naturalisation.

Edited January 1, 2014 by criticalchris

[lost_at_sea 995]

Wife? Your info and timeline say you're doing a K1?

[criticalchris 13]

Wife? Your info and timeline say you're doing a K1?

Yes, wife. I am filing for AOS, so naturally we have got married at this point. If my timeline is out of date then apologies I guess, but it doesn't have much to do with the question I asked...

EDIT: We just realised that the I-864 does not require evidence of citizenship for the petitioner. However, is there any other part of the AOS that will require her to prove her citizenship?

Edited January 1, 2014 by criticalchris

[Zedayn 485]

The petitioner does not need to provide proof of citizenship with the AOS because since you were already approved with the I-129f (which requires proof of citizenship), there is no need to prove it again.

However, any JOINT sponsor of the I-864 will need to prove citizenship or LPR status.

To answer your last question, the answer is no there is no further requirement to prove citizenship. The citizenship is implied through the NOA2 approval notice of the I-129f.

[criticalchris 13]

The petitioner does not need to provide proof of citizenship with the AOS because since you were already approved with the I-129f (which requires proof of citizenship), there is no need to prove it again.

However, any JOINT sponsor of the I-864 will need to prove citizenship or LPR status.

To answer your last question, the answer is no there is no further requirement to prove citizenship. The citizenship is implied through the NOA2 approval notice of the I-129f.

Thanks for your answer to my first question; I really appreciate your help!

Would anybody be able to answer my second (related) question?

Also, her father, who will be the joint-sponor as she is a student, is in an interesting position as he was born in the States as an American, renounced his citizenship, and then managed (years later) to get it back, so is now a citizen through naturalisation. He told me that he is worried the USCIS will be confused if they see that his birthplace was in America but his proof of citizenship is a copy of his naturalisation certificate. He says we should send a copy of his passport instead, which is a lot more hassle and I trust less (we got an RFE for a copy of a passport before with seemingly no reason - 2nd copy no RFE) Would that really cause any problems? In my mind, he is legally a citizen, and his birthplace is irrelevant. I'm sure the USCIS can work out what happened, and he can't be the only person in history to be born in America but then have to regain citizenship through naturalisation.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Second question-- if your FIL has a naturalization certificate, then that proves his citizenship. Done. It meets the requirement. Don't over analyze it. If he has a US passport, it proves his citizenship. Can't say why you had problems before, but lots prove citizenship with passports. Maybe it was overlooked in a huge overstuffed petition. It's odd the passport would be a hassle to copy. Most find it easier than getting a copy of their birth certificate or finding the naturalization certificate.

[KayDeeCee 4,896]

Joint sponsor can prove citizenship with just a copy of the biographical page of their US passport. No need to copy the entire thing as needed for someone filing a petition.