UK Wife of US Citizen - Need advice claiming US Citizenship through USC parent

[element6 0]

Sorry if I'm putting this in the wrong place but because this has nothing to do with a visa, I wasn't sure where it belonged.

 

My wife and I are trying to gather information to make her claim as a US Citizen to the US Embassy in London.

Details here: https://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship/citizenship-through-parents

 

I am a US Citizen living in Miami, FL. I was born here in the US to parents who were both US citizens (also both born here), and so were their parents.

 

My wife was born in the UK, out of wedlock in 1990.

Her father was born in the US to his US born father, and UK born mother. His parents had been married for 3 years before then.

Her mother was born in the UK and both parents were UK born.

Her father has not renounced US Citizenship but he did not become a UK citizen until 1991 or 1992.

Her mother and father got married in 1991 and are still married today and living in the UK.

 

The problem is really just in collecting information to prove her father's living situation and the dates we need to meet the requirements specified by USCIS in the link above.

According to the document, he needs to meet these requirements:

Quote

• A blood relationship between the person and the father is established by clear and convincing evidence,
• The father had the nationality of the United States at the time of the person’s birth,
• The father (unless deceased) has agreed in writing to provide financial support for the person until the person reaches the age of 18 years, and
• While the person is under the age of 18 years one of the following occurs:
  • The person is legitimated under the law of the person’s residence or domicile
  • The father acknowledges paternity of the person in writing under oath, or
  • The paternity of the person is established by adjudication of a competent court, and

The U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least 5 years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth, at least 2 of which were after his or her 14th birthday.
If the U.S. citizen parent spent time abroad in any of the following three capacities, this can also be counted towards the physical presence requirement:

• Serving honorably in the U.S. armed forces;
• Employed with the U.S. government; or
• Employed with certain international organizations.

Additionally, time spent abroad by the U.S. citizen parent while the U.S. citizen parent was the unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person who meets any of the three conditions listed above can also be counted.

 

• Meeting and proving the requirements of being "physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least 5 years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth" isn't too difficult because her father lived in the continental US until he was 10 or 11.
• When her father was 10 or 11, the whole family moved to the UK while his father (my wife's grandfather) was stationed at a US Air Force base in the UK. The whole family briefly moved back to CT, USA for a year and then returned to the UK again at the same USAF base while he was stationed there again. Her father was 13 when they moved back and he remained in the UK for the rest of his life past that point. During all of this time, I have been told that as long as her grandfather was an active US service member and her father was a dependent and a member of her grandfathers "household", which he was, that this period could be attributed towards the requirement of "at least 2 of which were after his or her 14th birthday."

 

Here's the problem. The timeline gets difficult around the time my wife's father was 14-18. Her grandmother doesn't remember the exact year that they got divorced, but they did divorce between the time my wife's father was 15 and 18. In order to prove that, I guess her grandmother can request a divorce decree in the UK, since that's where they were originally married and that's where she was living when she filed for the divorce.

 

I don't know if anyone has any experience with a situation like this or could offer any advice on obtaining records, but this is where we are stuck. Beyond the divorce decree, we were going to attempt to request medical and school records for my wifes father for the period between the age of 14 and 18.

 

Would this be enough?

 

What other evidence could we hunt for in order to present to the US embassy in the UK at the time my wife goes there with her father to present evidence and make her case as a citizen?

Edited March 31, 2017 by element6

[element6 0]

Just to add, this is listed on the DS-11 form to apply for a US passport for the first time:

Quote

- If you claim citizenship through birth abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent: Submit a Consular Report of Birth (Form FS-240), Certification of Birth (Form DS-1350 or FS-545), or your foreign birth certificate (and official translation if the document is not in English), proof of U.S. citizenship of your parent, your parents' marriage certificate, and an affidavit showing all of your U.S. citizen parents' periods and places of residence/physical presence in the United States and abroad before your birth.