Canadian Citizen with American Father

[caitlinrose12 0]

Hello all! 

I am a 24 year old Canadian citizen and a few years ago, after taking a dna test with ancestry DNA, I found out that my father, was not my biological one. I have since connected with my biological father who is an American and I have been looking into possibly moving down to the USA in a few years. My question is: where do I start? Can I get a citizenship on the basis of DNA? 

 

 

[Just Paul 4,595]

47 minutes ago, caitlinrose12 said:

Hello all! 

I am a 24 year old Canadian citizen and a few years ago, after taking a dna test with ancestry DNA, I found out that my father, was not my biological one. I have since connected with my biological father who is an American and I have been looking into possibly moving down to the USA in a few years. My question is: where do I start? Can I get a citizenship on the basis of DNA? 

 

 

If you want to live in the US and eventually citizenship . . .

    I think the only option is having your father file an I-130 for you and obtaining permanent residency since you are over 18 years old.   After 5 years of permanent residency you can apply for citizenship.

 

EDIT:  CRBA may be available but her would need to be on the birth certificate   he is over 18

Edited February 13, 2020 by Paul & Mary

[caitlinrose12 0]

12 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

If you want to live in the US and eventually citizenship . . .

    I think the only option is having your father file an I-130 for you and obtaining permanent residency since you are over 18 years old.   After 5 years of permanent residency you can apply for citizenship.

 

EDIT:  CRBA may be available but her would need to be on the birth certificate   he is over 18

This is really helpful, thank you! And if I am married by the time this goes through, it seems that my spouse would also be able to apply for the same kind of green card (family preference immigrant).

[Just Paul 4,595]

5 minutes ago, caitlinrose12 said:

This is really helpful, thank you! And if I am married by the time this goes through, it seems that my spouse would also be able to apply for the same kind of green card (family preference immigrant).

Unmarried son or daughter category (F1) wait is about 5.5 plus years. 

If you marry then the preference category changes to F3, which is numerically limited (needs a visa number) and the wait is about 12 plus years.

 

 

[caitlinrose12 0]

6 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

Unmarried son or daughter category (F1) wait is about 5.5 plus years. 

If you marry then the preference category changes to F3, which is numerically limited (needs a visa number) and the wait is about 12 plus years.

 

 

Wait for citizenship? That doesn't mean I can't still move there while we wait. 

[Just Paul 4,595]

9 minutes ago, caitlinrose12 said:

Wait for citizenship? That doesn't mean I can't still move there while we wait. 

That is the current waiting times for just an immigrant visa.

The soonest you could apply for citizenship is 5 years after that.

 

If your biological father was discovered before you turned 18 there was a way to "transmit" citizenship to you.  

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

 

1 hour ago, caitlinrose12 said:

Can I get a citizenship on the basis of DNA? 

Expect that USCIS to require a test from their own provider.

 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

17 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

If you want to live in the US and eventually citizenship . . .

    I think the only option is having your father file an I-130 for you and obtaining permanent residency since you are over 18 years old.   After 5 years of permanent residency you can apply for citizenship.

 

EDIT:  CRBA may be available but her would need to be on the birth certificate   he is over 18

 

17 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

That is the current waiting times for just an immigrant visa.

The soonest you could apply for citizenship is 5 years after that.

 

If your biological father was discovered before you turned 18 there was a way to "transmit" citizenship to you.  

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

 

Expect that USCIS to require a test from their own provider.

 

Agree on both counts. The automatic citizenship ship sailed when you turned 18. As your biological father presumably is not listed on your birth certificate, you will almost certainly be expected to provide a DNA test which has to be done by a USCIS-approved lab. (fyi these labs will not conduct such tests for you until you have a letter from uscis asking for it, so you can't save time doing it in advance).

 

To reiterate, you will not get citizenship but an immigrant visa; you will then have to fulfill the requirements to apply to become a citizen in your own right. 

 

 

17 hours ago, caitlinrose12 said:

Wait for citizenship? That doesn't mean I can't still move there while we wait. 

You can't move until you have your immigrant visa (unless you get another type of visa such as H1 that allows you to stay in the US while you wait).

[LilyJ 1,258]

On 2/12/2020 at 8:10 PM, caitlinrose12 said:

Wait for citizenship? That doesn't mean I can't still move there while we wait. 

No, that is the wait for an immigrant visa TO move to the US in the first place.. You can't just up and move to the US right now, you have to obtain a family preference visa first, and your father must be the one to petition for you. No citizenship until 5 years after you get your immigrant visa and move to the US. So if you stay unmarried, it will be about 10 years until you are a citizen (5.5 to get visa, 5 to apply for citizenship). If you marry before moving to the US, it will be around 17+ years before you are a citizen (12+ years to get a visa, 5 to apply for citizenship)

[ninaholm 0]

8 hours ago, LilyJ said:

No, that is the wait for an immigrant visa TO move to the US in the first place.. You can't just up and move to the US right now, you have to obtain a family preference visa first, and your father must be the one to petition for you. No citizenship until 5 years after you get your immigrant visa and move to the US. So if you stay unmarried, it will be about 10 years until you are a citizen (5.5 to get visa, 5 to apply for citizenship). If you marry before moving to the US, it will be around 17+ years before you are a citizen (12+ years to get a visa, 5 to apply for citizenship)

Yes, almost agreed