How does a 16 y.o. child of citizen in US on ESTA get citizenship from father living in the US

[Orangesapples 1,954]

1 hour ago, Paul & Mary said:

The child does not hold a green card.

Why can't he AOS? 

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

The child does not hold a green card.

Thus why I-130 and I-485 would be submitted. To apply for the green card. The child's father is a recently naturalized US citizen.

[JFH 12,191]

7 hours ago, Lulu Shaw said:

A 16 year old friend is in the US on an ESTA from Hungary, living with his father who is a citizen. We believe he should be able to get citizenship from his father, but not sure about the process.

 

Living? I hope that’s just a poor choice of words. The VWP is for visiting. 
 

Is the mother aware of this plan? I assume the father included the details of this child at each stage of his journey to citizenship. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

3 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

The child does not hold a green card.

USC father can file an I-130 and child can file an I-485 to adjust status and remain in the us to obtain a green card.  

[SalishSea 18,117]

41 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

USC father can file an I-130 and child can file an I-485 to adjust status and remain in the us to obtain a green card.  

Even from ESTA?

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

14 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Even from ESTA?

Immediate relatives are exempt from the prohibition. Yawn, yet another one bucking the system and making it harder for everyone else. Really infuriating to us suckers who do everything by the book, huh?

Doesn't solve the issue of legal custody, however.  
And depending how close or how far from actual 16th birthday this child is, begs the question of whether they’ll get everything done before he turns 18 - not sure how long processing times will take from now. If not, he needs to wait for 5 years from date of green card to get citizenship- to get back to the original question. 
 

 

Edited September 2, 2020 by SusieQQQ

[Ontarkie 14,432]

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Immediate relatives are exempt from the prohibition. Yawn, yet another one bucking the system and making it harder for everyone else.

Doesn't solve the issue of legal custody, however.  

Yes and without custody AOS would also be denied. 

[HRQX 4,145]

2 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

Yes and without custody AOS would also be denied. 

Note that at I-485 filing child custody documentation is not required.

 

At I-485 interview, its  hit or miss. Also, I-485 processing times vary per LFO and if the interview occurs after the child has turned 18, then custody becomes moot. The child is currently 16.

Edited September 2, 2020 by HRQX

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

23 minutes ago, HRQX said:

Note that at I-485 filing child custody documentation is not required.

 

At I-485 interview, its  hit or miss. Also, I-485 processing times vary per LFO and if the interview occurs after the child has turned 18, then custody becomes moot. The child is currently 16.

Custody becomes moot at 18, but so does automatic citizenship. 

[HRQX 4,145]

5 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Custody becomes moot at 18, but so does automatic citizenship. 

Correct. Having Green Card is still good (i.e. can work, study, apply for DL, etc. and eventually naturalize if eligible).

Edited September 2, 2020 by HRQX

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

1 minute ago, HRQX said:

Correct. Having Green Card is still good (i.e. can work, study, apply for DL , etc. and eventually naturalize if eligible).

Yes indeed. The topic of this thread is about gaining citizenship though. 

[HRQX 4,145]

2 minutes ago, SusieQQQ said:

Yes indeed. The topic of this thread is about gaining citizenship though. 

Based on child's age, they should consider all possible outcomes. Can't precisely predict when I-485 will be adjudicated.

[Ontarkie 14,432]

1 hour ago, HRQX said:

Note that at I-485 filing child custody documentation is not required.

 

At I-485 interview, its  hit or miss. Also, I-485 processing times vary per LFO and if the interview occurs after the child has turned 18, then custody becomes moot. The child is currently 16.

That is sad that asking for proof that the child is allowed to be in the US for more than a visit. 

 

Yes it is good for them to know what the other outcomes are. It would be good for us to know when the child turned 16 because almost 17 would would shorten how much time the OP's friend has to get the ball rolling for any chance at gaining citizenship through his father. 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Ontarkie

[Dashinka 24,751]

What wasn't clear from the OP is does the child actually want to remain in the US?  From the OP post it sounded more like a simple question of a naturalized citizen extending that citizenship to a foreign based child which appears to have been answered accordingly.  If the child does want to remain in the US, AOS is an option, and USCIS may not even touch on the question of legal custody, but other international law enforcement agencies just may if this is an issue with the mother assuming she is still in the picture.  

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

43 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

What wasn't clear from the OP is does the child actually want to remain in the US?  From the OP post it sounded more like a simple question of a naturalized citizen extending that citizenship to a foreign based child which appears to have been answered accordingly.  If the child does want to remain in the US, AOS is an option, and USCIS may not even touch on the question of legal custody, but other international law enforcement agencies just may if this is an issue with the mother assuming she is still in the picture.  

If derived citizenship is the question as an under 18, legal custody is absolutely critical. You can pop over to the relevant threads in the naturalization forum to see the kind of hoops single parents have had to jump through to prove this, even those who had authorization from the other parent for the issuing of immigrant visas.  (Just for AOS, I have no idea what they need, it could well be a lesser burden as it is for visas.)

 

I think people assumed the child is to remain in the US from the OP phrasing it as the child is “living” in the US (despite having entered on an esta). Also the child does need to be resident in the US to derive citizenship as described above. There is a different way to do it for children living abroad, I am not entirely familiar with how that works.