Applying for passport of minor child - questions about documents

[Wouter 141]

Hello,

I naturalized to become a US citizen a few month ago. I have decided to skip applying for a Certificate of Citizenship for my two children because of the cost and just apply for their US passports.

One of the documents I have to show is my Certificate of Naturalization.

Q1: will they actually submit my original Certificate of Naturalization with the application of my child or do they only need to see the original and submit a copy? If they submit the original, since I obviously only have one certificate, does this mean I can only apply for a passport of one child at a time and I have to wait for my original Certificate to return to be able to apply for the second child?

Q2: another document I will have to show is their original Green Card. Will the original GC be included in the submission and not returned? This would mean that while their passport application is being processed they actually don't have proof of lawful US residency?

Thanks,
Wouter

 

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Wouter

[arken 4,197]

1. Yes, your original NC will be mailed with the application. If you submit multiple children application at once, all may not be processed if two applications go to different persons as only one will have your original NC.
 

2. Yes. Yeah they won't have the proof of LPR status for the time being but will that be a problem? How often were you asked to show their GC in last 3-4 months?

[Pinkrlion 2,673]

It is a lot easier if you aply through you Post Office.  They process everything and make copies themselves.  

[Just Paul 4,594]

2 minutes ago, Pinkrlion said:

It is a lot easier if you aply through you Post Office.  They process everything and make copies themselves.  

^^^^^^^  This - simply because of the children.

[Wouter 141]

11 minutes ago, Pinkrlion said:

It is a lot easier if you aply through you Post Office.  They process everything and make copies themselves.  

I will do it at the post office, that is not the issue.

My questions are about whether I have to apply for both of them sequentially or whether I can do it simultaneously, and whether the post office will take their original green cards for the submission or whether they only need copies for the submission.

 

[Just Paul 4,594]

2 minutes ago, Wouter said:

My questions are about whether I have to apply for both of them sequentially or whether I can do it simultaneously

You can do them simultaneously.  If you do it at the post office then it doesn't matter if the applications get split up (and you won't get your naturalization certificate back with a bunch of staples in it).  Take the green cards and copies to the post office.  You will be handed back all of the originals.

[arken 4,197]

19 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

You can do them simultaneously.  If you do it at the post office then it doesn't matter if the applications get split up (and you won't get your naturalization certificate back with a bunch of staples in it).  Take the green cards and copies to the post office.  You will be handed back all of the originals.

Is this a new thing? The post office as a passport acceptance facility generally takes the passport application along with original NC and GC for mailing. Only the passport agency would give the originals back.

Edited September 13, 2021 by arken

[Wouter 141]

16 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

You can do them simultaneously.  If you do it at the post office then it doesn't matter if the applications get split up (and you won't get your naturalization certificate back with a bunch of staples in it).  Take the green cards and copies to the post office.  You will be handed back all of the originals.

Oh that would be great! Are you sure? For my own US passport I did have to submit my original Naturalization Certificate. So for the children they just need to see the original and then they make copies for both that will go with both application submissions and I will get the original back?

(Apologies for repeating the question, I just want to make sure I understand correctly)

 

[Just Paul 4,594]

25 minutes ago, Wouter said:

Oh that would be great! Are you sure? For my own US passport I did have to submit my original Naturalization Certificate. So for the children they just need to see the original and then they make copies for both that will go with both application submissions and I will get the original back?

(Apologies for repeating the question, I just want to make sure I understand correctly)

 

You need to take your naturalization certificate and a copy, the green cards and copies, the kids and your spouse to the post office that does passport acceptance or a US passport acceptance office / agency.  I thought I saw at Post Office where they didn't keep the NC but @arken may be correct that those will be sent and returned separately.   Having it done this way, instead of mailing it in, makes sure that the documents are recorded correctly on the transmittal and one won't come back due to not having the NC,

[Wouter 141]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I actually went to the Post Office where I have the passport appointments and talked to the lady there who does the applications.

- First time passport applications for children after naturalization of parent HAS to be done in person. You can't do it through the mail. (That wasn't my plan anyway but just thought I'd mention it)

- Each application needs its own set of documents, and you do need to submit the original Naturalization Certificate of the parent. This original certificate will be sent away along will all the other papers and you will get it back through the mail later. (This is why I thought that I may have to apply for the two kids sequentially)

- HOWEVER, if you book the passport appointments for both kids together, back-to-back, then it is actually possible for them to put both applications in one envelope with only ONE original Naturalization Certificate and they include a note that one original applies to both applications. (You do need a full set of all other documents so two photocopies of the Naturalization Certificate need to be included.)

 

Let's see how it goes...

 

P.S. Their mother, my ex, will not come along so I also need two copies of the notarized DS-3053 form

 

 

[Wouter 141]

3 hours ago, arken said:

2. Yes. Yeah they won't have the proof of LPR status for the time being but will that be a problem? How often were you asked to show their GC in last 3-4 months?

 

Come to think of it, they are actually not LPR anymore. They formally became USCs the moment I naturalized, so I guess the GC is not really needed anymore for anything other than the passport application.

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

On 9/13/2021 at 12:55 PM, Wouter said:

Thanks everyone for the comments. I actually went to the Post Office where I have the passport appointments and talked to the lady there who does the applications.

- First time passport applications for children after naturalization of parent HAS to be done in person. You can't do it through the mail. (That wasn't my plan anyway but just thought I'd mention it)

- Each application needs its own set of documents, and you do need to submit the original Naturalization Certificate of the parent. This original certificate will be sent away along will all the other papers and you will get it back through the mail later. (This is why I thought that I may have to apply for the two kids sequentially)

- HOWEVER, if you book the passport appointments for both kids together, back-to-back, then it is actually possible for them to put both applications in one envelope with only ONE original Naturalization Certificate and they include a note that one original applies to both applications. (You do need a full set of all other documents so two photocopies of the Naturalization Certificate need to be included.)

 

Let's see how it goes...

 

P.S. Their mother, my ex, will not come along so I also need two copies of the notarized DS-3053 form

 

 

I’m a bit late to this discussion but I was going to say, I applied for my minor child and myself on the same day with one naturalization certificate and it worked fine. 
 

On 9/13/2021 at 12:58 PM, Wouter said:

 

Come to think of it, they are actually not LPR anymore. They formally became USCs the moment I naturalized, so I guess the GC is not really needed anymore for anything other than the passport application.

Indeed, and you’ll get a letter back from the passport agency to the effect that they have kept the green cards precisely for this reason.