Naturalizing children born abroad to a US Citizen

[Holleyn 2]

Hey all,

 

I am a US citizen by birth. I lived in the US from birth to age 5, then from age 5 to 30 I had lived in Canada and had 2 minor children born in Canada. I have then relocated back to the US over 2yrs ago and brought my children (both under 5yrs old) with me. I think one of the requirements for my children to acquire citizenship though me is  a "physical presence in the US" requirement. For this requirement, the US citizen parent must have lived in the US for at least 5 years AND 2 of those years must be after the age of 14 for the US citizen parent. 

 

Since I lived in the US from birth to age 5, and then have been living here for the past 2yrs+ now. I think I meet this physical presence requirement. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on my situation, or if I may be missing something else that would qualify my children to automatically acquire their citizenship through me.

 

Also, what application form would I need to file for my children in this case? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

When you say you brought your children back with you - how? If they had immigrant visas on entry they have already automatically acquired citizenship under INA320 assuming you have physical and legal custody of them. If they don’t have green cards then that’s your first step. The CRBA requirements for children born as citizens abroad which you refer to are not relevant for anything other than CRBA.

Edited September 17, 2021 by SusieQQQ

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

FYI the conditions of INA320:

 

According to INA 320, a child born outside of the United States automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions have been met on or after February 27, 2001:

The person is a child of a parent who is a U.S. citizen by birth or through naturalization (including an adoptive parent);

The child is under 18 years of age;

The child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR); and

The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent.

[aaron2020 11,651]

49 minutes ago, Holleyn said:

Hey all,

 

I am a US citizen by birth. I lived in the US from birth to age 5, then from age 5 to 30 I had lived in Canada and had 2 minor children born in Canada. I have then relocated back to the US over 2yrs ago and brought my children (both under 5yrs old) with me. I think one of the requirements for my children to acquire citizenship though me is  a "physical presence in the US" requirement. For this requirement, the US citizen parent must have lived in the US for at least 5 years AND 2 of those years must be after the age of 14 for the US citizen parent. 

 

Since I lived in the US from birth to age 5, and then have been living here for the past 2yrs+ now. I think I meet this physical presence requirement. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on my situation, or if I may be missing something else that would qualify my children to automatically acquire their citizenship through me.

 

Also, what application form would I need to file for my children in this case? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

It doesn't work that way.

 

Only time BEFORE your children are born counts.  So, you living in the US for 2 years after the age of 14 in the US doesn't count since that happened AFTER the kids were born.

Under the Child Citizenship Act, your children are US citizens if all 4 conditions are met; 1) be under age 18, 2) have been admitted to the US as an LPR, 3) have a US citizen parent, and 4) live in the legal and physical custody of the US citizen parent.

Did you ever get immigration visas or green cards for the kids?  Or did you just move them to the US without dealing with immigration when you moved back to the US?  Do your kids meet condition 2 of the CCA?

Edited September 17, 2021 by aaron2020