N400 application for minor child

[mam521 2,300]

18 minutes ago, Knome said:

What you do if you dont have any seperate custody papers. In my case i just have the divorce decree and there were never any seperate custody papers.

I'm curious about this myself.  We weren't legally married, so no divorce decree.  We do not have a court filed custody agreement, either.  Just an agreement that we wrote as a "just in case" and I have a lawyer notarized letter that I used for our GC interview where the children's father acknowledged they would be moving to the US as permanent residents.  My interviewer added it to our file.  Clearly it was no issue because everyone is in the US, but I plan to file for citizenship when I can at the beginning of next year.  

[Mike E 11,745]

2 minutes ago, mam521 said:

I'm curious about this myself.  We weren't legally married, so no divorce decree.  We do not have a court filed custody agreement, either.  Just an agreement that we wrote as a "just in case" and I have a lawyer notarized letter that I used for our GC interview where the children's father acknowledged they would be moving to the US as permanent residents.  My interviewer added it to our file.  Clearly it was no issue because everyone is in the US, but I plan to file for citizenship when I can at the beginning of next year.  

Does the letter from the father grant you legal custody?

[mam521 2,300]

1 minute ago, Mike E said:

Does the letter from the father grant you legal custody?

No. Our home province doesn't require a court filed agreement if the parents are capable of adulting and managing their children.  It's encouraged not to have the courts involved if it's not necessary.  In our case, it's not necessary. We verified with the lawyer who notarized the letter that I used at the consulate.  

 

Passport Canada did ask to see our agreement when we renewed one of the children's passports, but other than that, we've never been asked for anything.  

[Mike E 11,745]

14 minutes ago, mam521 said:

No. Our home province doesn't require a court filed agreement if the parents are capable of adulting and managing their children.  It's encouraged not to have the courts involved if it's not necessary.  In our case, it's not necessary. We verified with the lawyer who notarized the letter that I used at the consulate.  

 

Passport Canada did ask to see our agreement when we renewed one of the children's passports, but other than that, we've never been asked for anything.  

Possibly that letter and a reference to the provincial laws in effect at the time would suffice.  
 

Is there any reason why the other parent and you are not willing to sign an agreement acknowledging joint custody? 
 

Note that the other parent has to sign the USA passport application. 

Edited January 28, 2022 by Mike E

[mam521 2,300]

4 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Possibly that letter and a reference to the provincial laws in effect at the time would suffice.  
 

Is there any reason why the other parent and you are not willing to sign an agreement acknowledging joint custody? 
 

Note that the other parent has to sign the USA passport application. 

Signing a letter or agreement isn't an issue.  That's what our parenting agreement is.  We just don't feel it's necessary to file in the courts because then any time we decide to make a change, we have to file again.  Every time you file, it costs money and you have to wait on the decision.  The bottom line for us is that it seems ridiculous that we're punished for being able to adult and handle our children in an agreed upon fashion without lawyers or courts involved.  Married parents don't face the same discrimination.  Just because we've chosen not to be together doesn't immediately indicate that we're incapable of decision making in the best interest of our children.  

 

Signing passport applications is an inconvenience, but otherwise a non-issue.  I currently send the applications for Canadian passports to Canada for him to review and sign.  In non-covid times, I'd send the applications up with the kids when they would visit and he'd do the renewals in person.  

[Mike E 11,745]

9 minutes ago, mam521 said:

Signing a letter or agreement isn't an issue.  That's what our parenting agreement is.  We just don't feel it's necessary to file in the courts because then any time we decide to make a change, we have to file again.  Every time you file, it costs money and you have to wait on the decision.  The bottom line for us is that it seems ridiculous that we're punished for being able to adult and handle our children in an agreed upon fashion without lawyers or courts involved.  Married parents don't face the same discrimination.  Just because we've chosen not to be together doesn't immediately indicate that we're incapable of decision making in the best interest of our children.  

As a USA citizen, I apologize for the INA law being  inherently biased against people who aren’t married and against offspring of such people.  Similarly I apologize for the bias  of most laws of most states of USA against the same groups of people.  
 

Perhaps your parenting agreement suffices.  Best wishes  on your child’s citizenship journey.   

[mam521 2,300]

20 minutes ago, Mike E said:

As a USA citizen, I apologize for the INA law being  inherently biased against people who aren’t married and against offspring of such people.  Similarly I apologize for the bias  of most laws of most states of USA against the same groups of people.  
 

Perhaps your parenting agreement suffices.  Best wishes  on your child’s citizenship journey.   

It's not just the USA and I know that many people don't know how to adult and parent.  But eh...it's how it is.  

 

And yes, hopefully the parenting agreement and notarized letters work.  I have 12 months still before I can apply for me and I'm in Houston, so I anticipate a sloth-like timeline for processing.  The worry is actually how close we land to Kid1 turning 18 and wanting to apply for college scholarships that often require citizenship for eligibility.  

 

Regardless, thanks  

[Cloud-9 3]

On 1/28/2022 at 1:19 PM, mam521 said:

It's not just the USA and I know that many people don't know how to adult and parent.  But eh...it's how it is.  

 

And yes, hopefully the parenting agreement and notarized letters work.  I have 12 months still before I can apply for me and I'm in Houston, so I anticipate a sloth-like timeline for processing.  The worry is actually how close we land to Kid1 turning 18 and wanting to apply for college scholarships that often require citizenship for eligibility.  

 

Regardless, thanks  

Hi @mam521 was your notarized agreement letter accepted with your application or did you have to get a court order? Thanks!

[mam521 2,300]

12 minutes ago, StarRod said:

Hi @mam521 was your notarized agreement letter accepted with your application or did you have to get a court order? Thanks!

We don't have a court ordered agreement.  I provided the lawyer notarized letter at the interview and it was accepted. 

[Cloud-9 3]

4 minutes ago, mam521 said:

We don't have a court ordered agreement.  I provided the lawyer notarized letter at the interview and it was accepted. 

Perfect thank you for the update!

[Tracy-->NY 40]

Thank you all. I became a naturalized citizen earlier this month. Now ill apply for naturalization for my son and my passport appointment is next week. Thanks again to this amazing community.  

[Chancy 6,244]

3 hours ago, Tracy-->NY said:

I became a naturalized citizen earlier this month. Now ill apply for naturalization for my son and my passport appointment is next week.

 

As others already mentioned, you cannot apply for naturalization for your 8-year old son because naturalization is only for immigrants at least 18 years old.  Your son automatically derived US citizenship from you the moment you became a US citizen.  Your son is also a US citizen now, so you may apply for a US passport for him as well.  Optionally, you may also apply for his certificate of citizenship via the N-600 process (not N-400).