Establishing Infants Citizenship

[Jesserose24 62]

Hello all, 

 

Helping another friend. She's Canadian (born citizen) and her husband is American (born citizen).

 

They married, and had a baby. The baby is 9 months old. She was born in Canada, her US father us on the birth certificate and they were already married at the time she was born.

 

They are filling for AOS (legally, three Mom and baby had no intention of remaining in the US when they came for a visit; however circumstances changed months after she arrived).

 

My only question is - the best way to establish legal US status for the infant.

 

Because they weren't intending to stay in the US they hadn't yet filed for the baby's record of birth abroad.

 

Do they add the baby to their I-130 during the AOS application? 

Is there an alternate to the US Record of Birth Abroad form? (Bc it requires a visit to the consulate in Montreal, and even when they are able to visit Canada, that's the last possible option. Also, I think there's a time limit on this approach? And they'll be past it by the time the Mom's GC is approved and they can travel).

I think I'm missing a really obvious form bc of the terminology I'm searching.

 

Thank you all for your help.

[Mike E 11,739]

Before his child was born, did the father have

 

1. 5 or more years of physical presence in the USA?

 

2. 2 or more years of physical presence in the USA after the father reached age 14?

[Jesserose24 62]

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Before his child was born, did the father have

 

1. 5 or more years of physical presence in the USA?

 

2. 2 or more years of physical presence in the USA after the father reached age 14?

Yes, the father has only ever lived in the US. He only visited Canada for a few weeks at a time entirely as a visitor. 🙂 thanks for the quick reply!

[Mike E 11,739]

23 minutes ago, Jesserose24 said:

Yes, the father has only ever lived in the US. He only visited Canada for a few weeks at a time entirely as a visitor. 🙂 thanks for the quick reply!

The child is most likely a U.S. citizen.  If so,  the child is not eligible for an I-130; those are only for non citizens. 
 

If the child is outside the USA, then parents should apply for a CRBA at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.  The parents can simultaneously get the child a U.S. passport.  Once inside the USA, the parents should get the child a U.S. passport card.  
 

If the child is inside the USA, the parents should apply for a U.S. passport and U.S. passport card for the child.  Once these two documents have been obtained, the parents should file N-600 to get the child a certificate of citizenship.

 

There are no deadlines for passport, passport card, or certificate of citizenship.  
 

A CRBA must be obtained before the child reaches age 18.  

Edited December 19, 2022 by Mike E

[Jesserose24 62]

3 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The child is most likely a U.S. citizen.  If so,  the child is not eligible for an I-130; those are only for non citizens. 
 

If the child is outside the USA, then parents should apply for a CRBA at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.  The parents can simultaneously get the child a U.S. passport.  Once inside the USA, the parents should get the child a U.S. passport card.  
 

If the child is inside the USA, the parents should apply for a U.S. passport and U.S. passport card for the child.  Once these two documents have been obtained, the parents should file N-600 to get the child a certificate of citizenship.  

The child is in the US and cannot go to the Montreal consulate. So I'll proceed with the US passport card; to clarify that is different than a passport and doesn't require a US birth certificate?

 

I am familiar with the N-600 however I thought it was for older kids only. Thank you for the direction.

[Mike E 11,739]

41 minutes ago, Jesserose24 said:

The child is in the US and cannot go to the Montreal consulate. So I'll

Is this for your child or someone else’s child?

 

Quote

 

proceed with the US passport card

Why just the passport card? 
 

Quote

; to clarify that is different than a passport

A passport card works like a passport and is for land and sea travel to Canada, Mexico, and parts of Central America and the Caribbean. Mostly useless unless you live next to a Mexican  or Canadian border and frequently enter each country by car or foot. Its best use is an extra evidence of U.S. citizenship.  On a daily basis I read sad stories it people who have lost there one evidence of U.S. citizenship and thus cannot work, travel, go to college, get a social security card, drivers license. So again why just a passport card?

 

Quote

and doesn't require a US birth certificate?

The requirements for a passport and passport  card are the same.  They require evidence of U.S. citizenship.  A U.S. birth certificate or CRBA are two forms of evidence of U.S. citizenship.  These are called primary forms of evidence.  The child has neither and so will require secondary forms of U.S. citizenship:

 

* long form Canadian birth certificate of child 

 

* marriage certificate of parents 

 

* long form birth certificate of father 

 

* evidence the father has physically presented in the USA for 5 * 366 days.  7 years of social security records from SSA.gov should work.  

Quote

 .

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Mike E

[Jesserose24 62]

On 12/18/2022 at 6:51 PM, Mike E said:

The child is most likely a U.S. citizen.  If so,  the child is not eligible for an I-130; those are only for non citizens. 
 

If the child is outside the USA, then parents should apply for a CRBA at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.  The parents can simultaneously get the child a U.S. passport.  Once inside the USA, the parents should get the child a U.S. passport card.  
 

If the child is inside the USA, the parents should apply for a U.S. passport and U.S. passport card for the child.  Once these two documents have been obtained, the parents should file N-600 to get the child a certificate of citizenship.  

The child is in the US and cannot go to the Montreal consulate. So I'll proceed with the US passport card; to clarify that is different than a passport and doesn't require a US birth certificate?

 

I am familiar with the N-600 however I thought it was for older kids only. Thank you for the direction.

[Jesserose24 62]

Ahah! The missing piece for me was her long form Canadian birth certificate. I say I'll because I'm reading the meet on the paperwork for my friend and her family. I use, I and we interchangeably when I feel like it's a group effort. Though I'm not sure what difference it would have made.

 

Thank you again. We'll proceed with her borth certificates and fathers. Do you think that will be sufficient to get her US passport? Or we'll still need to process the N-600?

 

[Mike E 11,739]

1 hour ago, Jesserose24 said:

passport? Or we'll still need to process the N-600?

Situations where a passport / passport card might be  insufficient:

 

* security clearance for a role in federal government 

* certain roles in U.S. military 

* services from DMV when DMV cannot verify status using passport / passport card 

* registering to vote 

* petitioning a spouse or family member for a green card 

* applying for a passport / CRBA / certificate of citizenship for a child not born in USA

* obtaining a social security number 

 

There are counter examples to above where a U.S. passport or passport card has been sufficient. These counter examines don’t prove that a passport or passport card will always work.  We know for a fact they don’t always work. 
 

Once an adult citizen without who acquired citizenship through a parent had lacks a certificate of citizenship or CRBA gets stymied, finding the evidence decades after the fact can be hard, especially of the U.S. citizen parent has passed away.  

 

[Chancy 6,241]

*** Moved from Bringing Family of USC forum to Passports sub-forum -- topic is about applying for US citizenship document for minor child of a USC ***