Do I have US citizenship?

[SusiePoosie 0]

Is it possible that I am a US citizen as I have one parent who became a US citizen whilst I was a permanent resident under the age of 18, then residing in the US, and under their legal care? 

[Mike E 11,739]

3 minutes ago, SusiePoosie said:

Is it possible that I am a US citizen as I have one parent who became a US citizen whilst I was a permanent resident under the age of 18, then residing in the US, and under their legal care? 

Maybe.

 

1. Were you living with this parent?

 

2. Were your parents ever married?

 

 

[SusiePoosie 0]

3 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Maybe.

 

1. Were you living with this parent?

 

2. Were your parents ever married?

 

 

1. Yes, I lived with them throughout; my father was a naturalized US Citizen and my mother was a Permanent Resident.

 

2. Yes, they were and continue to be married. They married before I was born.

[Mike E 11,739]

9 minutes ago, SusiePoosie said:

1. Yes, I lived with them throughout; my father was a naturalized US Citizen and my mother was a Permanent Resident.

 

2. Yes, they were and continue to be married. They married before I was born.

You are a U.S. citizen.

 

Citizenship of children of naturalized parents 

 

To get your child  a U.S. passport you need to have evidence that the child: 

 

•  is your child  
• lives with you 
• is in your legal custody 
• has LPR status 
• you are a U.S. citizen 
• the above all happened before the child  reached age 18

 

IMO there these are  facts:

• the longer a parent waits to secure a U.S. citizenship document for the child, the harder it becomes to prove the child is. U.S. citizen. It actually becomes exponentially harder because evidence, like radioactivity of isotopes has a half life.  It’s actually the law of physics: order tends to disorder aka the Law of Entropy 

 

• you get exactly one chance to file N-600.  Often when parents decide to try N-600 first, they get RFE for evidence. The parent doesn’t know how to respond to RFE, and the case is denied. Forever.   Whereas if the passport acceptance agent is half way competent the agent won’t accept the application with incomplete evidence. 

 

• whereas you can  try as many times as you want  to get a passport 

 

• passports get lost and replacing a passport without a certificate of citizenship is hard. Replacing a passport when you have a passport card is easy. 

 

Thus the parent should first try to get the child a passport and passport card. And this should be done at the same time, at the same appointment with the passport acceptance agent (for example the post office). Both parent and child should get a passport card because 

 

• it seems losing the naturalization certificate is inevitable. 
• the CBP Ready Lanes at ports of entry on the land border don’t work with passports but do work with passport cards 

 

Make sure to make a complete copy of everything sent to the passport agency. While most evidence (except a green card) will come back, sometimes the post office or the passport agency loses it.  

 

Once the child has a passport and passport card:

 

• Once same evidence used to get the passport, file N-600 online to get the child a certificate of citizenship, plus the passport, passport card, and any note the passport agency sent back regarding the passport agency confiscating the green card 

 

• Parent and child should go to SSA to get a new SS card. If the child has has an SSN a passport card is fine for this. If the child has never had an SSN, then a certificate of citizenship might be required. 

 

In lieu of a green card, hopefully the parent retained the original passport used to enter the U.S. on an immigration visa or the original I-485 approval document. 

 

Some people will tell you that your child doesn’t need a certificate of citizenship. I disagree:

 

• A citizen has no right to a U.S. passport.  Certain acts such as habitually losing a passport, being behind on child support payments, or being placed on certain no fly lists can cause one to be denied a passport. Whereas a qualified citizen has a right to a certificate of citizenship. I don’t   think a family court judge will have any pity on someone who can’t get a passport, and thus can’t get a job to pay child support and thus can’t get a passport. 

 

• investigators performing security clearances for certain roles in service of the federal government, military, or federal contractor are known to reject a U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship 

 

• Some citizens of certain countries are denied certain roles.  A certificate of citizenship identifies the previous nationality. Hence a passport is not accepted when applying for those roles 

 

• At some state DMVs, if the SAVE system doesn’t verify U.S. citizenship using the passport card, some DMVs will override SAVE if a certificate of citizenship is presented 

 

• When registering online to vote, some states require those with a US birth certificate or CRBA to provide the number from a  certificate of citizenship or naturalization. 

 

• When petitioning a relative for LPR status (aka filing I-130) USCIS and sometimes the department of state won’t accept a U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship. It is rare but it does happen. 
• There are now reports of U.S. citizens who lost their passport having difficulty obtaining a new passport without a certificate of citizenship.  

[Chancy 6,241]

12 minutes ago, SusiePoosie said:

1. Yes, I lived with them throughout; my father was a naturalized US Citizen and my mother was a Permanent Resident.

 

2. Yes, they were and continue to be married. They married before I was born.

 

Seems like you met the criteria for automatic acquisition of US citizenship upon naturalization of your father.  Proving it will be the challenge.  Do you have access to your father's naturalization certificate?

 

23 minutes ago, SusiePoosie said:

I was a permanent resident under the age of 18

 

You have your green card, right?

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by Chancy
check for GC

[Mike E 11,739]

Oh one other thing, since just one parent  is a citizen,

 

Were you born on or after February 27, 1983

 

?

[Chancy 6,241]

4 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Were you born on or after February 27, 1983

 

Good catch.

 

@SusiePoosie -- automatic acquisition of US citizenship based on the Child Citizenship Act (CCA) may not apply to you, depending on when you were born.

 

[SusiePoosie 0]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

Seems like you met the criteria for automatic acquisition of US citizenship upon naturalization of your father.  Proving it will be the challenge.  Do you have access to your father's naturalization certificate?

 

 

You have your green card, right?

 

I don't know for certain. My father is still alive so I can ask him. He definitely has an American passport, though.

No, I lost it.

50 minutes ago, Chancy said:

 

Good catch.

 

@SusiePoosie -- automatic acquisition of US citizenship based on the Child Citizenship Act (CCA) may not apply to you, depending on when you were born.

 

I was born before 1983.

[Chancy 6,241]

23 minutes ago, SusiePoosie said:

I was born before 1983.

 

Then automatic acquisition of US citizenship via CCA does not apply to you.  Prior to CCA of 2000, the original INA 321 required --

• Naturalization of both parents; or
• Naturalization of the parent with legal custody while divorced or legally separated from the other parent; or
• Naturalization of one parent when the other parent was deceased; or
• Naturalization of the mother who gave birth to the child out of wedlock.

Seems none of the above apply to your situation, so you likely do not qualify under the original INA 321 either.

 

You may still qualify under the provisions of whatever law was applicable when you turned 18.  Details here -- Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship by Parent(s)' Naturalization Prior to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (https://fam.state.gov/fam/08fam/08fam030109.html)

 

[Mike E 11,739]

2 hours ago, SusiePoosie said:

No, I lost it.

1. Are you in the U.S. today?

 

2. When did you lose your gc?