Citizenship for under-18 child living abroad, born out of wedlock to father who has subsequently become a US citizen

[fbaltasar 0]

Hey all,

 

I'm trying to figure out how best to help my brother-in-law immigrate. Here are the facts:

 

1. 10 years old, lives abroad with his non-US citizen mother

2. Parents never married, father has since become a US citizen and has lived in the US for more than 5 years

3. Laws of his country treat all children as legitimate

4. Ideally everyone agrees that he is better off living with his mother, but short stays with his father would be OK

5. His mother is considering coming to the US on a student visa to complete master's degree in the next couple of years

 

From what I've researched, the surest albeit slowest way is for him to come to the US on an F-2 with his mom when she does her master's and for his father to do a concurrent I-130/I-485 for him once he is in the country. He would continue living with his mother and would not be eligible for citizenship for 5 years after receipt of the green card (which could cause problems down the line since his mom will probably have to return to her country when she finishes her master's).

 

There seem to be two other possibilities, but I'm a bit confused as to the specifics and maybe there are more that I haven't considered:

 

1. Same as process above, except once he receives the green card he goes to live with his father for a certain amount of time in order to qualify as a US citizen. He applies for a passport and goes back to live with his mom once he receives it. It is unclear to me exactly how long he would have to live with his father to be eligible for a citizenship, or how to prove his father's custody. Father would have to file I-864 for this.

 

2. His father files I-130 for him while he's abroad, he gets a green card via consular process and goes to stay with his father in the US. He automatically becomes a citizen as soon as he enters the country, he applies for a passport and then goes back overseas to live with his mom once the passport arrives. Under this scenario, it seems like custody is demonstrated during the process of applying for the green card (since his mom allows him to leave her custody to go live with his dad). Furthermore, his father would be able to file an I-864W since he would never actually be at risk of being a public charge.

 

Do I mostly have the right of it? None of the other options (N-600K for example) seem to work for this situation, but I'm almost certain I've missed stuff.

 

Thank you!

[Boiler 46,509]

His Father files an I 130 for him etc, presumably the Father can show he has been supporting him is he on the birth certificate?

[fbaltasar 0]

Father is on the birth certificate, support has not been particularly consistent

[Boiler 46,509]

Time to catch up

[fbaltasar 0]

Does past support matter for any of this? My understanding is that the issues are legitimacy for the green card and actual physical and legal custody for citizenship.

[appleblossom 3,550]

10 hours ago, fbaltasar said:

Does past support matter for any of this? My understanding is that the issues are legitimacy for the green card and actual physical and legal custody for citizenship.

 

Which country?

 

Is the plan for the child to eventually petition his mother? Because that’s too far away for her to be able to stay in the US with him long term, so consular processing when the child is much older may be better, unless she’s happy for him to live in the US without her. 

[fbaltasar 0]

8 hours ago, appleblossom said:

 

Which country?

 

Is the plan for the child to eventually petition his mother? Because that’s too far away for her to be able to stay in the US with him long term, so consular processing when the child is much older may be better, unless she’s happy for him to live in the US without her. 

 

Ghana, which treats all children as legitimate.

 

My wife will petition their mother when she naturalizes, so that shouldn't be an issue.

[Boiler 46,509]

27 minutes ago, fbaltasar said:

 

Ghana, which treats all children as legitimate.

 

My wife will petition their mother when she naturalizes, so that shouldn't be an issue.

 

Her Sister? That will take 25 years?

[fbaltasar 0]

4 minutes ago, Boiler said:

 

Her Sister? That will take 25 years?

My wife is the sister of her brother. My wife is the daughter of her mother.

Edited Sunday at 05:15 PM by fbaltasar

[Demise 1,383]

On 3/15/2025 at 4:00 PM, fbaltasar said:

Does past support matter for any of this? My understanding is that the issues are legitimacy for the green card and actual physical and legal custody for citizenship.

 

Not in this case. It is a factor for children born out of wedlock while the father is a citizen and acquisition of citizenship at birth. Even that requires the father's acknowledgement of paternity and consent to support the kid until 18, not that he does actually follow through with it.

 

For Child Citizenship Act (acquisition after birth via a citizen parent) then all of these have to hold true at once at some point:

1. Parent is a US Citizen

2. Child is a permanent resident

3. Child is under 18

4. Child is residing in legal and physical custody of the citizen parent

 

So yeah, in this case the best option would be to file a standalone I-130 and proceed via consular processing, issuance of the visa would require mother's consent and ideally you'd want another statement from her that she is fine with the kid living with the father. Then once the kid is in US file N-600 and apply for a US Passport, strictly speaking he only needs a passport but N-600 is a good additional proof to have, especially if somewhere down the line he'll want to work for the federal government and it's easiest to apply for it when everything is fresh rather than try to hunt down all the old documents later.

It also wouldn't be the worst idea for the father to add the kid to his insurance, do some check ups, enroll the kid in school.

 

Like if mother wants to come over an F-1 visa that might be a better idea rather than try to shuffle the kid around. Just come to some kind of split custody agreement once she does.

[fbaltasar 0]

13 minutes ago, Demise said:

 

Not in this case. It is a factor for children born out of wedlock while the father is a citizen and acquisition of citizenship at birth. Even that requires the father's acknowledgement of paternity and consent to support the kid until 18, not that he does actually follow through with it.

 

For Child Citizenship Act (acquisition after birth via a citizen parent) then all of these have to hold true at once at some point:

1. Parent is a US Citizen

2. Child is a permanent resident

3. Child is under 18

4. Child is residing in legal and physical custody of the citizen parent

 

So yeah, in this case the best option would be to file a standalone I-130 and proceed via consular processing, issuance of the visa would require mother's consent and ideally you'd want another statement from her that she is fine with the kid living with the father. Then once the kid is in US file N-600 and apply for a US Passport, strictly speaking he only needs a passport but N-600 is a good additional proof to have, especially if somewhere down the line he'll want to work for the federal government and it's easiest to apply for it when everything is fresh rather than try to hunt down all the old documents later.

It also wouldn't be the worst idea for the father to add the kid to his insurance, do some check ups, enroll the kid in school.

 

Like if mother wants to come over an F-1 visa that might be a better idea rather than try to shuffle the kid around. Just come to some kind of split custody agreement once she does.

 

Thank you, this is very helpful.

 

It seems like the best option might be the "slow route" of filing a concurrent I-130/I-485 while he's here on an F-2 with his mom. He would get a green card and be fine to live in the country, and my wife will be able to file for her mom once she naturalizes anyway so they wouldn't have to be separated. His dad doesn't seem to have any desire for any degree of custody anyway. Do you foresee any issues with that sort of arrangement? I imagine the I-485 interview might get a bit weird if all three of them attend it, but it doesn't seem like they'd be doing anything actually against the rules by having the dad file for him without actually acting as the custodial parent.

[Demise 1,383]

6 minutes ago, fbaltasar said:

 

Thank you, this is very helpful.

 

It seems like the best option might be the "slow route" of filing a concurrent I-130/I-485 while he's here on an F-2 with his mom. He would get a green card and be fine to live in the country, and my wife will be able to file for her mom once she naturalizes anyway so they wouldn't have to be separated. His dad doesn't seem to have any desire for any degree of custody anyway. Do you foresee any issues with that sort of arrangement? I imagine the I-485 interview might get a bit weird if all three of them attend it, but it doesn't seem like they'd be doing anything actually against the rules by having the dad file for him without actually acting as the custodial parent.

I mean custody is only a requirement for citizenship. Nothing really prevents a noncustodial parent from doing I-130/I-485.

 

Can always try some kind of split custody agreement, like dad gets every second weekend and try if that'll be enough for N-600. Law only says legal and physical custody, not sole custody.

[fbaltasar 0]

3 minutes ago, Demise said:

I mean custody is only a requirement for citizenship. Nothing really prevents a noncustodial parent from doing I-130/I-485.

 

Can always try some kind of split custody agreement, like dad gets every second weekend and try if that'll be enough for N-600. Law only says legal and physical custody, not sole custody.

Interesting, thanks a bunch. Sounds worth a try, worst case scenario they deny the passport and they're out $135 or whatever.