Saiftariq

On 2/13/2023 at 4:31 PM, reddymeda said:

Hi All,    

 

I am newbie here. I recently applied for Citizenship Certificate for my 12 year old daughter (N600K) .  This forum is of great help.  I applied online and used Indian Bank issued credit card. Credit card was also not in my name. The payment was successful. Receipt was generated the same day. 

 

Receipt states that biometrics appointment will be fixed soon and and intimation will be sent.  Do we have to go for biometrics appointment before Interview?

 

Can someone please clarify?

 

 

Hi @reddymeda

No idea about the biometrics things but would really appreciate if you can keep us updated about your application progress and any communication you have with the US authorities. Thanks

9 hours ago, SirenDoll said:

Focus on one grandparent, because that's how the form works. Use the one you have the most evidence for.

 

Residence needs to be from when they became citizens. The time period before that won't count.

 

N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issurance of Certificate Under Section 322 (uscis.gov)

 

That quote is what the instructions say.

 

Things that prove residence are things that have an address on them.

Or things like school, university, employment records before the internet let everyone work and study remotely.

 

We had

tax returns

car registration

passports

birth certificate

utility bills
medicare 

social security

 

 

Hi @SirenDoll

1 last question 😅

After the interview appointment and getting the certificate of citizenship for the children, what is the process of applying for their passports and how long does that take if we apply for it within USA? I’m reading that it’s taking around 8-10 weeks. That’s too long for us. Can we apply in the USA and get it delivered back home to Pakistan? Is that possible? Or if we chose to come back without applying for the passports and applied here at the consulate/embassy, what would be the documents required and would they ask why we didn’t get the passports made in the USA only?

Also, regarding counting the presence inside USA before they became citizens, on this link (https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-h-chapter-5) it says that ‘

Like the citizen parent, a grandparent’s physical presence is calculated in the aggregate and includes time accrued in the United States during periods when the grandparent was not a U.S. citizen.’ so that is what I’m basing my argument on. I want to mention this point in a cover letter as well and back it up with as many documents as possible too.

Thanks again for the help ☺️☺️ 

1 hour ago, SirenDoll said:

Hi Saiftariq

 

 

I can't answer the credit card question, as I used my own. But I suspect it won't matter who's card it is.

 

Proof of presence for the grandparent for 5 years:

• high school diploma
• university diploma and transcripts
• car registrations
• social security reports
• tax file reports
• utility bills

The form and form guide give you suggestions and links.

 

Yes, I had to do separate online accounts for each child.

I managed it by having a gmail account.
Most people don't know this, but you can have a gmail account, and by adding a full stop / period anywhere in the email prefix it can be an alias.

Eg
firstnamelastname@gmail.com

you can make aliases that look like:
firstname.lastname@gmail.com
first.namelastname@gmail.com
firstnamelast.name@gmail.com

f.irstname.lastname@gmail.com

f.i.r.s.t.namelastname@gmail.com etc

All of which can be used to setup USCIS accounts and then any emails will come into the firstnamelastname@gmail.com account

Link: Make Several Gmail Addresses Out of One - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Dots don't matter in Gmail addresses - Gmail Help (google.com)

 

I just tracked every account in a spreadsheet, as well as all the application numbers and receipt numbers etc.

 

Yes
You can look up processing times. But my advice is just make it somewhere convenient to the family member helping you out.

 

That's unlikely to be an issue.

Just make sure that when you visit the embassy/consulate to get the B visa for the visit, that you take the PDF that I attached in an earlier comment.
The N-600K is a not frequently used process, so a lot of consular staff are not very familiar with it.

Initially, I was told "oh no we can't give your children a tourist visa as they are supposed to be citizens", but then I showed them that PDF with the laws about it, and then they read it, and instantly said "oh right... yes we can". Because the whole purpose of the B visa is to get them into the country to get them the citizenship.

Your B visa shouldn't be any issue at all.
If your children are 16 or 17, make sure that you highlight that in the application for expedited processing!

Good luck.

 

Hi @SirenDoll

Thank you for your response.

We need to provide proof of presence for 1 grandparent right? Or it can be for both?

Furthermore, in our case, the grandparents first got the green card and were later naturalised so they obviously lived in the USA for 4-5 years to be naturalised. Then they had their children in the US and after a few years they moved back. So what kind of documents do you think we can provide to prove all this? Cuz it’s a long long time ago (20+ years) and we’re currently just looking for documents and most of the documents you listed above and those listed in the form haven’t been found

On 8/20/2021 at 10:24 PM, OmarStuck said:

I have recently complete the N-600K process for my children and would like to share the A to Z experience.

 

Why N-600K?

I am a US citizen father married to a non-US citizen mother. We are living overseas on a temporary basis due to employment. Our son and daughter were both born overseas.

 

When we applied for Citizen Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) for our first child, we were shocked to find out that my child was not born as a US citizen.

 

As per USCIS rules, the US citizen parent muse have lived in the US for 5 years with two years over the age of 14 for the children to be US citizens at birth.

 

I do not have the required residence time in the US so that was the reason the CRBA got rejected.

 

The N-600K allows your children to become US citizens if their grandparents meet the residency requirements mentioned above. However, you must be living overseas with your children!

 

The I-130 option was not suitable for us as we do not plan to live in the US in the near future. Additionally, the N-600K process takes much less time than the I-130 option.

 

Your children must be below 18 years old!

 

There are two steps to this process:

• Filing of N-600K form
• Interview

 

N-600K filing

 

The N-600K form can be submitted online and it is fairly straightforward to fill out.

 

First of all, you must submit proof of US citizenship for yourself (US citizen parent) and the US citizen grandparent.

 

You must have proof that the US citizen grandparent has met the residency requirements mentioned previously. This could include transcripts, proof of employment, etc. 

 

In addition, you must show proof that you and your children live overseas.

 

You will also be required to select a field office which will do your interview. I would recommend you to choose a Field Office which has a direct flight from your country (just to make life easier). However, please take note that each field office is run differently (more on that later).

 

There is also a filing fee. I will not place a number here since it could change in the future.

 

Interview

The interview is a mandatory part of the process and must be done in the US.

 

Prepare your (US citizen) parent and your children's passport. If you need a B1/B2 visa for your children, make sure to apply for it ahead of time.

 

There will be a note on the B1/B2 visa (once you receive it) stating "Issued for Naturalization Pursuant to 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(7)". The consular office might not be aware of this so make sure you bring all information necessary for B1/B2 visa.

 

Once the N-600K form has been accepted, you will be contacted by the field office to setup an interview date. Some field offices are more flexible than others with this.

 

The US citizen parent and the children must be in attendance for the interview.

 

Once you pass the interview, you will be given the Certificate of Citizenship. Congratulations!

 

Our Experience

We applied for the N-600K in October 2020 based on my parent's US residence. My parent and I are both US Citizens, of course.

 

We received a RFE from the field office and replied promptly and they accepted our case in December 2020. They informed us that we could choose any date 1 year from the acceptance date. We originally had it in another field office that asked us to come that month (during COVID!) so we requested to be moved to a different field office that was also convenient for us.

 

We scheduled our interview for July 2021.

 

We required visas for our children and we had no issues with the embassy with this regards.

 

The interview was straightforward. They asked me for proof of entry for the children and they saw my children. The interviewer was just cross-checking the information with me during the interview. 

 

Within one hour of the interview, the Certificate of Citizenship was ready for us and we finished the process!

 

Please feel free to comment below and I will answer any questions that come up.

Hi @OmarStuck

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I have 2 questions if you could guide me. Firstly, regarding the selection of the field office, will the processing time (https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/) of the application vary depending on the field office I select (I am applying and paying online)?

I am referring to the processing times mentioned on the above shared link.

Secondly, I am applying for my two children through their mother (US citizens) and their maternal grandfather. I am not a US citizen nor do I have a visit visa at the moment. However, currently my plan is to fill out the N-600k applications for my children and then apply for the visit visas for the three of us (2 children and myself). What do you think are the chances of them rejecting my visit visa? As I want to travel with my wife and children for when they travel for the interview. Any help with this regard would be great. 

Hi @SirenDoll Thank you for sharing your experience. Just want to ask whether while being abroad we can apply online and pay via a US issued credit/debit card but someone else’s card (wife’s family member). Also, if you could guide on what kind of evidence you attached as proof of presence for the grandparent for 5 years. Lastly, will there be separate online profiles/accounts for each child or can 1 be used?

Thanks in advance 😇