Alison74

Family, thank you very much for your advice, very helpful. I am relieved this document can be brief to the point and done by a local, non-US lawyer. Makes it much easier! This forum is invaluable.

Hello all, I received an interview notice from USCIS for the n 600 k interview (citizenship for children of US grandparents). I am separated from the children's father but not yet divorced. One of the requirements states to bring a "Divorce Decree or Separation Agreement including custody agreement" to the interview. I have already submitted the custody agreement to the USCIS however it is not mandatory in my home country to have a separation agreement after the parents' separating. Is it maybe sufficient to create a document approved by a (non-US) lawyer? How much detail does it need to contain regarding our circumstances? I also have submitted proof of residence to show that I live at the same address as my children. Is anyone familiar with this particular topic? Your advice is greatly appreciated.

I know this is incredible fast, and we seem to be very lucky. If you are in a hurry due to aging out, I can only recommend to pay close attention to the processing times which vary greatly between field offices and get updated monthly.

Hi, I would like to provide an update. With the help of sound information from this forum, I was able to submit 2 complete online n-600-k applications on May 7th. On the same day, USCIS sent a receipt notice. On May 13th, I got this message: "We are actively reviewing your Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322. Our records showed nothing is outstanding at this time." And a little later on the same day: "Interview Was Scheduled". It also says that USCIS will mail an interview notice. From what I could gather, it generally takes about 2 weeks to receive the written notice in the mail, and frequently the interview is scheduled about 1 month after the update of the scheduled interview. Do people share this experience, and is this interview date also provided earlier in the online documents? Thanks again for your insights.

"N-600K Complete Experience"= enlightening, detailed accounts, studied it thoroughly. Again I have to say how valuable this forum is with people sharing their knowledge and experiences. Before I signed up, I paid money to be connected with an immigration lawyer in SF, was basically telling me the same as in this forum, except he said you couldn't choose the field office yourself for the interview. Which is dftly wrong. I don't have my father's Social Security records and it doesn't seem straightforward to obtain. What I do have to be included in the n600k application (in relation to my father): -valid US passport -US birth cert. -military records, incl. statement of personal history (listing details from kindergarden through university incl.residential addresses) -transcript of academic record Could you please confirm this is strong enough evidence for the physical requirements, the military records are really unquestionable (slightly paranoid though I might oversee sth). So glad he kept all that in an old bag. After more research in the forum, it seems to be the case that there are some field offices demanding presence of grandparent (whose records are vital) at the interview, some offices don't. My father is very frail, physically restricted and increasingly demented, I don't think he would make that journey. Would the USCIS easily accept a medical record stating that if the office required grandparent presence? Thanks for any advice.

Thanks for the tip regarding certified translations. This is what threw me..."once you file i-130, your child is eligible to apply for a K4 visa". Anyway, I got it now, n600k.

manyfudge, your knowledge and input hugely appreciated, thanks. So go all in via n 600 k by choosing a statistically fast field office (Charleston currently at 2.5 months). If that doesn't work out before 18th birthday, we'd still have the green card option - possibly no US citizenship then, for my son at least. Would you or anyone know whether the USCIS offices accept internationally issued birth/marriage certificates (German authorities issue these upon request), rather than getting certified translations? Since I have those already, I could fire off sooner. Kids were issued ESTA last year, I hear it's valid for 2 years. And yes, lying never a good idea...

Many thanks for this detailed description which sounds absolutely logical. The apparent long waiting times for obtaining a visa from the consulate absolutely threw me. I doubt though that I could justify a DCF? It's not a humanitarian crisis of course. If only I'd known about the n600k grandparent route sooner

This is quite encouraging, manyfudge. Exactly what I was wondering also...if we'd moved there let's say for 5 years, we'd still be mainly residing elsewhere overseas, for example

Thank you all for your input, we're in for a steep road here. Actually the kids would definitely be eligible for US cititzenship via the grandparent route (n 600 k). And I initially thought this was the way forward. I know there are field offices with faster processing times (especially since my son turns 18 March 2025), we'd basically fly anywhere if need be. Supposedly this turns out to be successful, both kids acquiring US citizenship, could we then immigrate and at least my younger daughter be able to attend high school ? Or would all this be counterproductive as this route isn't attached to "immigration intent"? @Crazy Cat: yes, taxes are another headache, I've not been aware of this. I don't think I'd qualify for DCF. Sort of a "sponsor" is my US cousin, I could immediately start working in her company and we'd also have an appartment to live.

Hello, very grateful for this forum, hoping someone can shed light on our situation: I am a US citizen and would like to immigrate to the US ideally as soon as possible, together with my very keen, non-US children (14 and 17 years old, both German citizens). I have lived abroad for most of my life, mainly in Germany, therefore I can’t pass on my US citizenship directly to my children. I acquired my US citizenship via my American father. My Irish husband, the children’s biological father, will remain in Germany and is supportive of our immigration (I have legal and physical custody for the children). Given we provide all the required, complete documentation (including medical exams) for the visa application (via the US consulate in Germany), I wonder whether the following visa category/process is correct. To start this immigration process, we need to file online form I-130 awaiting visa (IR-2?) approval (consular processing). As long as the visa approval is pending, my children will be allowed legal entry into the US on a non-immigrant visa (which one?) and may attend school during this period (or not???). I am quite confused as to this whole process and my main concern is the time frame: could it possibly be many months until legal entry for my children to continue their education and take the plunge of resettling to the US is possible? Thanks so much for any advice.