Do i qualify for USA citizenship through parent?

[faysal]

It is not wishful thinking. If you read through the entire thread, you'll see that Locod64 has a very strong claim to having obtained US citizenship at birth. I would be very surprised if they didn't issue the passport.

My friend:

There are two questions that need to be addressed in the case of a child born abroad to a us citizen.

The first question is: does a child born to a us citizen in a foreign country acquire citizenship at birth? This answer to this question is YES.....

The second question is: is there an estublished procedure that need to be followed? Yes

and here is the procedure: If you are a US citizen and you marry in a foreign country, and you get a baby through the marriage.
You need to report the birth of the new baby at the consalur by providing the necesary paperwork. then the child becomes citizen at birth and the consalur issues passport....
If you never reported your marriage, and never reported the birth of your child, the child can't just walk to a consalur or show up in the US and claim passport.
In some way, the parent citizen must initiate the petition...

Some of you are making things very simple. You are telling someone with a Dominican Republic passport who sneaked in the US from Canada with non-immigrant Visa and who stayed in the US for ten years without legal bases, just send your passport and your father's citizenship certificate, and you will issued a passport.
How can they be able to authenticate that the child is who he is? No finger print, no picture on record, no alien number, no trace in the US visa system, no father ever reported him or claimed him, born out of wedlock, no mother whereabouts; It just does not make sense. The child is born in the United States. The advice you are giving is the advice one would give someone who is born in the US.

Bottom line is: if you are born in a foreing country to a US citizen, the naturalization process has to start at the consular in the country where the child is born. there is no getting around.. anything short of that is trouble....

 

[czar91]

I think I agree with what faysal says. How could a person without a legal status be applying for a US passport. If you go to the website of the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic you can find the proceedings on how to Acquire citizenship if you are over 18 and born to a U.S. Citizen parent but the process itself needs to be done in the DR. But again, since Locod64's father had legal custody prior his 18 birthday I don't know how the process works from there and how in the world he entered the U.S. without a non-immigrant visa. Even though he entered prior 9/11, U.S. border control is very though and a person can't just walk in to the U.S. because is the son of a U.S. Citizen; but again, as I said, since Locod64's father had legal custody at that time maybe the laws at that time allowed him to take his son to the U.S. and later on do the proceedings inside the U.S.

 

[Jackolantern]

My friend:

There are two questions that need to be addressed in the case of a child born abroad to a us citizen.

The first question is: does a child born to a us citizen in a foreign country acquire citizenship at birth? This answer to this question is YES.....

The second question is: is there an estublished procedure that need to be followed? Yes

There is no special procedure to acquire citizenship at birth; the procedures are for proving that one already acquired citizenship at birth according to the laws that were applicable at that time. The parent's failure to follow those procedures when one was a child doesn't mean one loses citizenship or loses the right to claim citizenship; it just makes the proof more difficult.

and here is the procedure: If you are a US citizen and you marry in a foreign country, and you get a baby through the marriage.
You need to report the birth of the new baby at the consalur by providing the necesary paperwork. then the child becomes citizen at birth and the consalur issues passport....
If you never reported your marriage, and never reported the birth of your child, the child can't just walk to a consalur or show up in the US and claim passport.
In some way, the parent citizen must initiate the petition...

Some of you are making things very simple. You are telling someone with a Dominican Republic passport who sneaked in the US from Canada with non-immigrant Visa and who stayed in the US for ten years without legal bases, just send your passport and your father's citizenship certificate, and you will issued a passport.

More documents are required than that. A DNA test is often required, among other things. Locod64 had the test done and also has court papers from when his father was granted custody in the DR.

How can they be able to authenticate that the child is who he is? No finger print, no picture on record, no alien number, no trace in the US visa system, no father ever reported him or claimed him, born out of wedlock, no mother whereabouts; It just does not make sense. The child is not born in the United States. The advice you are giving is the advice one would give someone who is born in the US.

Bottom line is: if you are born in a foreing country to a US citizen, the naturalization process has to start at the consular in the country where the child is born. there is no getting around.. anything short of that is trouble....

You have it all mixed up, dude. This is not naturalization, nor applying to obtain citizenship. The OP already obtained citizenship at birth abroad, and now is applying for proof of that citizenship in the form of a US passport. Another poster not so long ago with a single US citizen mother managed to acquire citizenship and proof via a similar route as Locod64. And there are court cases where people who were caught for deportation won the case when their lawyer showed that they met the conditions for having citizenship since birth, even though they never had a green card or anything and never knew they had citizenship until the lawyer figured it out.

 

[baikal3]

There is no special procedure to acquire citizenship at birth; the procedures are for proving that one already acquired citizenship at birth according to the laws that were applicable at that time. The parent's failure to follow those procedures when one was a child doesn't mean one loses citizenship or loses the right to claim citizenship; it just makes the proof more difficult.


More documents are required than that. A DNA test is often required, among other things. Locod64 had the test done and also has court papers from when his father was granted custody in the DR.


You have it all mixed up, dude. This is not naturalization, nor applying to obtain citizenship. The OP already obtained citizenship at birth abroad, and now is applying for proof of that citizenship in the form of a US passport. Another poster not so long ago with a single US citizen mother managed to acquire citizenship and proof via a similar route as Locod64. And there are court cases where people who were caught for deportation won the case when their lawyer showed that they met the conditions for having citizenship since birth, even though they never had a green card or anything and never knew they had citizenship until the lawyer figured it out.

Jackolantern is absolutely correct here. Locod64 is not applying for naturalization but rather for a proof of U.S. citizenship (namely a U.S. passport). Sure, the standard procedure in the case of a child born abroad to a U.S. citizen parent is to get a consular certificate of a birth abroad, which then serves as a non-expiring proof of U.S. citizenship, similar to a birth certificate for someone born in the U.S. However, if someone is born abroad and is a U.S. citizen at birth, that person does not lose his/her U.S. citizenship in case the parents never bothered to obtain a certificate of birth abroad. Such a person can still apply for a U.S. passport (at a U.S. consulate abroad or at a passport application center inside the U.S. or at a passport agency) and provide direct evidence of having acquired citizenship at birth. The main issue in such cases is whether or not the applicant is able to prove having acquired citizenship at birth, not what the current immigration status (or lack thereof) of the applicant is at the moment.

 

[Jackolantern]

I think I agree with what faysal says. How could a person without a legal status be applying for a US passport.

If that person was born as a US citizen, it means they have legal status any time they are inside the US, even if they entered without inspection.

But again, since Locod64's father had legal custody prior his 18 birthday I don't know how the process works from there and how in the world he entered the U.S. without a non-immigrant visa.

Yes, it is strange how he entered. But he said the officer did look at his passport and let him in with his father; it wasn't sneaking in per se. The officer probably presumed he was a US citizen based on his father being a citizen. Remember this was a land border with Canada in the pre-9/11 days, when they sometimes would let people in just based on an oral declaration of citizenship.

 

[faysal]

I think I agree with what faysal says. How could a person without a legal status be applying for a US passport. If you go to the website of the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic you can find the proceedings on how to Acquire citizenship if you are over 18 and born to a U.S. Citizen parent but the process itself needs to be done in the DR. But again, since Locod64's father had legal custody prior his 18 birthday I don't know how the process works from there and how in the world he entered the U.S. without a non-immigrant visa. Even though he entered prior 9/11, U.S. border control is very though and a person can't just walk in to the U.S. because is the son of a U.S. Citizen; but again, as I said, since Locod64's father had legal custody at that time maybe the laws at that time allowed him to take his son to the U.S. and later on do the proceedings inside the U.S.

czar91:

The birth of a child abroad to U.S. citizen parent(s) should be reported as soon as possible to the nearest American consular office for the purpose of establishing an official record of the child's claim to U.S. citizenship at birth. The official record is in the form of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America. This document, referred to as the Consular Report of Birth or FS-240, is considered a basic United States citizenship document. An original FS-240 is furnished to the parent(s) at the time the registration is approved.

When you have a child born abroad, you need an FS-240 issued by the consular in the country where the birth took place. Everybody seems to focus on the fact that a child born to a us citizen abroad is a citizen at birth. There is no question about that. It is the reporting to the us consular that is at issue here.
czar91: In your situation: my understanding is you were born to a us citizen in a foreign country. You were a us citizen at birth, but your father did not report you and acquire FS-240 for you from the consular in your country at the time your were born. Now you are 18 and you want to acquire citizeship through your father. You can not just come to the US and claim citizenship through your father. You father needs to initiate a petition. He must first file I-130. The embassy will contact you. They will ask for all kinds of documents. Most likely they will have you take a DNA. Your father will have show he can support you financially and sign an affidavit of support. You must go through medical screening and your must pay for the greencard fee and airfare. The process takes about a year. You must be issued a visa and inspected and at the port of entry. Once you come here, you can then adjust your status for greencard to citizen.
Again this process does not apply individuals who acquire FS-240

It is either you have FS-240, or through I-130. There no showing up here in the US, and submit a foreigh passposrt and some us document and get passport. Anyone can do that.

 

[faysal]

"from there and how in the world he entered the U.S. without a non-immigrant visa."

This is not difficult. His father acquired him a non-immigrant visa from Canada. Then they went to Canada and then crossed into USA through the border. Someone else mentioned because the domincan republic is a member of the common wealth of nations, and he had Canadian Visa, he was not required to acquire american visa to enter usa. The american customs officer saw the canadian visa and probable thought that the guy was planing staying in the us for a few days. that is my take on how he got in here...

 

[czar91]

czar91:
In your situation: my understanding is you were born to a us citizen in a foreign country. You were a us citizen at birth, but your father did not report you and acquire FS-240 for you from the consular in your country at the time your were born. Now you are 18 and you want to acquire citizeship through your father. You can not just come to the US and claim citizenship through your father. You father needs to initiate a petition. He must first file I-130.

As Jackolantern said: I haven't lost my claim to citizenship through my father, what I have lost is the chance to make the process easier. Basically right now since I was born out-of-wedlock in a foreign country and my father never declared me at the consulate here plus I'm already over 18, the process is more difficult. Yes, I can still apply for the green card as an Immediate Relative but I still have enough time to do that since I just turned 18. But since I still have the claim for derivative citizenship since at the time of birth my father was a U.S. Citizen, he meets the residence requirements, I will try claiming my citizenship through the Consulate. I'll do that process as soon as I can and will post it here whatever comes out of it.

 

[sunny808]

This is from the U.S. passport application:

If You Claim Citizenship Through Birth Abroad To One U.S. Citizen Parent: Submit a Consular Report of Birth (Form FS–240), Certification of Birth (Form DS–1350 or FS–545), or your foreign birth certificate, proof of citizenship of your parent, your parents’ marriage certificate, and an affidavit showing all of your U.S. citizen parent’s periods and places of residence/physical presence in the United States and abroad before your birth.

First of all, not ALL children born abroad to a United States citizen can reap the benefit of derivation of citizenship- one of the requirements is that, depending on the year of birth, the US citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States during certain length of time prior to birth.

Second- As clearly stated in the US passport application, a CRBA is NOT the ONLY way of proving citizenship in order to obtain a U.S. passport. (see above, the emphasis of "or" is not mine and is on the passport application). Hence, one can establish a claim to US citizenship at your local post office so long as you provide the above documentation and satisfy any further requests for evidence from the State Dept.

Third- Citizenship at the time of birth need not be established before a child turns 18.

Fourth- There is no law barring any person from establishing citizenship even if that person entered without inspection. The State Department has jurisdiction to adjudicate issues of citizenship- whether done in an embassy or through your local State Department district office or by Hillary Clinton.

 

[faysal]

As Jackolantern said: I haven't lost my claim to citizenship through my father, what I have lost is the chance to make the process easier. Basically right now since I was born out-of-wedlock in a foreign country and my father never declared me at the consulate here plus I'm already over 18, the process is more difficult. Yes, I can still apply for the green card as an Immediate Relative but I still have enough time to do that since I just turned 18. But since I still have the claim for derivative citizenship since at the time of birth my father was a U.S. Citizen, he meets the residence requirements, I will try claiming my citizenship through the Consulate. I'll do that process as soon as I can and will post it here whatever comes out of it.

Update us what happens...I think it is ganna be easy with beruacratic proccess....good luck

 

[faysal]

It is true that the state department has jurisdiction over these issues, but remember that the state department runs its business through embassies and consular; not the post offices.....the consular offices have the experience to deal with foreign birth certificates and passports....We will see what happens

 

[sunny808]

It is true that the state department has jurisdiction over these issues, but remember that the state department runs its business through embassies and consular; not the post offices.....the consular offices have the experience to deal with foreign birth certificates and passports....We will see what happens

what about the 17 regional passport agencies who adjudicate claims to citizenship via passport applications on a daily [okay, on a regular] basis?

 

[locod64]

hello
im back again
i dont like how people make it seem my dad brought me in with illegal intension.
first of all i still remember the day we came in, it was my father, older brother (usa citizen at the time), and me.
since i didnt have a usa visa or passport, they brought us to a room where they check every document my dad had on me. they matched my birth certificated his birth certificate, passport, and a million other things. they also checked all my luggage ect. my dad told him he was going to apply and fixed things once i was inside the USA, the officer agree and we were allowed to cross into buffalo new york. so plz people dont thing everyone that comes to the us and has no proof of legal statue snicks in. I do know the officers did let us in with no problem!!!!!
anyways i already applied for the usa passport and it shows its being process. thank you everyone that helped guide me into obtaining proof of citizenship.
also czar91 even though we did the blood test they didn't asked for it. they only wanted an affidavit of my dad showing he was here for 5 years before my birth and his naturalization papers.

 

[Huracan]

Hi locod64,

Good luck with your passport application. I hope everything works well. Please, for other people who hijacked this thread for their own cases, please create separate threads. It is becoming very difficult to follow this thread with all the extra cases and confusions. locod64 I hope you'll find some time to update us if you finally get your passport and everything works alright. You might also consider applying for N-600 to have extra proof after you get your passport.

 

[locod64]

more updates,
received a letter today asking for my father's marriage certificate to my mother. He doesn't have one since they were never marry. any advice? I will contact the passport customer support and see what I can do. there is a misunderstanding somewhere

 

[Jackolantern]

more updates,
received a letter today asking for my father's marriage certificate to my mother. He doesn't have one since they were never marry. any advice? I will contact the passport customer support and see what I can do. there is a misunderstanding somewhere

Apparently they have some doubt about whether he is your father. Did he submit the legal custody papers with the application?

 

[locod64]

yeah, he did and we spoke to them. after figuring out and talking with a staff at a regional agency (boston) they told us that the letter was a computer made error. my dad also asked about the progress and told them he wanted me to go with him to DR next week. blaw blaw so they schedule and appointment with me on monday so that i can go pick my passport up at our regional agency office. im still in shock. well see what happens next monday.
either way thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jackolantern]

Sounds good, please keep us updated on what happens next week!

 

[Huracan]

Good luck, it seems like good news.

 

[faysal]

yeah, he did and we spoke to them. after figuring out and talking with a staff at a regional agency (boston) they told us that the letter was a computer made error. my dad also asked about the progress and told them he wanted me to go with him to DR next week. blaw blaw so they schedule and appointment with me on monday so that i can go pick my passport up at our regional agency office. im still in shock. well see what happens next monday.
either way thanks for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Locod64: congrajulations....It seems you are making progress.......

Even though I don't wanna seem synical still I do have some concerns... for example,why do they want you to go there instead of mailing it to your home address. In my opinion, there is a huge bureaucratic missing in your case...,but will see
what happens...