My grandfather was a U.S Citizen, can I become a U.S Citizen?

Fishbum

New Member
I was born, raised and live in Canada and currently hold a dual Citizenship with Italy and Canada. My parents are both Italian, born in Italy and immgrated to Canada. Before this, My Grandfarther Immigrated to the U.S in 1918 and served in world war I and was legionar and worked in the use for 10 years, and collected a u.s penssion. Non of his siblings ever tried to apply for U.S citenship. Me being a grand son to my late Grandfarther who was a u.s citenship, does this grant me the option to become a u.s citenship ??? Just like to know what are my options. Any suggestions be greatly appreciated.. thank you.
 
It depends on a number of factors, including when your grandfather obtained citizenship.

See http://immigration.about.com/od/uscitizenship/a/citizparent.htm

Citizenship through grandparents is complicated and I would advise a consultation with a lawyer to explain all the details of your situation (including your grandmother's citizenship and residence, your age, and all other relevant sequences of events) to figure out if you are eligible.
 
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It doesn't sound like the "grandparents" thing is going to work for you. As far as I can tell, section 322 of the 1994 immigration act only applies to foreign-born children of US citizens who do have enough of their own accrued physical presence to qualify for expedited naturalization. Under those circumstances, a qualifying USC grandparent's physical presence may be substituted.

In your situation, neither parent is a USC, so there is no ability to claim to derived citizenship for their child.

http://www.aca.ch/sec322ex.htm
 
It doesn't sound like the "grandparents" thing is going to work for you. As far as I can tell, section 322 of the 1994 immigration act only applies to foreign-born children of US citizens who do have enough of their own accrued physical presence to qualify for expedited naturalization. Under those circumstances, a qualifying USC grandparent's physical presence may be substituted.

In your situation, neither parent is a USC, so there is no ability to claim to derived citizenship for their child.

http://www.aca.ch/sec322ex.htm


Could my father get a u.s citizenship being a child of his late father who was a u.s citizen? If my father then gets a u.s citizenship would this give me the ability to claim derived citizenship???
 
That'd work, however, I think that your Grandparent needs to be alive in order to claim for his son (your dad). I'm not sure how that works when a person has already passed away
 
Could my father get a u.s citizenship being a child of his late father who was a u.s citizen? If my father then gets a u.s citizenship would this give me the ability to claim derived citizenship???

Ah well, there you get into some very interesting convolutions. If your father was born today, the answer would be yes, but unfortunately the same laws were not in existence back then. IIRC back then, both parents needed to be USCs (meeting minimum residency criteria) before derived citizenship could be conferred. The answer will depend on your father's birth date.

You really need to do some thorough research, or consult a qualified professional to get an exact answer.
 
That'd work, however, I think that your Grandparent needs to be alive in order to claim for his son (your dad). I'm not sure how that works when a person has already passed away
Derivative citizenship isn't about one person filing for the other, it's about making a determination of citizenship status that already exists based on the family relationship and other factors. It is a complicated topic, and the OP should not rely on free unprofessional advice for this.
 
Yes, there are easy cases, like the ones under child citizenship act, and then there are complicated cases like the original poster that have many elements that need to be taken into account. I see the chances pretty slim, it has been pointed that the rules of citizenship have changed over the years, so perhaps not even your parent who was the child to your U.S. grandfather could claim U.S. citizenship now, if he/she could then perpaps he/she could apply for your immigration, and a factor would be your age and marriage status. Anyway, you will have to do some more digging on this issue.
 
Thank you for all the information, this is a good starting point now I know there is a slim chance. Now do I go to the u.s consulate office in Vancouver and inquire?? or should I go see my Lawer first and some proffesional help. I guess before this I need to dig up all the information on my grandfather... I know my aunt in Italy still have some u.s pension slips that he was getting.. could I use those? Where do I look up on the net to get information on my grandfathers u.s citenzen ship? Also he was in world war I u.s legenare in the army.... Any suggestions where I would look up information to find that?? My cousin has information on the boat he was on when he immegrated to the u.s. I can look into that... wow.. this is not going to be easy... :eek:
 
The consulate isn't going to be of much help ... US consulates don't make citizenship decisions. You will have to spend hundreds of hours doing your own research, studying the immigration laws (not just current law, but the laws that existed since your grandfather immigrated, and how they have changed since then) and court cases regarding derivative citizenship ....

... Or, collect all the relevant facts that are available to you at this time (when did your grandfather become a citizen and how long did he live in the US after becoming a citizen, when was your father born and where was your grandfather living at the time, when were you born, etc.) and talk to a US immigration lawyer. But don't run around gathering a whole bunch of documents before you see the lawyer and find out which documents actually need to be obtained. Some like your grandfather's pension are likely to be irrelevant. Just discuss the known facts with the lawyer to figure out the ifs and buts applicable to your situation.
 
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Please be aware that an unscrupulous lawyer might string you along making you file applications that he/she might know that don't have a chance of approval.
Yes, one has to be careful of that. Use the lawyer as a consultant, rather than having them process the case end to end. Go there, explain your situation, ask them to figure out if you can get derivative citizenship, and have them show you which specific laws and court cases determine that you can or can't get citizenship (doing all that may require multiple visits to them). Then take that information and go and apply for citizenship yourself (if you are eligible). That way, you don't give them a vested interest in taking on a hopeless case just for the money.
 
Thanks for the advise and tips on the lawyer thing... I will keep them all in mind. Very usefull information.. I know how to get started now... thanks every one! great forum here!
 
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