Proof of Citizenship

J

Joao Guedes

New Member
Hello guys,
I've got a problem and I'm hoping you guys can help me.
I was born in Brazil and moved to the United States in 2007 at the age of 12, with my mother (American Citizen) and my two brothers. He were initially on tourist visas but we applied for a green card as soon as we got there. Everything went okay and we got out green cards. In 2010 we moved back to Brazil and have been living here ever since. I am now 22 and my youngest brother is 17.
We were planning on moving back to the U.S. and have been looking into the different possibilities. After consulting with an immigration attorney, we were told that we qualified for citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 section 320, since we met all the requirements. We were told to go to the local American consulate in Brazil and try to apply for passports. We tried, however, they would not give it to us because we did not actually have proof of citizenship, although as far as we know, we ARE citizens.
Obviously our green cards cannot be used anymore, for the fact that we have been living outside of the U.S. for six years.
What should we do? Is there a way we can get the passports in the consulate without the certificate of citizenship? Is there a way of getting the certificate from abroad?

Hope you guys can help me. Thanks for the attention.

Joao
 
Applying for a US passport at the US consulate is the correct thing to do. It does not make sense that they would deny it. You DO have proof of citizenship -- your proof of citizenship is your green card from when you were in the US + proof of your mother's citizenship at the time when you were in the US + proof you were living with your mother in the US at the time. That is one of the accepted forms of proof of citizenship for applying for a US passport. They should not be asking for anything else. Maybe you didn't explain the situation correctly, or you didn't present all the documents, or the staff member was confused. You should try again with all the documents ready.
 
They wouldn't even look at the documents we took. My little brother still has his green card, however, I have lost my card. I still have my employment authorization card, my "limited learner permit" and I have gotten a copy of my approved i-485 through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and my Brazilian passport is stamped with the i555 stamp. I also have all my school records and my mother's tax return, in much I'm listed as a dependent. The people at the consulate wouldn't even hear what we had to say and had a comeback for every argument we had.
 
Maybe go to a different consulate? Ask to see a supervisor? Point out the part of the DS-11 form (passport application) about proof for if you claim citizenship through the naturalization of a parent?

I mean, you could apply for a Certificate of Citizenship with N-600. But that takes many months to process, costs several hundred dollars, and there is no reason you should be forced to apply for this as you clearly already have all the documents you need to apply for a US passport.
 
Thank you very much. My attorney has said exactly that. He will be contacting the consulate and will try to change their minds. Maybe it is best to try a different embassy.

One last question. Could I apply for a Certificate of Citizenshop with the N-600 even though I'm not currently living in the United States?
 
My story is similar and I'm now 34. My bio-father is a U.S. Citizen. Yes you can apply for the N -600 from abroad . I hired an immigration attorney in the US to do my filing but you can also do it yourself. Make sure you have EVERY suporting document translated and Apostillado(word in Spanish). Keep a copy of each document as well.
My N-600 was sent just this week for approval to USCIS in Phoenix,AZ.
 
I have dealt with the same issue with my Consulate and Embassy. First my Consulate told me to apply for an I-131 which is totally irrelevant and absurd since I already have a green card. Then when I contacted the Embassy representatives, they were aware of the Child Citizenship Act; however, they did not even accept my application due to the fact that I only obtained my green card one month prior to my 18th birthday (they said that it had to be at least 6 months before). When I traveled to the US this year ( I had to travel to the US every year to keep my green card), I applied for an expedited US passport, explained them my experience at my home country and they told me that the representatives at the Consulate and Embassy were all misinformed and that they were so sorry that I had to suffer because of their lack of knowledge. Anyway, I was able to obtain my passport in ONE day at the agency (since I had proof of international travel within 2 weeks)!
I am happy that this issue is finally resolved but also furious that I had to spend all that money to travel back and forth just to obtain something that I could have easily obtained in my home country. I hope you do not have to go through the same process I did. Just keep trying and good luck! Let us know how it went!
 
Joao Guedes said:
Hello guys,
I've got a problem and I'm hoping you guys can help me.
I was born in Brazil and moved to the United States in 2007 at the age of 12, with my mother (American Citizen) and my two brothers. He were initially on tourist visas but we applied for a green card as soon as we got there. Everything went okay and we got out green cards. In 2010 we moved back to Brazil and have been living here ever since. I am now 22 and my youngest brother is 17.
We were planning on moving back to the U.S. and have been looking into the different possibilities. After consulting with an immigration attorney, we were told that we qualified for citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 section 320, since we met all the requirements. We were told to go to the local American consulate in Brazil and try to apply for passports. We tried, however, they would not give it to us because we did not actually have proof of citizenship, although as far as we know, we ARE citizens.
Obviously our green cards cannot be used anymore, for the fact that we have been living outside of the U.S. for six years.
What should we do? Is there a way we can get the passports in the consulate without the certificate of citizenship? Is there a way of getting the certificate from abroad?

Hope you guys can help me. Thanks for the attention.

Joao
Click to expand...

I have dealt with the same issue with my Consulate and Embassy. First my Consulate told me to apply for an I-131 which is totally irrelevant and absurd since I already have a green card. Then when I contacted the Embassy representatives, they were aware of the Child Citizenship Act; however, they did not even accept my application due to the fact that I only obtained my green card one month prior to my 18th birthday (they said that it had to be at least 6 months before). When I traveled to the US this year ( I had to travel to the US every year to keep my green card), I applied for an expedited US passport, explained them my experience at my home country and they told me that the representatives at the Consulate and Embassy were all misinformed and that they were so sorry that I had to suffer because of their lack of knowledge. Anyway, I was able to obtain my passport in ONE day at the agency (since I had proof of international travel within 2 weeks)!
I am happy that this issue is finally resolved but also furious that I had to spend all that money to travel back and forth just to obtain something that I could have easily obtained in my home country. I hope you do not have to go through the same process I did. Just keep trying and good luck! Let us know how it went!
 
ezgiboo said:
I have dealt with the same issue with my Consulate and Embassy. First my Consulate told me to apply for an I-131 which is totally irrelevant and absurd since I already have a green card. Then when I contacted the Embassy representatives, they were aware of the Child Citizenship Act; however, they did not even accept my application due to the fact that I only obtained my green card one month prior to my 18th birthday (they said that it had to be at least 6 months before). When I traveled to the US this year ( I had to travel to the US every year to keep my green card), I applied for an expedited US passport, explained them my experience at my home country and they told me that the representatives at the Consulate and Embassy were all misinformed and that they were so sorry that I had to suffer because of their lack of knowledge. Anyway, I was able to obtain my passport in ONE day at the agency (since I had proof of international travel within 2 weeks)!
I am happy that this issue is finally resolved but also furious that I had to spend all that money to travel back and forth just to obtain something that I could have easily obtained in my home country. I hope you do not have to go through the same process I did. Just keep trying and good luck! Let us know how it went!
Click to expand...

Congratulations. Now Uncle Sam will chase you down forever unless you pay him taxes :)
 
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