Traveling to the United States while citizenship is in process.

[czar91]

Hello. My concern is as follows:

I am currently on a J-1 visa in the United States and I am returning home soon but just for a couple of weeks and then I will be back in the US. The reason of my trip back home is so that I can start my citizenship application process at the embassy since I meet the requirements for acquiring US Citizenship at birth because I was born to a US citizen father. I want to do it there because its cheaper than applying for a N-600 here in the US.

My question is as follows:

Will I be able to enter the US again on the J-1 visa after I had applied for my citizenship and it being processed?

P.S: the way it works at the embassy is that I will apply for the citizenship and after I submit the documents they schedule an appointment and if im not mistaken that appointment is always like 3-4 months after I have submitted the documents so I know I will have to return back to my home country to attend the appointment.

Thank you for your help! Much appreciated!

 

[Jackolantern]

If you are inside the US and want to claim US citizenship at birth based on your father, you don't need to leave the US to handle it through the US embassy. You can apply for a US passport at a post office in the US, which is cheaper and faster than applying through the embassy.

Your idea of going back to your home country shows that you don't have a good understanding of the process. Do you understand the requirements well enough to be sure that you qualify for US citizenship? Are you aware of the big stack of evidence you will need to provide? Make sure to read this before proceeding: http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html

 

[czar91]

Yes. I am aware of the requirements. and Yes, I have researched the same thing on the passport here and the N-600. First, the N-600 is insanely expensive plus the amount of documents they require are too many while applying for the passport is not as bad. When I go to the passport website I see all the documents that I have to provide them but when I call and explain my situation they don't even know what I am talking about. I have called several times and each time they ask that one of the documents to be submitted be the I-551 stamp on my passport(which is the green card, right?), but as I stated here before, I am on a J-1 visa, I don't even have a green card.

I understand what you're saying of applying here, and believe me I was in that same page, I thought I could do it here but everything points the other way.

The reason of me going back home is because embassies usually know how to handle this type of cases and I do have in my possession every single document they ask for at the embassy right now, plus what I have to pay for is the same as if I was applying for a passport here in the US.

What do you think about that?

 

[czar91]

Oh and not to forget Jackolantern, that same link you just sent me right there, I had the person from the passport agency when I called look through it and I showed that person what my case was but they wouldn't say anything, all they kept asking for was the I-551 stamp.

It's like they don't even know whats on their website.

 

[desp1234]

Hmmm... Interesting case... That means you were already a citizen even before you entered, which means you wouldn't need a visa, you could just enter using a US passport, but you didn't have it... why did you enter with a non-immigrant visa? Were you not aware of your US father? Did he gain Citizenship through birth or naturalization?

 

[czar91]

desp1234: yes, I knew my father was a US Citizen, he was the one who declared me when I was born, he went to my home country and declared my birth, but he did not declare my birth at the embassy, that's why Im doing this now and that's why I entered on a non-immigrant visa. He gained citizenship through naturalization way before I was born like 10 years, and prior to that he lived several years on a green card.

 

[Jackolantern]

Yes. I am aware of the requirements. and Yes, I have researched the same thing on the passport here and the N-600. First, the N-600 is insanely expensive plus the amount of documents they require are too many while applying for the passport is not as bad.

Well you indeed are misunderstanding it. If you apply for a US passport without first having an N-600 or some other kind of certificate proving your citizenship, you will have to provide the same big stack of documents for the passport application as required for the N-600. That is true whether you apply for it inside or outside the US.

What are the documents that you plan to provide for the passport? What are the documents that you heard/read are required for the N-600 but not required for the passport?

I have called several times and each time they ask that one of the documents to be submitted be the I-551 stamp on my passport(which is the green card, right?), but as I stated here before, I am on a J-1 visa, I don't even have a green card.

You would need to provide the I-551 stamp or green card only if the US citizen parent(s) on which you are basing your citizenship claim had obtained citizenship after your birth, or if for some other reason they did not qualify to transmit citizenship to you at birth. In such a situation, the only way to obtain citizenship through a parent(s) would be to get a green card and live in the US according to the rules of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (or the old rules regarding derivative citizenship, if you're too old for the CCA).

You can get conflicting answers when talking to USCIS or passport agencies about your situation on the phone, because your situation is a bit unusual. In most cases somebody born to a US citizen parent(s) abroad would have obtained a Consular Report of Birth Abroad as an infant. If they didn't obtain that as a child, most would otherwise obtain a US passport before moving to the US, instead of a nonimmigrant visa. So when you call them, they are thinking more about the Child Citizenship Act scenarios because they might have never encountered somebody in your situation before.

The reason of me going back home is because embassies usually know how to handle this type of cases and I do have in my possession every single document they ask for at the embassy right now, plus what I have to pay for is the same as if I was applying for a passport here in the US.

But you also have to pay airfare/seafare, unless you're going to drive to Mexico or Canada.

 

[Jackolantern]

desp1234: yes, I knew my father was a US Citizen, he was the one who declared me when I was born, he went to my home country and declared my birth, but he did not declare my birth at the embassy, that's why Im doing this now and that's why I entered on a non-immigrant visa.

If you knew your father was a US citizen before your birth, why did you apply for a J-1 visa instead of a US passport? Were you misinformed by somebody?

 

[czar91]

Well you indeed are misunderstanding it. If you apply for a US passport without first having an N-600 or some other kind of certificate proving your citizenship, you will have to provide the same big stack of documents for the passport application as required for the N-600.

So you're saying that it is the same big stack of documents whether I apply for the passport or the N-600. As of what I've seen the documents I have to provide for the passport are the same as US Citizens, whats different is my evidence of citizenship, if you go to the website and click on secondary evidence of US citizenship and then scroll down to the bottom it says the following:

Foreign Birth Documents + Parent(s) Citizenship Evidence

If you claim citizenship through birth abroad to U.S. citizen parent(s), but cannot submit a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Certification of Birth, you must submit all of the following:

Your foreign birth certificate (translated to English)
Evidence of citizenship of your U.S. citizen parent
Your parents' marriage certificate
An statement of your U.S. citizen parent detailing all periods and places of residence or physical presence in the United States and abroad before your birth.

Note: I dont have the marriage certificate because I was born out-of-wedlock, but thats when the link you sent me Jackolantern http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html kicks in, because it says what should be done if I was born out of wedlock.

So then, what you're saying is that I should apply for the passport anyway? Just provide the documents they ask for on their website?

 

[czar91]

If you knew your father was a US citizen before your birth, why did you apply for a J-1 visa instead of a US passport? Were you misinformed by somebody?

I applied for a J-1 visa because I am being sponsored by the university I am attending here, plus I didn't have the documents from my father that I have now.

 

[desp1234]

If you knew your father was a US citizen before your birth, why did you apply for a J-1 visa instead of a US passport? Were you misinformed by somebody?

Don't they ask/check if you have any relatives in the US whenever you apply for a visa? On one hand, its a huge immigration fraud (immigrant intent?), but its totally irrelevant because you are a USC who decided to enter his country on a nonimmigrant visa... such a weird situation... So the question is whether or not a USC can possibly be responsible for defrauding the DHS in such way... I don't think there is a law for that...

 

[czar91]

Don't they ask/check if you have any relatives in the US whenever you apply for a visa? On one hand, its a huge immigration fraud (immigrant intent?), but its totally irrelevant because you are a USC who decided to enter his country on a nonimmigrant visa... such a weird situation... So the question is whether or not a USC can possibly be responsible for defrauding the DHS in such way... I don't think there is a law for that...

No they did not ask me that. I am guessing they already knew this because I have entered the United States since very young on tourist visas.

 

[desp1234]

I applied for a J-1 visa because I am being sponsored by the university I am attending here, plus I didn't have the documents from my father that I have now.

You don't need a visa to work/live in this country, the process of getting J-1 is relatively expensive, way more expensive than getting a passport thats for sure... Do you wanna live in the US permanently now? What about the University?

 

[czar91]

You don't need a visa to work/live in this country, the process of getting J-1 is relatively expensive, way more expensive than getting a passport thats for sure... Do you wanna live in the US permanently now? What about the University?

I know, but as I said I didn't have any of the documents that I now have so I couldn't really do anything else but apply for the J-1.
The university is fine, I will still be able to attend it.

 

[Jackolantern]

Whether you apply for a passport inside or outside the US, or apply for the N-600, you have to provide enough evidence of your father living in the US for the required number of years before your birth. It is not necessary to show ALL years of his presence in the US before your birth; you only have to provide enough evidence to satisfy the 5-year or 10-year requirement (depending on when you were born). Plus a few extra years if possible in case they discredit or reduce some of those years ... for example, if you show his school records, they'll typically count just 8 or 9 months per school year, since he could have been abroad in the summer break.

Were you born before or after the November 13, 1986 cutoff? What evidence are you planning to present to prove his years of presence in the US before your birth?

So then, what you're saying is that I should apply for the passport anyway? Just provide the documents they ask for on their website?

Apply for the passport inside the US. If you apply inside and meet the necessary criteria, you'll get the passport. But if you apply outside and they reject it, they'll probably also cancel your J-1 visa and you'll be stuck outside the US.

 

[czar91]

Apply for the passport inside the US. If you apply inside and meet the necessary criteria, you'll get the passport. But if you apply outside and they reject it, they'll probably also cancel your J-1 visa and you'll be stuck outside the US.

I think that's a good point you're making right there. I wouldn't want to be stuck outside but you also say "probably also cancel" so it isn't for sure.

I was born after 1986 and what I have for physical presence are tax records from social security.

 

[Jackolantern]

I think that's a good point you're making right there. I wouldn't want to be stuck outside but you also say "probably also cancel" so it isn't for sure.

It's very close to certain that they'll cancel your J-1 if they reject your passport. Your application for a US passport would show that you're not planning to be a nonimmigrant any more. If they don't cancel your J-1 visa, it would be an administrative oversight.

I was born after 1986 and what I have for physical presence are tax records from social security.

That probably won't be good enough, especially if he had a job that allowed working outside the US. If he was a school bus driver or mechanic he'd have to do the job in the US, but not if he was a lawyer or accountant or management consultant or engineer, which would enable him to do work abroad for a US employer and contribute to Social Security. Do those Social Security records show the employer and type of job?

What about transcripts from college or high school? The required 5 years presence in the US doesn't have to be after he became a citizen or even when he had a green card. The 5 years can be any time in his life before you were born (except that 2 years must be after his 14th birthday).

 

[baikal3]

I think that's a good point you're making right there. I wouldn't want to be stuck outside but you also say "probably also cancel" so it isn't for sure.

I was born after 1986 and what I have for physical presence are tax records from social security.

As Jackolantern says, it is better for you to apply for a U.S. passport inside the U.S.
But you do need to double-check first that you indeed qualify for U.S. citizenship through your father.

1) Were your father and your mother married at the time of your birth? (If not, there is a separate and more restrictive set of rules for deriving citizenship through a U.S. citizen father, see http://imminfo.com/Library/citizenship/nationality_chart_2.html )

Is your father listed on your birth certificate?

2) Assuming that you were born in wedlock after 11/14/1986, you'll need to prove (when applying for a U.S. passport or filing N-600) that prior to your birth your father had been physically present in the U.S. for at least 5 years, at least 2 of which after the age of 14.

Tax/social security records may not be sufficient for that purpose. Is your father still alive? If yes, hopefully he may be able to provide you with additional documents showing his presence in the U.S. prior to your birth.
Such documents may include things like his own school/college transcripts, medical records, employment records, housing rental/mortgage documents, etc.

By the way, why didn't your father apply for a consular report of birth abroad at the time you were born?

 

[czar91]

As Jackolantern says, it is better for you to apply for a U.S. passport inside the U.S.
But you do need to double-check first that you indeed qualify for U.S. citizenship through your father.

1) Were your father and your mother married at the time of your birth? (If not, there is a separate and more restrictive set of rules for deriving citizenship through a U.S. citizen father, see http://imminfo.com/Library/citizenship/nationality_chart_2.html )

Is your father listed on your birth certificate?

That's what confuses me right there with that link you sent. It talks about father legitimation if a child was born out of wedlock but it only talks about children that are under the age of 18. but what if Im over 18? what happens then? and yes my father is listed on my birth certificate.

 

[baikal3]

That's what confuses me right there with that link you sent. It talks about father legitimation if a child was born out of wedlock but it only talks about children that are under the age of 18. but what if Im over 18? what happens then? and yes my father is listed on my birth certificate.

The link I gave you only deals with the cases where a child was board abroad out-of-wedlock to a U.S. citizen father.

Does that apply to you? Namely, were your parents married at the time you were born? If yes, then you don't have to worry about legitimation issues, etc.

For children born in-wedlock abroad to a U.S. citizen parent the rules for deriving citizenship are explained at:
http://imminfo.com/Library/citizenship/nationality_chart_1.html