hi, thanks for the info, I read this on the USCIS website, and I had understood i can just file a N600 for my son, so I have to immigrate him first?
Biological or Adopted Children Residing Outside the United States
Biological or adopted children who regularly reside outside of the United States may qualify for naturalization under section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), as amended by the Child Citizenship Act (CCA). In general, to be eligible for citizenship under section 322 of the INA, a child must meet the following requirements:
At least one parent is a U.S. citizen or, if deceased, the parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of death.
The U.S. citizen parent or his or her U.S. citizen parent has (or at the time of death had) been physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for at least 5 years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of 14.
The child is under the age of 18 years.
The child is residing outside of the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent (or, if the citizen parent is deceased, an individual who does not object to the application).
The child is temporarily present in the United States after having entered lawfully and is maintaining lawful status in the United States.
An adopted child may be eligible for naturalization under section 322 of the INA if the child satisfies the requirements applicable to adopted children under sections 101(b)(1)(E), (F) or (G) of the INA.
To qualify as a “child” for purposes of this section, the person must be unmarried. Also, a person who was born out of wedlock (meaning that the parents were not married at the time of the person’s birth), must be “legitimated” while under the age of 16 and while in the legal custody of the legitimating parent. See section 101(c)(1) of the INA. Finally, a stepchild who has not been adopted does not qualify as a child under this section.
An application on behalf of an eligible child must be filed on Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate under section 322 of the INA. See the Citizenship and Naturalization Based Forms for more information. The Form N-600K must be filed on behalf of the child by the U.S. citizen parent. If the U.S. citizen parent of the child has died, a U.S. citizen grandparent or U.S. citizen legal guardian may apply on behalf of the child within 5 years of the parent's death.
To obtain citizenship under section 322 of the INA, the application must be filed, approved, and the child must take the oath of allegiance, if required to do so, before the child reaches age 18.
Note: For children of some members of the military who are overseas on active duty, section 322(d) of the INA waives the requirement that the child be temporarily present in the United States and provides that any period of residence overseas on active duty qualifies as residence in the United States. For more information on children of military members, see the “Information for Members of the Military and Their Families” link to the right.
After naturalization, a child can obtain a U.S. passport if so desired. For more information on applying for a passport, visit the Department of State, Apply for a U.S. Passport webpage.