Please can anyone advise..

M

mally1975

Registered Users (C)
Hi there,

I'm sure you hear this all the time but.... I am looking to emigrate with my husband to the US from the UK where I am a citizen.. My father was a US citizen now deceased and I still have my Aunt, her family (husband, kids), Grandma and Grandpa who are all alive and are citizens of the US.. I have a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design along with years of working in the railway industry.. I'm currently a supervisor in a call centre (boring but true).. I don't know where to start and would appreciate any advice please!!!!
 
You might have a claim to US citizenship based on your father's US citizenship.

But that depends on various facts:

Was he a US citizen when you were born? How many years did he live in the US before you were born? I don't mean the years immediately before you were born, I'm referring to the total years he spent in the US from his birth until your birth.

Was he married when you were born? Were you born before or after November 14, 1986? There are different rules for citizenship through parentage depending on when you were born.
 
Thank you

Jackolantern said:
You might have a claim to US citizenship based on your father's US citizenship.

But that depends on various facts:

Was he a US citizen when you were born? How many years did he live in the US before you were born? I don't mean the years immediately before you were born, I'm referring to the total years he spent in the US from his birth until your birth.

Was he married when you were born? Were you born before or after November 14, 1986? There are different rules for citizenship through parentage depending on when you were born.
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Hello there,
Yes my dad was a US citizen when I was born.. He lived all his life in the US, apart from the 5 years he spent in the UK working.. I was born some 2/3 years into the placement (I don't know the exact details lol).. Yes he married a UK citizen (and they had me, born in the UK).. I was born in December 1975 if that helps you at all.. I never even knew there were different rules depending on when I was born lol.. Thank you for the advice..
 
mally1975 said:
Hello there,
Yes my dad was a US citizen when I was born.. He lived all his life in the US, apart from the 5 years he spent in the UK working.. I was born some 2/3 years into the placement (I don't know the exact details lol).. Yes he married a UK citizen (and they had me, born in the UK).. I was born in December 1975 if that helps you at all.. I never even knew there were different rules depending on when I was born lol.. Thank you for the advice..
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Since you were born in 1975 (i.e. between Dec 24, 1952 and Nov 14, 1986), and only one of your parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, you did not derive U.S. citizenship through your father, and you are not a U.S. citizen.
See
http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-26573/0-0-0-33237.html
 
mally1975 said:
Hi there,

I'm sure you hear this all the time but.... I am looking to emigrate with my husband to the US from the UK where I am a citizen.. My father was a US citizen now deceased and I still have my Aunt, her family (husband, kids), Grandma and Grandpa who are all alive and are citizens of the US.. I have a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Design along with years of working in the railway industry.. I'm currently a supervisor in a call centre (boring but true).. I don't know where to start and would appreciate any advice please!!!!
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As noted in my post above, since you were born in 1975 and only one of your parents (your father) was a U.S. citizen at the time, you did not derive U.S. citizenship through your father.

If your father had been alive now, he would have been able to sponsor you for a family-based green card (even though the wait in the queue for a visa number to become available for the applicants in the F3 category is currently about 10 years, meaning you would have had to wait until around 2022 before being able to immigrate to the U.S., see http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5770.html)
However, since your father is no longer alive and your mother is not a U.S. citizen (and, presumably, you do not have siblings who are U.S. citizens), you are appear not to be eligible for a family-based green card.
Neither your aunt nor your U.S. citizen grandparents can sponsor a green card application for you.

If you were currently under 18 years old and living abroad and your U.S. citizen parent were deceased, a U.S. citizen grandparent might have been able to file an "expedited naturalization" application N-600K for you. However, since you are well over 18 now, that route is also closed.


So, as far as I can tell, unless your spouse is a U.S. citizen or has some immediate relatives or siblings in the U.S. who can sponsor his GC application, the family-based GC option is not available to you.
 
baikal3 said:
Since you were born in 1975 (i.e. between Dec 24, 1952 and Nov 14, 1986), and only one of your parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, you did not derive U.S. citizenship through your father, and you are not a U.S. citizen.
See
http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-26573/0-0-0-33237.html
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You misinterpreted that chart. The "NONE" doesn't mean the child doesn't get US citizenship, it only means it's not necessary to evaluate criteria about the child. For those "NONE" rows, only the criteria in first three columns need to be evaluated.

The link below more clearly spells out the criteria; according to this, mally1975 is a US citizen since birth.
http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html
Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock

A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) of the INA provided the U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child's birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen, is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen, is required for physical presence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.) The U.S. citizen parent must be genetically related to the child to transmit U.S. citizenship.
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Jackolantern said:
You misinterpreted that chart. The "NONE" doesn't mean the child doesn't get US citizenship, it only means it's not necessary to evaluate criteria about the child. For those "NONE" rows, only the criteria in first three columns need to be evaluated.

The link below more clearly spells out the criteria; according to this, mally1975 is a US citizen since birth.
http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html
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Ah, yes, you are correct, that was my bad.
I missed the second line in the Appendix 71-1 table for births between 12/24/52 and 11/14/86, which does provide for derivative citizenship in the case where only one parent is a U.S. citizen, provided that parent satisfies the requisite physical presence requirements prior to the child's birth (physically present in U.S. for 10 years, at least 5 after age 14). It does look like mally1975 did derive U.S. citizenship through her father.
 
Thank you Jackolantern and Baikal3!!

Right.. What a blinking red tape swamp this is!!... So if I can prove my father was on US soil (which is easy enough) for some 25 years prior to my birth - I MAY (possibly) be able to claim US citizenship through family this way, is that right??.. I suppose then after that, it would probably be either the work/visa route.. I didn't really want my family to sponsor me as doesn't that mean they are obligated to look after me financially??.. It's not really fair to them and I might be a burden lol.. Mx
 
mally1975 said:
Right.. What a blinking red tape swamp this is!!... So if I can prove my father was on US soil (which is easy enough) for some 25 years prior to my birth - I MAY (possibly) be able to claim US citizenship through family this way, is that right??.. I suppose then after that, it would probably be either the work/visa route.. I didn't really want my family to sponsor me as doesn't that mean they are obligated to look after me financially??.. It's not really fair to them and I might be a burden lol.. Mx
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You'd need to prove that your father had been physically present in the U.S. for 10 years or longer prior to your birth, with at least five of those years after he turned 14.
Of course, it is difficult to prove that now, but not impossible. If you can get your father's elementary-middle-high-school records and his college records (assuming he went to college in the U.S.), that may be sufficient.
If you do manage to obtain such proof, you can apply for a U.S. passport at a U.S. embassy or consulate in the U.K.
 
mally1975 said:
I never even knew there were different rules depending on when I was born lol..
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It's because when they change the laws from time to time, the new law doesn't apply to those who have already been born. So each person has to look back to which laws were in place at the time they were born.

Right.. What a blinking red tape swamp this is!!... So if I can prove my father was on US soil (which is easy enough) for some 25 years prior to my birth - I MAY (possibly) be able to claim US citizenship through family this way, is that right??
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Yes, if you can convince the embassy that your father lived in the US for the required amount of time (and of course, that he was a US citizen when you were born which should be easy if you have his US birth certificate), your US citizenship WILL be recognized retroactively to your birth.

But it's not easy to convince them in your situation. They are very skeptical of people living outside the US who make first-time claims to US citizenship in their 30s or older. You might need 15 or 20 years of evidence in order to get them to believe the required 10 years. In addition to that, evidence of his parents' US citizenship and them living in the US when he was growing up may also be helpful (although not directly relevant, it improves the credibility of the other evidence). Also get notarized affidavits from his parents stating when and where they raised him.

.. I suppose then after that, it would probably be either the work/visa route.. I didn't really want my family to sponsor me as doesn't that mean they are obligated to look after me financially??.. It's not really fair to them and I might be a burden lol.. Mx
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Although they would theoretically bear some financial responsibility for you, their obligation ends when you become a US citizen or have worked and paid taxes for 10 years in the US (i.e. the minimum to qualify for Social Security), and they wouldn't be held to it unless you fall close to or below the poverty line and sue them for support, or you claim welfare benefits before their obligation ends, and the government tries to recoup the benefits paid to you.

However, that is all moot, because at your age and marital status, to immigrate as family-based you would need a US citizen sibling or parent to sponsor you, which you apparently don't have.
 
Next move for me..

Jackolantern said:
And after moving to the US, apply for a citizenship certificate by filing form N-600.
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Thank you so much for your advice.. I think my next steps are going to be hire an attorney in the UK who specialises in immigration/emigration and ask my aunt and grandmother for help on tracing my father's early life and steps, I think I might just give them all the evidence I have and just see what happens.. I really didn't know that I may already possibly be a US citizen by birth until a few days ago which is why it's a late application - years wise.. My UK mother was always quite guarded about the subject..

You've been so helpful - a very big thank you to you!! :D Difficult to express here but I feel a small step closer than I did.. Now just to make sure I remember absolutely everything!!.. Mx
 
If you have any questions feel free to contact me, pretty much same case was in and just got approved. Tracking down the documents is toughest part.
 
Thank you..

Steve65 said:
If you have any questions feel free to contact me, pretty much same case was in and just got approved. Tracking down the documents is toughest part.
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Thank you for your response - I appreciate absolutely any help I can get.. I'm struggling to find a decent UK lawyer/attorney/notary (whatever!) at the moment!!.. One who is able to authenticate documents and just check over the paperwork for me so I can complete the USCIS N-600 without worrying about it.. Why is it so difficult to move OUT of the UK!! lol.. Mx
 
mally1975 said:
Thank you for your response - I appreciate absolutely any help I can get.. I'm struggling to find a decent UK lawyer/attorney/notary (whatever!) at the moment!!..
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That's because you are looking in the wrong place. You don't need a UK lawyer, you need a U.S. immigration lawyer.
You can find one via an AILA search:
http://www.ailalawyer.com/

AILA-affiliated lawyers are generally more competent and reliable.

Actually, I think AILA does have a few affiliated lawyers in the UK, you could check those out:
http://www.ailalawyer.com/english/S...untry=3&cy=Great Britain&zip=&miles=100&last=

However a U.S.-based lawyer would be more useful since you need an expert on the U.S. nationality law and also since the documents that you need to collect regarding your father's time in the U.S. would need to be extracted from U.S.-based sources as well (e.g. things like your father's school and employment records).
You can communicate with a U.S.-based lawyer by phone, e-mail or video-conferencing (e.g. via Skype).
 
mally1975 said:
Thank you for your response - I appreciate absolutely any help I can get.. I'm struggling to find a decent UK lawyer/attorney/notary (whatever!) at the moment!!.. One who is able to authenticate documents and just check over the paperwork for me so I can complete the USCIS N-600 without worrying about it.. Why is it so difficult to move OUT of the UK!! lol.. Mx
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I hope you're aware you can't pursue the N-600 outside the US. Apply for the US passport first through the consulate, then apply for the N-600 certificate after you've gotten the passport and moved to the US.

While the N-600 is optional, in your case it's highly advisable because without the N-600, in some scenarios (such as a lost/stolen passport) you could find yourself having to dig up the old documents to prove your citizenship all over again. The N-600 also has the advantage of not expiring, so it would be useful if you're in a situation where you need proof of citizenship when your passport has expired.
 
Thank you again..

Jackolantern said:
I hope you're aware you can't pursue the N-600 outside the US. Apply for the US passport first through the consulate, then apply for the N-600 certificate after you've gotten the passport and moved to the US.

While the N-600 is optional, in your case it's highly advisable because without the N-600, in some scenarios (such as a lost/stolen passport) you could find yourself having to dig up the old documents to prove your citizenship all over again. The N-600 also has the advantage of not expiring, so it would be useful if you're in a situation where you need proof of citizenship when your passport has expired.
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Ok.. Surely I would need to prove my case for US citizenship before I can get the US passport??.. I think yours and others earlier advice will be useful - I'm going to hire a lawyer to sort all this out for me.. I really don't want to get this wrong lol.. I wasn't aware of the N-600 rule, it's just been suggested as a possible route to prove my claim..

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction again..
 
mally1975 said:
Ok.. Surely I would need to prove my case for US citizenship before I can get the US passport??..
Click to expand...

No, you are mistaken: in your situation, you don't prove your case for U.S. citizenship before you apply for a U.S. passport, you prove your case for U.S. citizenship when you apply for a passport.

As Jackolantern wrote, you cannot file N-600 from abroad and you are supposed to apply directly for a U.S. passport at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad. You submit the evidence that you are a U.S. citizen together with the passport application. The consular officer adjudicating your passport application evaluates your evidence and, if the evidence is sufficient, the consulate issues you a U.S. passport. That's how it works.
 
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mally1975 said:
Ok.. Surely I would need to prove my case for US citizenship before I can get the US passport??..
Click to expand...

Yes, you always have to prove citizenship when applying for the passport, the difference is how many documents you need as proof.

Since you don't have the N-600 at this time, to prove your citizenship you have to submit a large stack of documents about your father's citizenship, marriage, the years he lived in the US, etc. But after you have an approved N-600, that certificate by itself is your proof of citizenship when applying for your next US passport (or other situations where you need to prove citizenship, such as applying for a US driver's license or a government job that requires citizenship), without having to dig up any documents about your father again.
 
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