Am I a US CITIZEN Already ????

S

solid_traveling

Registered Users (C)
Hi Everyone.

Please do not embaress me, correct me if I am wrong.

I have read that if either of your parents is a citizen (or got naturalized) before you are 18 years old, you automatically become an American Citizen. Is it true ?

I am an LPR at the moment, My dad got naturalized when I was 16 years old (in 1996).

Q1) Am i already an American Citizen without realizing it ?
Q2) If the answer to Q1 is NO, do i have to wait 5 years after becoming an LPR
and file N400 provided that I meet 5 years stay in america and 30 months
30 month physical presence in the country and an active selective services
registration.

thanks guys in advance
 
solid_traveling said:
Hi Everyone.

Please do not embaress me, correct me if I am wrong.

I have read that if either of your parents is a citizen (or got naturalized) before you are 18 years old, you automatically become an American Citizen. Is it true ?

I am an LPR at the moment, My dad got naturalized when I was 16 years old (in 1996).

Q1) Am i already an American Citizen without realizing it ?
Q2) If the answer to Q1 is NO, do i have to wait 5 years after becoming an LPR
and file N400 provided that I meet 5 years stay in america and 30 months
30 month physical presence in the country and an active selective services
registration.

thanks guys in advance
Click to expand...


Yes,you are.cngrats!
 
I am sorry to be the party pooper, it is not that straightforward that you are a citizen. Prior to 2001, both parents had to naturalize to confer citizenship on the child. It seems you turned 18 way before 2001, so it is likely you are not a citizen. Furthermore, it is not clear when you got your Green Card. I think prior to 2001 you had to have a GC before turning 18 and both your parents had to naturalize. I think we would need to know about your mother's family and immigration circumstances to say more, as in some cases there are exceptions in case of single parents.
 
would i be an american citizen already ??

guys, please dont think i would consider anyone to be a party pooper.

:(

unfortunately, my year of birth is 1980, my dad got naturalized in '96 (when I was 16), again its prior to 2001.

my mom is not an LPR or a US Citizen.
I wasnt an LPR in 1996 when my dad got naturalized.

Let me recap

My dad became an LPR in '82
me and mom became LPR in '86 we stayed in America till 1990.
Mom and myself migrated back to our native country and dad stayed behind. we lost our LPR status as we didnt return after 2 years and our re-entry permits expired in '92. My dad got naturalized in '96. and later on he petitioned for me and I got my LPR in 2003. I am eligible to apply at the moment. I happned to read it somewhere about becoming citizens if either your parents are citizen of the country.

It would be great if you guys give me some info about this. It will be greatly appreciated .
 
Thanks for providing all the details. It looks to me like you didn't derive citizenship through your father. This is for several reasons, but I'll just mention the most important one. You didn't have a green card from the time your father naturalized and until after you turned 18. Furthermore, your mother didn't naturalize, which was a requirement before 2001.

Don't worry too much, it seems you are eligible to apply under the 5 year rule for N-400 and naturalizations take about four or five months nowadays. Be careful because I have seen cases where IO thinks the applicant is already a citizen and leaves the applicant in limbo, with N-400 denied and having to apply for N-600 which will probably be denied too. I think in your case it is more straightforward, as it seems you got your GC after you turned 18. Make sure you raise this point at the interview and that the IO is not left thinking that you might already be a citizen.
 
solid_traveling said:
I have read that if either of your parents is a citizen (or got naturalized) before you are 18 years old, you automatically become an American Citizen. Is it true ?
Click to expand...
It is true, but there are several ifs and buts.

I am an LPR at the moment, My dad got naturalized when I was 16 years old (in 1996).

Q1) Am i already an American Citizen without realizing it ?
Q2) If the answer to Q1 is NO, do i have to wait 5 years after becoming an LPR
and file N400 provided that I meet 5 years stay in america and 30 months
30 month physical presence in the country and an active selective services
registration.
Click to expand...
Under the old rules in effect before 2/27/2001, both parents needed to naturalize before your 18th birthday. Exception is if the noncitizen parent died before you turned 18, or if they were legally separated or divorced and the naturalized parent had sole legal custody of you.

From your above description of your situation, you do not qualify for automatic citizenship via your father, but you qualify to apply now on your own.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
my parents are not divorced or seperated, they are a happy couple :).

my mom has lost her LPR status in 1992 when she failed to return to USA before her re-entry permit expired.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top