Am I A US Citizen And Not Know It? Child Citizenship Act Questions.

[coolguy206]

I have been living in the U.S. as a permanent resident alien since 1984 and thought about applying for an american citizenship until I stumbled upon the "Child Citizenship Act Of 2000" where children under 18 automatically derived US citizenship if one parent was a US citizen by birth or naturalized. I realized I was under 18 when that law came into effect in February 27, 2001.

Both my parents raised me.
My father became a US citizen in 1992.
My mother is not a US citizen.
I was under 18 when the Child Citizenship Act came in effect.

I know before the Child Citizenship Act both parents had to be US citizens. The next two questions is where it gets sticky, I was raised by both parents and only my father is a citizen. Does he have to be my sole guardian at the time for me to obtain citizenship? The next question is what confuses me a bit The Child Citizenship Act came effect on February 27, 2001. Does it only work for parents who had their citizenship after that date because my dad got his citizenship in 1992.

Could somebody help me out. Thanks in advance. Good bless

 

[newacct]

If you were a permanent resident, living in the U.S. with a U.S. citizen parent, any time between February 27, 2001 and when you turned 18, then yes, you automatically became a U.S. citizen. One parent is enough; it does not have to be a sole guardian.

 

[coolguy206]

If you were a permanent resident, living in the U.S. with a U.S. citizen parent, any time between February 27, 2001 and when you turned 18, then yes, you automatically became a U.S. citizen. One parent is enough; it does not have to be a sole guardian.

Yes I was a permanent resident living in the U.S. and under 18 at the time. Only catch is I am 30 now. Is it too late or was I Derived US citizenship automatically without knowing?

 

[coolguy206]

Another question if I really did become US citizen without knowing from Child Citizenship Act of 2000 can I just get a passport or do I still need the certificate?

 

[baikal3]

Yes I was a permanent resident living in the U.S. and under 18 at the time. Only catch is I am 30 now. Is it too late or was I Derived US citizenship automatically without knowing?

But were you living with your father (who is the only one of your parents who has U.S. citizenship) in his legal and physical custody, for any period of time between February 27, 2001 and when you turned 18?


If yes, then yes, you did automatically derive U.S. citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act.
In that case the fact that you are 30 years old now does not matter.
You can directly apply for a U.S. passport and/or for a certificate of citizenship.
You are not required to get a certificate of citizenship first (or to get it at all), and can directly apply for a U.S. passport.
However, it is generally considered a good idea to get a certificate of citizenship as well, and better sooner than later.
Unlike a passport, the certificate of citizenship is a non-expiring document proving your U.S. citizenship.
Also, getting a certificate of citizenship ensures that the USCIS and ICE change their records to reflect the fact that you are no longer an LPR but a U.S. citizen.

 

[coolguy206]

Thanks. I am 98% that I am a US citizen then. How much does a certificate cost? Isn't a passport cheaper?

 

[baikal3]

Thanks. I am 98% that I am a US citizen then. How much does a certificate cost? Isn't a passport cheaper?

The current application fee for N-600, application for a certificate of citizenship, is $600 (somebody at the USCIS must have a strange sense sense of humor).
http://www.uscis.gov/n-600

The passport application fee is smaller, $110+$25=$135 for regular processing, and $135+$60=$195 for expedited processing.
See
http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/passports/information/costs.html

Note that for either one of these applications you'll need to collect the relevant documents before you apply:

1) Your GC
2) Your birth certificate
3) Your parents' marriage certificate.
4) Your father's naturalization certificate (or another proof that he became a U.S. citizen in 1992 such as his old U.S. passport issued around that time)
4) If your parents divorced before you turned 18, their divorce certificate and the court order specifying the custody arrangements and showing that your father received either sole or joint custody of you.
5) Proof that at some point between Feb 27, 2001 and your 18th birthday you resided in the U.S. with your father.
Usually your school records from that period (assuming you were in high school at the time) should be sufficient for that purpose.


If you apply for a U.S. passport directly, you'll need to bring the originals and copies of these documents with you to a passport application facility (usually at a post office).

In particular they'll need some original document proving your eligibility for U.S. citizenship, such as your father's actual naturalization certificate or his old passport issued before Feb 27, 2001. They'll take this original document with your application, and then mail it back to you when your passport is approved.


When you apply for a certificate of citizenship, you don't submit any originals, only copies.

 

[coolguy206]

My parents were never legally married but my father is my biological father. I have his last name and he raised me all my life along with my mother. Does this hurt my chances?

 

[baikal3]

My parents were never legally married but my father is my biological father. I have his last name and he raised me all my life along with my mother. Does this hurt my chances?

Yes it does. In fact, it may actually destroy your chances and may mean that you did not derive U.S. citizenship through your father.

See
http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartH-Chapter4.html


Under the Child Citizenship Act, for an out-of-wedlock birth to qualify for derived citizenship though the child's father it's is necessary that the child is officially legitimated by the father before the child's 18th birthday. Legitimation procedures vary from state to state but they generally require an application by both parents to a court, and the court granting legitimation.
You have to check with your parents whether you were indeed legitimated before your 18th birthday. You might have to consult a family law lawyer since, as I said, the state laws on legitimation vary considerably between different states.


Under the law in effect prior to the enactment of the Child Citizenship Act, in order for you to derive citizenship through your father, one of the following had to occur before your 18th birthday:

a) Both parents naturalize;
b) One surviving parent naturalizes if the other parent is deceased;
c) One parent naturalizes who has legal custody of the child if there is a legal separation of the parents; or
d) The child’s mother naturalizes if the child was born out of wedlock and paternity has not been established by legitimation

As far as I can tell, none of these apply to you.

 

[coolguy206]

I live in Washington state and tried googling about its legitimacy law and can't find any info. So u telling me he being my biological father, him raising me, claiming me on tax seasons and me getting free health benefits from his employer as a child might not be enough? If that isn't legitimate enough. Idk what is?

About my parents not being married I was wrong. My parents were married in Cambodia and in that country I don't think they go through all that paperwork like they do in the U.S.

 

[baikal3]

I live in Washington state and tried googling about its legitimacy law and can't find any info. So u telling me me being my biological father, him raising me, claiming me on tax seasons and me getting free health benefits from his employer as a child might not be enough? If that isn't legitimate enough. Idk what is?

As I said, legitimation is a formal process that usually requires an application to a court and that court's order.
Btw, I was not quite correct in my post above: the the Child Citizenship Act, for an out-of-wedlock birth to derive citizenship through a U.S. citizen father, official legitimation must occur by the child's 16th births (not 18th birthday).

See the table
http://www.ilrc.org/files/documents/nats_chart_c_10.pdf
and footnote 35 there.

About my parents not being married I was wrong. My parents were married in Cambodia and in that country I don't think they go through all that paperwork like they do in the U.S.

In that case you'll need to try to get some kind of proof that your parents were indeed married in Cambodia prior to your birth.
You have to talk to your parents and find out exactly what, if any, documentation regarding their marriage they have.
It is possible that the Cambodian embassy in the U.S. might be able to issue some document certifying the fact that they were married.


Since your case already looks fairly complicated, you probably need to talk to an immigration lawyer before applying for either a U.S. passport or a naturalization certificate.

 

[coolguy206]

As I said, legitimation is a formal process that usually requires an application to a court and that court's order.
Btw, I was not quite correct in my post above: the the Child Citizenship Act, for an out-of-wedlock birth to derive citizenship through a U.S. citizen father, official legitimation must occur by the child's 16th births (not 18th birthday).

See the table
http://www.ilrc.org/files/documents/nats_chart_c_10.pdf
and footnote 35 there.




In that case you'll need to try to get some kind of proof that your parents were indeed married in Cambodia prior to your birth.
You have to talk to your parents and find out exactly what, if any, documentation regarding their marriage they have.
It is possible that the Cambodian embassy in the U.S. might be able to issue some document certifying the fact that they were married.


Since your case already looks fairly complicated, you probably need to talk to an immigration lawyer before applying for either a U.S. passport or a naturalization certificate.

I don't think they do marriage paperwork in Cambodia during the 70s. Once someone is married they just throw a big wedding celebration and pronounce you husband and wife. In fact that goes for most asian countries back in the days. My parents were married during the genocide and khmer rouge invasion of Cambodia so I doubt there is any paperwork.

 

[baikal3]

I don't think they do marriage paperwork in Cambodia during the 70s. Once someone is married they just throw a big wedding celebration and pronounce you husband and wife. In fact that goes for most asian countries back in the days. My parents were married during the genocide and khmer rouge invasion of Cambodia so I doubt there is any paperwork.

That may week be true, but that's not going to be enough for the U.S. government if you apply for a U.S. passport or a certificate of citizenship and assert that your parents were married. They will need some documentary proof of your parents' marriage and that it happened before your birth.

As I said, it may be that the Cambodian embassy may be able to provide some kind of a document to that effect.
You also need to check with your parents to find out what, if any, documentation they do have regarding their marriage.

In any case, you'd need to talk to an immigration lawyer about this to find out what kind of documentation regarding your parents' marriage may be acceptable for the purposes of N-600 or a passport application.

It may also be that when your parents were applying for admission to the U.S. when they first came here (which I assume happened in the 1970s or early 1980s), they may have had to provide some documentation regarding their marriage in their visa/asylum/refugee/green card application(s) and that the USCIS already has something in their files regarding that. An immigration lawyer should be able to figure these things out.

 

[coolguy206]

Ok I spoke with my father again and he told me when he entered the U.S. with my mother he listed that he was married. Does that count?

 

[baikal3]

Ok I spoke with my father again and he told me when he entered the U.S. with my mother he listed that he was married. Does that count?

What do you mean "listed that he was married"? Listed where and how?

I don't know for sure but I very much doubt that your father simply saying on some form that he was married to your mother would be sufficient in this case.



Let me repeat it again: if your parents do not have an official marriage certificate or some other official document conforming their marriage and issued in the country where the marriage took place, you really REALLY need to talk to an immigration lawyer before you apply for N-600 or for a U.S. passport.



One specific thing that I would recumbent doing in the meantime is that your father file form G-639 with the USCIS and request a complete copy of his A-file:
http://www.uscis.gov/g-639

His A-file will contain copies of all the documents he has ever provided to the US immigration authorities and it is possible that there are some copies of some documents there that might be used to confirm his marriage.
It is a good idea if your mother does the same and files a G-639 to request a copy of her own A-file.

Other than that, talk to an immigration lawyer and get some competent professional advice.

 

[baikal3]

Note that p. 3 of instructions for N-600 provides some information about what to do if the original documents related to the parents' marriage are unavailable or unobtainable and what kind of secondary evidence of marriage may be acceptable:
http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/form/n-600instr.pdf

Some info on the same topic is also available here:
http://www.immihelp.com/immigration/marriage-certificate.html

E.g. the N-600 instructions mention, as an example of secondary evidence of the parents marriage, providing sworn affidavits by people who can attest that your parents were indeed married in Cambodia. The immihelp.com link above also suggests obtaining a document from an official government authority in the country where the marriage took place (e.g. a document from the embassy of Cambodia in the U.S.) explaining why the marriage records for that period are unavailable or do not exist.

However, since your situation is pretty complicated, I still think that you need to talk to an immigration lawyer about these things and I also do recommend that your parents G-639 forms with the USCIS to get copies of their A-files.

 

[Jackolantern]

If your parents were living together with you between Feb 27, 2001 and your 18th birthday, and you can prove it, your case is not that complicated. However, because your case is not very straightforward either, I would suggest applying for N-600 first because USCIS would have more information on file about your family than the passport people at the Department of State. Also, once your N-600 is approved, passport approval becomes automatic*, whereas if you apply for N-600 after passport approval USCIS would still reevaluate your case from scratch.

Legitimation is not a requirement under the Child Citizenship Act; it is just one of the conditions where they presume custody if there is no evidence to the contrary. Furthermore, these days in most states legitmation is either automatic or only requires one simple act of parental involvement or acknowledgment by the father, such as raising the child for a short time or paying child support.

So if you have a birth certificate with your name on it, and some documentation showing that your parents were living together with each other and with you during the relevant time frame, that should be good enough. I say go ahead and apply for the N-600 without a lawyer, other than maybe a one-time consultation to review your application and supporting evidence before you submit it. Then only if the N-600 is denied, you bring in a lawyer (a different one!) for deeper involvement.

Make sure to include a cover letter explaining how you all immigrated as husband wife and child in 19xx. If you and your mother immigrated as his derivative beneficiaries, that means the INS must have accepted whatever evidence of marriage he presented back then, and it should be on file.


*assuming no legal issues preventing issuing of a passport, such as being on bail awaiting trial for a crime

 

[baikal3]

If your parents were living together with you between Feb 27, 2001 and your 18th birthday, and you can prove it, your case is not that complicated. However, because your case is not very straightforward either, I would suggest applying for N-600 first because USCIS would have more information on file about your family than the passport people at the Department of State. Also, once your N-600 is approved, passport approval becomes automatic, whereas if you apply for N-600 after passport approval USCIS would still reevaluate your case from scratch.


Legitimation is not a requirement under the Child Citizenship Act; it is just one of the conditions where they presume custody if there is no evidence to the contrary.

Legitimation is not explicitly mentioned in the Child Citizenship Act, but under INA section 101(c)(1), in order to satisfy the definition of a "child" (of a father, when born out-of-wedlock) within the meaning of INA, legitimation is required:
See footnote 35 in http://www.ilrc.org/files/documents/nats_chart_c_10.pdf

"The text of INA section 320 as amended by the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 does not mention illegitimacy, but INA section 101(c)(1) excludes illegitimate
children from the definition of “child,” unless legitimated by the father under either the law of the child’s domicile or the law of the father’s domicile."


The USCIS webpage with information about derived citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act also mentions legitimation as a necessary condition when claiming derived citizenship through an out-of-wedlock birth to a father who later became a U.S. citizen.
http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartH-Chapter4.html

"B. Legal and Physical Custody of U.S. Citizen Parent

Legal custody refers to the responsibility for and authority over a child. For purposes of this provision, USCIS presumes that a U.S. citizen parent has legal custody of a child and recognizes that the parent has lawful authority over the child, absent evidence to the contrary, in all of the following scenarios:[5]

A biological child who currently resides with both biological parents who are married to each other, living in marital union, and not separated;

A biological child who currently resides with a surviving biological parent, if the other parent is deceased;

A biological child born out of wedlock who has been legitimated and currently resides with the parent;

An adopted child with a final adoption decree who currently resides with the adoptive U.S. citizen parent;[6]

A child of divorced or legally separated parents where a court of law or other appropriate government entity has awarded primary care, control, and maintenance of the child to a parent under the laws of the state or country of residence."

In an N-600 application the OP will need to specify whether his/her parents were married and if yes, when.

If claiming an in-wedlock birth, the OP would have to provide supporting documentation showing that the parents were indeed married.

If claiming out-of-wedlock birth, the OP will need to provide evidence of legitimation, either through a specific court action or through demonstrating automatic legitimation if that is allowed by the laws of a specific state.

 

[TheRealCanadian]

Silly question, but he's had a GC for 30 years. Why not just file the N-400, unless there's some specific reason why not to, like criminal activity?

 

[baikal3]

Silly question, but he's had a GC for 30 years. Why not just file the N-400, unless there's some specific reason why not to, like criminal activity?

That's certainly an option, but the OP would have to be careful not to be ensnared in a "Catch-22" situation.
If, when reviewing an N-400 application, an IO determines that the applicant already derived citizenship, the IO will deny the N-400 application and tell the OP to file N-600 instead. There have been several cases of this kind reported in this forum.
So if the OP files an N-400 application, he/she would have to be careful to make the case that automatic citizenship has not been derived. That is, the OP would have to claim that the OP's parents were never married, and, if questioned by the IO, claim that the OP was never legitimated by the OP's father. This could be dicey...