Am I considered as a American Citizen?

S

sangmicael2205

New Member
Hi I am a 14 year old child. I am just wondering am I considered as a American Citizen since my mother is a US citizen and lives in the US for 9 - 10 years (by neutralize).? I was born in China and I got raised in the Nederlandse Antilles. In 2003 I was on a vacation with my family except with my mother I was with my step - mother to the US. Later on now I have moved to the US and lived with my real mother and I have applied for green card. Am I considered as a American Citizen.? And by the way I have received my green card already. Right now I am just wanting to know can I applied for American Citizenship and can I get my US passport? If it's ok please leave a reply with steps I should do to get my American Citizenship and passport.
P.S : If I am considered as a American Citizen how long will I get my US passport in my mail if I applied for it.?
Many thanks,
Micael
 
sangmicael2205 said:
Hi I am a 14 year old child. I am just wondering am I considered as a American Citizen since my mother is a US citizen and lives in the US for 9 - 10 years (by neutralize).? I was born in China and I got raised in the Nederlandse Antilles. In 2003 I was on a vacation with my family except with my mother I was with my step - mother to the US. Later on now I have moved to the US and lived with my real mother and I have applied for green card. Am I considered as a American Citizen.? And by the way I have received my green card already. Right now I am just wanting to know can I applied for American Citizenship and can I get my US passport? If it's ok please leave a reply with steps I should do to get my American Citizenship and passport.
P.S : If I am considered as a American Citizen how long will I get my US passport in my mail if I applied for it.?
Many thanks,
Micael
Click to expand...
You cannot apply for passport as you are only 14. I understand you are living with your real mother ( a USA Citizen) in USA. If she is your legal custodian, she can apply for your USA passport. Immediately after receiving your US PP, ask your mother to file N-600 for issue of naturalization certificate for you. Even though it is not mandatory, it is advisable to have NC.
 
sangmicael2205 said:
Sorry for this but can my mother file the N-600 form first then apply for a US Passport next?
Thanks for the reply.! :)
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My understanding is as follows:

Your naturalized parent can apply for an US passport for you, independent of the N-600 application, with an overseas birth certificate, evincing you are the natural born child of your parent, and his/her naturalization certificate.

Simultaneously, independent of the passport application, your naturalized parent can submit the N-600.

By hanging around on this Forum, I have learned that is a very good idea to pursue both these avenues (instead of just one).

But, let's wait for at least a few other people to confirm (or refute) my positions.
 
Either way is fine. However, there are certain things to consider:

- N-600 takes 2-6 months, while the passport generally takes 1-4 weeks.

- For the passport application, they take away key documents like your green card and your mother's naturalization certificate, then they mail back your mom's certificate a few weeks later.

- Photocopies of the documents are used for the N-600, and then the originals are brought to the mini-interview a few months later when the certificate of citizenship is ready. So if you didn't make copies before sending the passport application, you'll be unable to apply for the N-600 until they send back the documents.

- If you complete the N-600 process and have your own citizenship certificate in hand when applying for your passport, you don't need to show a big stack of evidence proving custody and other conditions of the Child Citizenship Act to apply for the passport. The N-600 without will be sufficient proof of citizenship, without all that extra stuff.

However, vice versa is not true; if you get the US passport first, you are still required to submit the big stack of evidence -- your birth certificate, parent's marriage certificate or divorce decree (if any), mother's naturalization certificate, custody papers (if your parents are divorced or separated), school records or other documents showing you are/were living at the same address as your mother when she naturalized or after she naturalized.
 
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You seem to comply with most of the requirements of the child citizenship act of 2000, which are:

* Have at least one American citizen parent by birth or naturalization;
* Be under 18 years of age;
* Live in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent; and
* Be admitted as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence.

You comply with points 1, 2, and 4. For point 3 you seem to comply with the physical custody. However, your biological mother needs also be your legal custodian. I think this is usually proved with divorce papers that show she has custody of you. I don't think full custody is necessary, but I am not 100% sure. If she has some document proving that she has legal custody of you it seems you are all set. Your date of citizenship is the moment you met all the 4 requirements, which it seems like it was when you got your Green Card approved.

As pointed, you can apply simultaneously for US passport and N-600. Lookup N-600 in Google and you'll get the page in USCIS that has the form. Likewise you can go to http://travel.state.gov to look for passport forms, or go to a US post office. If you can wait for the passport you can do the N-600 first, which can be done with photocopies of most documents as has been pointed. Then you can use the certificate of citizenship to apply for the passport.
 
sangmicael2205 said:
Hi I am a 14 year old child. I am just wondering am I considered as a American Citizen since my mother is a US citizen and lives in the US for 9 - 10 years (by neutralize).? I was born in China and I got raised in the Nederlandse Antilles. In 2003 I was on a vacation with my family except with my mother I was with my step - mother to the US. Later on now I have moved to the US and lived with my real mother and I have applied for green card. Am I considered as a American Citizen.? And by the way I have received my green card already. Right now I am just wanting to know can I applied for American Citizenship and can I get my US passport? If it's ok please leave a reply with steps I should do to get my American Citizenship and passport.
P.S : If I am considered as a American Citizen how long will I get my US passport in my mail if I applied for it.?
Many thanks,
Micael
Click to expand...

You mentioned something about your step-mother, so I take it that your parents are now divorced, correct?
If yes, what were the custody arrangements regarding you in the divorce decree? Was you mother granted sole custody of you? Joint custody? Or something else?
Also, were your parents married at the time you were born?
To figure out if you qualify for derived citizenship through your mother you need to provide to us these additional details.
 
Thank you for all your positive replys.! These information will help me a lot.! But I'm not going to apply for my citizenship yet because I have to travel in the next month to NYC with my Father without my Mother.
Thank you guys for all the positive posts.! Really appreciate it.! Cheers.!
 
sangmicael2205 said:
Thank you for all your positive replys.! These information will help me a lot.! But I'm not going to apply for my citizenship yet because I have to travel in the next month to NYC with my Father without my Mother.
Thank you guys for all the positive posts.! Really appreciate it.! Cheers.!
Click to expand...

Before you ask your mother to file N-600 or apply for a U.S. passport for you, you need to make sure that you actually do qualify for derived citizenship through your mother. Your posts above do not provide sufficient information for making such a determination. In particular, this depends on the legal custody arrangements regarding you after your parents' divorce (since it appears from your posts that your parents are divorced).
 
As pointed. It would seem all hangs on custody issues, assuming there was a divorce and the father is not deceased. I believe joint custody is good enough to qualify, no need for full custody, but I could be wrong. Does someone have a pointer about this? However, I think a court document detailing the custody arrangement would be necessary in any case.
 
Children born in the US are citizens by birth, but children born of US citizen parents outside US can also claim a citizenship certificate through their parents’ status by filing Form N 600.

A child who is:

Born to a U.S. citizen who did not live in (or come to) the United States for therequired period of time prior to the child's birth, or

Born to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent or two alien parents who naturalize after the child's birth.

As per the Child Citizenship Act, persons who were 18 years or older on February 27, 2001 are not qualified for citizenship. Someone who was over the age of 18 as on February 27, 2001, may be qualified to apply for a citizenship certificate by filling Form N 600 under the law in effect before the enactment of the CCA. Such persons will have to contact the USCIS for more information.
 
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