american citizen came to america the visa waiver program with a new zealand passport

J

jtrabert

New Member
hi there. i have a serious urgent problem with my 2 year old son. he was born in new zealand - his parents (me and his father) are US citizens, so he is entitiled to US citizenship. we never reported his birth abroad. we came over to the US with the understanding that he could get a certificate of naturalization by filling out the N-600 form while he was in the united states. we were lead to belive that this was in lieu of reporting his birth abroad. so we brought him over on his new zealand passport on the visa waiver program thinking that all he needed to do would be to get his certificate of citizenship before it ran out. well, not only have we not gotten it yet (and it runs out in two days, on sunday), but we found out that even if we did get it in time, he would still be considered an overstayer. apparently, you a citizen of what ever country the passport you use to get in on is issued from. so in this case, even though alex is a citizen, in the eyes of the us, he is a new zealander.

i am wondering if someone can please please give me some advice. we can not afford and can not go back to new zealand in 2 days.

our plan is to stay and in january to go back to new zealand to finish closing out our live there to move back to the US indefinitely. when we get there, we are planning on visiting the US embassy in Auckland and filling out his report of birth abroad form. with this in hand, we can apply for a US passport for him.

what i am worried about... will he be denied a passport because he was previously an overstayer? even if he is / was technically a US citizen? also even if he gets a passport, when we get to the port of entry, will they not let him in because he was previously an overstayer?

please help. time is such an issue here. we would appreciate any advice on anything we can do.
 
Wow, this looks like a very complicated and ridiculous situation. I don't know what all your options are, but if you need to leave the country, go to Canada and apply for a passport there at a US consulate. Maybe they'll understand. Otherwise, you could call an immigration lawyer. It's just nuts to think that a US citizen will be considered an overstayer.
 
That sounds rediculus. But it's the law, what can you do about it? Anyways, what you should have done is to get your son his American passport from US embassy when you were in New Zealand and enter US on American passport. I think what you can do now is to go to Canada and apply for a US passport at the US embassy in Canada and then reenter US using the American passport. Hopefully that'll reduce your cost to an affordable level. If you decide to go this way, make sure you gather all the information/documents you need in order to apply for an American passport at US embassy in Canada. Another option is to consult an immigration lawyer and see what your options are. He may suggest the same thing.
 
He is a US citizen. He has the right to stay here all his life. Just apply for his US passport. Ideally try to get a consular certificate of birth for him.

jtrabert said:
please help. time is such an issue here. we would appreciate any advice on anything we can do.
Click to expand...
 
Your son is a USC, nothing can change that, and Immigration can not deport a American citizen. It isn't too late to correct the problem, you don't need to leave the USA to fix this.
You really don't need a lawyer to fix this, just visit your local CIS office with both parents birth certificates. They can advise you further.
 
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I agree with the others that suggested you cross over to Canada........ if thats possible without a visa for Canada with his New Zealand passport.

From the foreign embassy you should be able to obtain the consular report of birth and then a US passport for him.

To me it also does not make sense and somehow should be solved in the US.
 
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