Anxiety and not sure what to do next

bobjesse091

New Member
I have a very unique situation and I sometimes get anxiety thinking about it, and I don't know what to do. Wanted to see what others suggest here, as having issues with my citizenship is really worrying me.

My situation:

I was born in wedlock.
Me, my father and mother migrated to US as LPRs
My parents divorced in USA and they both had shared legal and physical custody of me after the divorce.
My father became a naturalized US citizen while I was under 18 years old.

Now my concern comes into play here.

I mostly spent the summer and holidays at my father's. I was attending school in another foreign country with a relative. My father was involved with my upbringing and I bought a car under his name when I was 17 years old and I was insured under his insurance (with my own name) for years.

Back when I did not know anything about CCA of 2000, I was advised to apply for a passport, as I am already a US citizen.

For my application

I sent my father's naturalization certificate
My green card
My birth certificate to prove my relationship to my father
And the divorce certificate showing that he had shared "legal and physical" custody

I received my passport.

However I then started learning about N600 and denials for people with US passports.

My main concern is am I really a U.S. citizen based on what I described? I know documents can be issued in error (rarely).

I started doing a lot of research and read the FAM document carefully and I ran into this section


"The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody
of the United States citizen parent, pursuant to a lawful admission for
permanent residence;
(a) Children residing with a surviving U.S. citizen natural parent (if the
other parent is deceased) are presumed to be in that parent's legal
and physical custody upon presentation of the deceased parent's death
certificate;
(b) Children whose parents are legally separated must be in the full or
joint custody of the U.S. citizen parent. In the case of joint custody,
physical custody is implied regardless of the actual physical custodial
situation;
"


So based on the section which I have highlighted in bold, it made perfect sense for the passport to be issued as my father had joint legal and physical custody of me, and physical custody is implied regardless of the actual physical custodial situation.


Fast forward to today and I see the FAM document has changed a little bit. For example it now says

8 FAM 301.10-2(F) Residing in the United States
...
b. Determining whether a person is residing/has resided in the United States typically entails analysis of both the character and duration of the stay.
...

8 FAM 301.10-2 Analyzing the Character of the Stay
....
b. In some cases, a stay of a short duration will, because of its character, meet the “is residing in” requirement. For example, a child who attends boarding school abroad but spends time in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent residing in the United States generally would be considered to be residing in the United States for purposes of INA 320. Similarly, a child whose divorced parents have joint custody and who stays with each parent would be considered to reside with both parents and, assuming at least one U.S. citizen parent lives in the United States, the child would meet the “is residing in” requirement by staying with that parent.


From my understanding under the updated FAM, I would still be issued a passport because I was attending boarding school abroad and also my father had shared legal and physical custody of me and I spent summers and some holidays with him.

Am I correct?

Another section in FAM it states

8 FAM 301.10-2(G) "In the Legal and Physical Custody of the U.S. Citizen Parent" under INA 320(a)(3)

.....

c. To determine that an applicant is in the physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent, you must first determine whether the U.S. citizen parent is residing in the United States. You may need to analyze the character of the stay if the U.S. citizen parent maintains a separate residence from the other parent(s). For example, if the U.S. citizen parent has very limited visitation, e.g., a few hours of supervised visitation on specific days, the applicant would not be residing with the U.S. citizen parent; and

d. Absent evidence to the contrary, you may assume that the applicant is residing with the U.S. citizen parent if:

(1) There is a court order granting physical custody;


So in my situation my USC father did not have specific visitation days, but actual shared and physical custody.

So I assume I am still fully within the rules of FAM, am I correct?


Does anyone think that there may be an issue with my citizenship? I am getting anxiety over this from time to time. I can consider applying for naturalization, if there is a possibility of an issue with automatic acquisition of citizenship.

Sorry for the long post, but I really do believe citizenship is one of the most important rights, and I don't want to have any issues with it. Please tell me your thoughts and if you would take any action if in my shoes.
 
N-600 is optional and I think there is no reason for you to waste over $1000 when you already were awarded a US Passport, another proof of proving US Citizenship.
 
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