Child Citizenship Act and Green Card (I-551 Stamp)

[BritishGuy]

A little confused. My almost 2 year old daughter has been approved for her Green Card (received her immigrant visa). We'll be travelling to the US together in February 2012.

Now, I would like to get her a US Passport the day after we enter the US so that I can put the whole 'Green Card' process to rest and have her obtain a US Passport. When I go to the travel.gov website for how to apply for a US Passport for a Minor, one of the criteria is that she has to prove her US Citizenship. Errrr...... how does she do that when she technically isn't a US Citizen until she either gets a Naturalization certificate or gets a US Passport. Reminds me of the Chicken/Egg scenario. How do I go and apply for her US Passport when she has only got an I-551 stamp in her passport. I'm a naturalized US Citizen with a US Passport. My daughter has an official full UK Birth Certificate (does that have to be 'certified' and if so by who??) I'm now wondering what to do.

Also, while we're at it, can we get a same day service type of deal so we can put in the paperwork and collect the passport on the same day for my daughter (who is a first time applicant and a minor).

Also, the US Passport application is asking for a SSN or the application may be denied or delayed without it. Now, in order to get a SSN you need to prove your US Citizenship. How do we do this? Do we get a SSN for her first or do we get her US Passport first and how??

Thanks.

 

[BigJoe5]

A little confused. My almost 2 year old daughter has been approved for her Green Card (received her immigrant visa). We'll be travelling to the US together in February 2012.

Now, I would like to get her a US Passport the day after we enter the US so that I can put the whole 'Green Card' process to rest and have her obtain a US Passport. When I go to the travel.gov website for how to apply for a US Passport for a Minor, one of the criteria is that she has to prove her US Citizenship. Errrr...... how does she do that when she technically isn't a US Citizen until she either gets a Naturalization certificate or gets a US Passport. Reminds me of the Chicken/Egg scenario. How do I go and apply for her US Passport when she has only got an I-551 stamp in her passport. I'm a naturalized US Citizen with a US Passport. My daughter has an official full UK Birth Certificate (does that have to be 'certified' and if so by who??) I'm now wondering what to do.

Also, while we're at it, can we get a same day service type of deal so we can put in the paperwork and collect the passport on the same day for my daughter (who is a first time applicant and a minor).

Also, the US Passport application is asking for a SSN or the application may be denied or delayed without it. Now, in order to get a SSN you need to prove your US Citizenship. How do we do this? Do we get a SSN for her first or do we get her US Passport first and how??

Thanks.

Well, you need to add a little bit more info in order get correct information.

Were you or the other parent already a USC when she was born? IF yes, she may have been a USC at birth.

Is she a biological or adopted child? It may make a difference. (An adopted orphan category IR-3 or IH-3 is issued a Certificate of Citizenship instead of a greencard).

IF she is reliant on getting LPR (greencard) status in order to get citizenship and is NOT an adopted orphan as indicated above, the validated visa in her foreign passport will be a temporary greencard and sufficient for all purposes for one year. It may be used for passport and N-600 purposes.

The immigrant Visa application allowed for the request for a SSN and card. If that was selected, it will be sent to the U.S. address provided.

An infant or any USC child who lacks a SSN due to recent arrival will not be denied a passport for lack of the SSN.

 

[Jackolantern]

Now, I would like to get her a US Passport the day after we enter the US so that I can put the whole 'Green Card' process to rest and have her obtain a US Passport. When I go to the travel.gov website for how to apply for a US Passport for a Minor, one of the criteria is that she has to prove her US Citizenship. Errrr...... how does she do that when she technically isn't a US Citizen until she either gets a Naturalization certificate or gets a US Passport.

That's not true. She automatically becomes a citizen once she's a permanent resident and the other conditions of the Child Citizenship Act have been satisfied. Just like a child born in the US automatically becomes a citizen on the moment of birth, even if the birth certificate or passport isn't issued until weeks or months later.

However, applying for a passport the next day after she arrives is probably not a good idea. The first problem is the lack of SSN, the other problem is the Child Citizenship Act requires the citizen parent to have both physical and legal custody of the permanent resident child.

The lack of SSN will not prevent issuing of the passport, but it would mean her SSN isn't initially tied to her passport, which could cause some bureaucratic problems later on.

The custody aspect would require you to show that your daughter is actually living with you, and that your wife is also still married to and living with you (otherwise if your wife is not living with you they'd want a legal document showing that you have at least joint custody). They are often lax with this, and may assume that you're living together with custody if both parents and the child show up at the post office or passport agency to apply. However they have become more strict recently, and may demand documentary proof that they're actually living at the same place with you in the US, instead of just taking a short visit to the US before returning overseas. So it makes sense to wait 2-3 months to accumulate some documents with their names and your address on it. If you apply for the N-600 a few months from now, and they're satisfied that your daughter was living with you ever since she arrived in the US as a permanent resident, they will backdate your daughter's citizenship effective date on the certificate to her arrival date (but the passport won't be backdated).

Also, the US Passport application is asking for a SSN or the application may be denied or delayed without it. Now, in order to get a SSN you need to prove your US Citizenship. How do we do this? Do we get a SSN for her first or do we get her US Passport first and how??

Proving US citizenship isn't necessary to get an SSN. SSN's are issued to permanent residents and various other types of legally present noncitizens. You should know that, as you had an SSN before you became a citizen and maybe before you got a green card. The Social Security Card will be automatically issued within a few weeks after her arrival with the immigrant visa, unless otherwise selected on the DS-230 that was submitted to the consulate. And it's possible to find out the SSN before the card arrives by visiting a Social Security office.

 

[Jackolantern]

One note of clarification: Your daughter won't be eligible for a naturalization certificate. She'll be eligible for a certificate of citizenship. Make sure not to confuse the two when applying for her certificate or passport. The naturalization certificate is issued to adults who filed N-400 and completed the entire naturalization process, whereas the CoC is only issued to people who obtained citizenship when they were minors, based on their parent's status and circumstances and actions.

 

[BritishGuy]

Do I have to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship? I mean, I didn't think that was all that important. A passport would have sufficed her rights as a Citizen.

My daughter is our own biological daughter - not adopted. I was not a US Citizen when my daughter was born. Neither was my wife. I only got my citizenship a few months after her birth.

As she was granted an immigration visa about 2 months ago, will the SS office have a SSN for her (by now), or would that be generated once she enters the US?

 

[Jackolantern]

Do I have to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship? I mean, I didn't think that was all that important. A passport would have sufficed her rights as a Citizen.

There is no urgent need to get the CoC. But it is highly advisable to get it before she turns 18. As time passes, the certificate will get more expensive to obtain, and digging up the supporting documents becomes more difficult. See this other thread, particularly post #9: http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?546791

But even if you think the CoC isn't worth it and decide not to get it, at least you should let your daughter know about it when she's a teenager, so she's aware of it and can decide to get it on her own as a young adult if she wants it, while it's still easy enough to get it.

As she was granted an immigration visa about 2 months ago, will the SS office have a SSN for her (by now), or would that be generated once she enters the US?

It's generated only after being admitted into the US with the immigrant visa. The SS card should be delivered 3-4 weeks after arrival in the US, but if you visit an SS office they can usually tell you the number in 1 or 2 weeks after arrival. Of course, this is assuming the SSN was requested on the DS-230 that was submitted to the consulate during the immigrant visa processing. If it wasn't, you'll have to visit the SS office to apply for her SSN.