Child's Naturalization question

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moline65

Registered Users (C)
I am about to file for my citizenship. My son has a GC like me .

1) I know some people have filed for the child's citizenship along with their own and they said that the child will get the certificate after you get it in a month or so after you get your citizenship. Is this true? Can I apply N600 for my child along with my N400?

2) Does the child need to be taken for identification to get his/her certificate of citizenship?

3) I am planning to send my child to India for studies this June as school start in India at that time. If I file for his citizenship along with me and he gets the certificate of citizenship when he is India. Can I apply for his passport when he is in India?

4) Please advise on issues that I need to consider in this situation.

Thanks in advance for your help.
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No, you can not file for your child's citizenship along with you. You need to become a citizen first.
To inherit citizenship, the child has to be living with you. If you are in US and he is in India, it will not be easy to prove that right?
However, you need not get COC immediately, you can apply for his passport and handle COC on a later date.
There was recently (2-4 months back) someone who flew back to US and applied for kids passport (as the requirements of doing in US were much more simpler). I will see if I can find that thread ... can not remember that person's name.
 
moline65 said:
I am about to file for my citizenship. My son has a GC like me .

1) I know some people have filed for the child's citizenship along with their own and they said that the child will get the certificate after you get it in a month or so after you get your citizenship. Is this true? Can I apply N600 for my child along with my N400?

2) Does the child need to be taken for identification to get his/her certificate of citizenship?

3) I am planning to send my child to India for studies this June as school start in India at that time. If I file for his citizenship along with me and he gets the certificate of citizenship when he is India. Can I apply for his passport when he is in India?

4) Please advise on issues that I need to consider in this situation.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Edit/Delete Message
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As sanjoseaug20 said, you cannot apply for N-400 for yourself and N-600 for the child concurrently. You must wait until you actually become a U.S. citizen before you may file N-600 for the child.

Also, you should remember a couple of things:

1) After N-600 is filed, the child will be required to attend an interview, together with you.

2) In order to derive U.S. citizenship through you, the child must reside with you in the U.S., in your physical and legal custody, in an LPR status, at some point after your naturalization and before turning 18.
If the child moves abroad before you are naturalize, these conditions will not be satisfied and he won't be able to get a U.S. passport or a certificate of citizenship.
 
moline65 said:
3) I am planning to send my child to India for studies this June as school start in India at that time. If I file for his citizenship along with me and he gets the certificate of citizenship when he is India.
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If he is living in India he won't derive citizenship through you. If you want him to derive citizenship, you should delay his move to India until after you've already secured a US passport and/or Certificate of Citizenship for him.
 
A little light reading on the subject....

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/Feb172010_01E2309.pdf N-600 denied because he was living abroad going to school and NOT residing in the U.S. with his naturalized father.

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/Apr022010_02E2309.pdf N-600 denied due to no proof of child living with natz'd parent. (Not a "legal custody" issue but rather a "physical custody" issue).

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/May042010_02E2309.pdf N-600 denied because child was not in legal custody of naturalized father (court awarded custody to mother) remanded to pursue revocation of child's U.S. passport.

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/May172010_02E2309.pdf Sec 322 N-600K filed after age 18.
 
Hi All,
Thanks for the responses. I really appreciate your replies.
Was there a change in rules in the last couple of years? since I heard about this family had filed concurrently for their child alongwith their citizenship and had received the citizenship after the parents. There was no interview required as well. I could be very well be wrong since this is not some one I know directly but heard from someone.
While on the subject, is it a required to file for the child's GC renewal after he/she turns 14. I have read in some forums that it does not matter. Can the child travel on the existing GC after 14 years of age if the GC is still valid?
Another question any recommendations on who can give me the correct legal advice?
Thanks in advance.
 
moline65 said:
Hi All,
Thanks for the responses. I really appreciate your replies.
Was there a change in rules in the last couple of years? since I heard about this family had filed concurrently for their child alongwith their citizenship and had received the citizenship after the parents. There was no interview required as well. I could be very well be wrong since this is not some one I know directly but heard from someone.
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Absolutely not, there was no change in rules and you simply heard something wrong or were given incorrect information.
It was never ever possible to file N-600 for a child before the parent actually became a U.S. citizen.

Also, interview is and has been a fairly standard procedure for quite a number of years, for N-600 application by children who claim derived citizenship through the naturalization of a parent (although USCIS does not appear to schedule interviews for all such cases - perhaps this depends on the practices in different district offices and on how straightforward the case is).
You can search this forum for people's experiences. Here are a sample thread:
http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?228392-N600-Interview-for-my-child
 
moline65 said:
Hi All,
Thanks for the responses. I really appreciate your replies.
Was there a change in rules in the last couple of years? since I heard about this family had filed concurrently for their child alongwith their citizenship and had received the citizenship after the parents. There was no interview required as well. I could be very well be wrong since this is not some one I know directly but heard from someone.
Click to expand...

The situation you heard about probably involved the parents applying for a US passport for themselves and their child(ren) at the same time. It's common for parents to do that after they've completed the naturalization oath. That's not the same thing as applying for citizenship concurrently for themselves and their children.
 
So what are my options

1) Wait for my citizenship to go through and then get passport for my son. Then he can go to India?
2) I see people saying in forum that N600 can be applied later if you have the US passport. I am confused doesnt it require physical stay in US to be able to apply for N600?
3) Can I apply using N600K if he leaves for India after getting the US passport?
 
moline65 said:
So what are my options

1) Wait for my citizenship to go through and then get passport for my son. Then he can go to India?
2) I see people saying in forum that N600 can be applied later if you have the US passport. I am confused doesnt it require physical stay in US to be able to apply for N600?
3) Can I apply using N600K if he leaves for India after getting the US passport?
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1. Yes--BUT he has to comply with the laws of India as a USC
2. Only if he moves back to the U.S. will he be eligible to file an N-600
3. No
 
BigJoe5 said:
A little light reading on the subject....

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/Feb172010_01E2309.pdf N-600 denied because he was living abroad going to school and NOT residing in the U.S. with his naturalized father.

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/Apr022010_02E2309.pdf N-600 denied due to no proof of child living with natz'd parent. (Not a "legal custody" issue but rather a "physical custody" issue).

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/May042010_02E2309.pdf N-600 denied because child was not in legal custody of naturalized father (court awarded custody to mother) remanded to pursue revocation of child's U.S. passport.

http://www.uscis.gov/err/E2 - Appli...ecisions_Issued_in_2010/May172010_02E2309.pdf Sec 322 N-600K filed after age 18.
Click to expand...

Here is another interesting case...
 
moline65 said:
So what are my options

1) Wait for my citizenship to go through and then get passport for my son. Then he can go to India?
2) I see people saying in forum that N600 can be applied later if you have the US passport. I am confused doesnt it require physical stay in US to be able to apply for N600?
3) Can I apply using N600K if he leaves for India after getting the US passport?
Click to expand...

I will put these slightly differently from Joe, taking it easy on the OP. With that bias out of the way ...

#1. Yes. Complying with laws has no relevance to the question.
#2. Read up on the requirements for N600. You can do it later, but make sure the kid leaves after the requirements are satisfied and you have the documentation ... most important is the proof that he/she was living with you at the time of your naturalization. Once you have the proof, he/she can take care of COC on the next visit, which might be next year or a decade later. Passport is good enough proof of citizenship ... there was a huge debate here a few weeks back on whether COC is needed ... and I would advise taking care of COC when you can, but passport is usually good enough.
#3. No
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
I will put these slightly differently from Joe, taking it easy on the OP. With that bias out of the way ...

#1. Yes. Complying with laws has no relevance to the question.
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By "compliance with laws" I think BigJoe was referring to the need to get a visa or PIO/OCI before the son can go to India.

So it's not entirely irrelevant, given that the question was "1. Wait for my citizenship to go through and then get passport for my son. Then he can go to India?" -- he can't just get up and go to India after getting his US passport; he has to complete certain formalities with the Indian government first.
 
sanjoseaug20 said:
#2. Read up on the requirements for N600. You can do it later, but make sure the kid leaves after the requirements are satisfied and you have the documentation ... most important is the proof that he/she was living with you at the time of your naturalization.
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This is not exactly correct. Under the provisions of the Child Citizenship Act, in order to derive citizenship through a naturalized parent, the child has to reside in the U.S. in the physical and legal custody of the parent and in the LPR status, at some point after the parent's naturalization and before the child turns 18 y.o.
So it is not completely necessary for the child to reside with the parent at the time of that parent's naturalization. The child may be abroad at the time (say for school studies), but if he later (but before turning 18) comes back to the U.S., is admitted as an LPR and comes to reside with the parent, in that parent's legal custody, the child will still derive citizenship.

While it is possible to file N-600 later in life (even after the child turns 18), he would still have to prove that the above conditions have been satisfied at some point. As a practical matter, proving that the child resided in the physical custody of a parent may be difficult to do years later. It is easier to prove that before the child turns 18 and while the child actually lives with the parent.
 
In point 1) I know that a US citizen requires Visa to travel to India. So I was not expecting him to travel w/o a Visa.
2) If he is in India when I get my naturalization but he still is a lawful permanent resident. Can I still apply for his passport and then take it to India and get the OCI from there? Or can he come here on the permanent resident card and then travel to India with the passport and Visa.
3) This way he is still technically staying with me isnt it?
 
moline65 said:
2) If he is in India when I get my naturalization but he still is a lawful permanent resident. Can I still apply for his passport and then take it to India and get the OCI from there?
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No. See the posts above for the explanation. If he is in India when you get naturalized, he will NOT become a U.S. citizen at the moment of your naturalization and consequently will not be eligible for a U.S. passport or for N-600.

Or can he come here on the permanent resident card and then travel to India with the passport and Visa.
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The answer to that is: possibly yes, but it'll depend on the circumstances.

If he comes back from India, using his green card, after your naturalization, then he will derive citizenship, but only if he actually resides with you for a period of time. A short visit (a few days or a couple of weeks) may not be sufficient.
In order to derive citizenship, and qualify for a U.S. passport, you may need to show that the child's primary place of residence is with you.
So you may be asked to provide things like school and medical records showing the child living at the same address as you in the U.S.
 
baikal3 said:
So you may be asked to provide things like school and medical records showing the child living at the same address as you in the U.S.
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I bet a small absence no longer than a vacation will not require so much documentation. If the kids is abroad for 6 months, it is an issue. If the kids is away for 2 months, I do not think anyone's going to care. Can they? Yes. Would they? Unlikely.
 
Jackolantern said:
By "compliance with laws" I think BigJoe was referring to the need to get a visa or PIO/OCI before the son can go to India.

So it's not entirely irrelevant, given that the question was "1. Wait for my citizenship to go through and then get passport for my son. Then he can go to India?" -- he can't just get up and go to India after getting his US passport; he has to complete certain formalities with the Indian government first.
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O JackO, I do not usually question your statements. But let's be honest, to take this case to completion (assuming the kid travels before parent N400 is over), either implies following the book and years of pain; or holding your nose and getting the job done. I think everyone knowledgable can see that.
And I am pretty clear BigJoe's 5 links and the comment here came from the same perspective. Not that I have a problem with that perspective. Many a times I take that perspective, but I am not doing it in this thread.
 
baikal3 said:
This is not exactly correct. Under the provisions of the Child Citizenship Act, in order to derive citizenship through a naturalized parent, the child has to reside in the U.S. in the physical and legal custody of the parent and in the LPR status, at some point after the parent's naturalization and before the child turns 18 y.o.
So it is not completely necessary for the child to reside with the parent at the time of that parent's naturalization. The child may be abroad at the time (say for school studies), but if he later (but before turning 18) comes back to the U.S., is admitted as an LPR and comes to reside with the parent, in that parent's legal custody, the child will still derive citizenship.

While it is possible to file N-600 later in life (even after the child turns 18), he would still have to prove that the above conditions have been satisfied at some point. As a practical matter, proving that the child resided in the physical custody of a parent may be difficult to do years later. It is easier to prove that before the child turns 18 and while the child actually lives with the parent.
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Yes, you are correct. The parent has to make sure the child collects all required material at some point of time ... not only or not specifically at the time of naturalization. The best option will be to send the kid abroad after parents N400 and kids passport and visa are taken care of.
 
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