Citizenship for a child

[JJBBKK]

Hi all,

My friend was just asking me a question which I was not sure about.

He applied for citizenship and passed the test few months ago. He has a 10 yr old daughter and was wondering what is the process for her to get citizenship. I would assume that he had to include her on his application, but does she automatically get citizenship when he gets his or how does it work? can someone please share your experiences. Thanks

 

[Huracan]

We would need to know where that daughter lives and if she has a GC. Basically, if she lives in the physical and legal custody of your friend and she has a GC and she will get citizenship automatically when your friend takes the oath. Then your friend could apply for a passport for her with her GC, birth certificate and your friend's naturalization certificate.

Things get more complicated if child is living abroad and doesn't have a GC, etcetera.

 

[JJBBKK]

Huracan - She lives abroad and she has a GC but she is not in the custody of my friend. Would that make the process different and if so, what would need to be done??? Thank you.

 

[Huracan]

As far as I know all derivative citizenship through naturalized parents require legal custody of the parent that is naturalizing. If the child lives abroad for a long period that might jeopardize the GC itself. If parents can agree on the naturalizing parent obtaining legal custody and the child comes to the US with her GC she would obtain citizenship automatically. However, without legal custody I don't think there is a chance, unless the other parent is deceased, which I assume is not, or hasn't legitimated the child, but that would not be the case as your friend doesn't have custody, so I assume the other parent has custody. Anyway, if both parents decide that the best thing is for the daughter to have US citizenship and can agree on legal custody that would be the fastest and most likely only possible way for the daughter to get US citizenship.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong, or see if there is any other avenue for citizenship for that girl.

 

[JJBBKK]

Thanks Huracan.
Can someone please confirm this or have any other information?

 

[Jackolantern]

Huracan is right. The child needs to be brought to the US, with a still-valid green card, to live in your friend's legal and physical custody until her citizenship documents are obtained. Then she can leave the US again to live abroad if that's what her parents want.

 

[JJBBKK]

Huracan is right. The child needs to be brought to the US, with a still-valid green card, to live in your friend's legal and physical custody until her citizenship documents are obtained. Then she can leave the US again to live abroad if that's what her parents want.

So what if the child lives with her grandparents abroad and just comes to US every 6 months. Would she still be able to obtain citizenship when her father gets his??? From what Huracan and Jackolantern are saying it appears that the father has to have the full custody of the child in order for her to get the citizenship. In this case he does not, so does that mean that she will not be getting citizenship??? Thanks

 

[Huracan]

So, if the daughter is living with grandparents, where is the mother in this situation? It might seem like the mother doesn't care about the daughter anyway, so she might be willing to give joint or full custody. The main point is no legal custody, no citizenship for her. By the way, visits every six months might also go against the other requirement of living/residing in the physical custody of the parent. Here are the conditions for child citizenship act of 2000:

* 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.

Anyway, there is a little bit of gray area, your friend might want to consult a lawyer, or just gather whatever documents he has on custody of that child and try to apply for N-600 or N-600K, or for a passport.

I found this link that talks a bit about the custody issue:

http://www.4immigration.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=743&Itemid=76

http://www.ca1.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/getopn.pl?OPINION=07-2311P.01A

It would seem that joint legal custody would be sufficient. The important thing is to have a court document, not just a verbal agreement to make things easier. The case I provide seems that they got lucky on the interpretation of the law. It seems to depend from State to State, so again, it would be good to have some court document if possible. He might have a case to give derivative citizenship to his daughter, but he needs to document the case. It would be good if the daughter would come to live with the father for a while to establish some physical residence with the father.

 

[Jackolantern]

So what if the child lives with her grandparents abroad and just comes to US every 6 months.

If that is continued, with the once-every-6-months visits to the US involving short stays in the US, her green card itself is in jeopardy. To maintain the card, the child needs to live in the US and visit the grandparents abroad occasionally, not vice versa.

Would she still be able to obtain citizenship when her father gets his??? From what Huracan and Jackolantern are saying it appears that the father has to have the full custody of the child in order for her to get the citizenship. In this case he does not, so does that mean that she will not be getting citizenship??? Thanks

I'm not sure that FULL custody (i.e. no shared custody with the other parent) is required, but the citizen parent having legal custody is a requirement or the child won't get citizenship.

 

[Huracan]

When the daughter comes to the US on those visits (I agree with Jackolantern and I think I mentioned earlier that the GC itself is in jeopardy) does she stay with the father or with other relatives? I'm asking because if the daughter never stays with the father that would be another reason not to derive citizenship.