Citizenship for minor

R

rquan

New Member
Hi everyone,

This forum is awesome! I am trying to help my aunt for her two minor children. She was born in the United States but moved to Guatemala when she was still a baby. She want to move back to the United States with her children. I have been researching and trying to understand the immigration laws but am at the point of total confusion. What is the best way to acquire US citizenship for her children? Also, does her children have to be legal residents in order to attend elementary and middle school in the US?

Thanks for everyone's insight and help!
 
rquan said:
Hi everyone,

This forum is awesome! I am trying to help my aunt for her two minor children. She was born in the United States but moved to Guatemala when she was still a baby. She want to move back to the United States with her children. I have been researching and trying to understand the immigration laws but am at the point of total confusion. What is the best way to acquire US citizenship for her children? Also, does her children have to be legal residents in order to attend elementary and middle school in the US?

Thanks for everyone's insight and help!
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Does your aunt has a birth certificate from USA? if not I would suggest you start from getting her the birth certificate from appropriate state ... then go to US Embassy in Guatemala and apply for passport for her ... then I guess she can register the birth of her kids as "child born to US Citizen outside the USA" and apply for their passports as well.
 
rquan said:
Hi everyone,

This forum is awesome! I am trying to help my aunt for her two minor children. She was born in the United States but moved to Guatemala when she was still a baby. She want to move back to the United States with her children. I have been researching and trying to understand the immigration laws but am at the point of total confusion. What is the best way to acquire US citizenship for her children? Also, does her children have to be legal residents in order to attend elementary and middle school in the US?

Thanks for everyone's insight and help!
Click to expand...

As for your last question, no you do not have to be a legal resident to attend school.
 
Can you give out more information? How old are the children? At what age did the mother leave the United States? Did she ever come back to live for periods of time? And was the father of the children a United States citizen?
 
Yes, depending on the specific circumstances those children might or not be citizens already. She could try to go to a local US consulate and try to see if they qualify for a consular report of birth abroad. On second thought as she moved back to Guatemala as a baby the children might not be citizens, in which case, and depending on their ages she could apply for a Green Card for them. When they move into the US with your aunt they would become citizens automatically as long as they are still younger than 18. Anyway, ages of kids is important to give you a clearer idea.
 
Thank you for everyone's replies!

The children are ages 11 and 9. My aunt does have a US birth certificate and a US passport but she has never lived in the US aside from the few months when she was born. The dad is not a US citizen and they are no longer together.
 
Based on the link I posted above, it appears the children are not US citizens yet. She would first have to move to the US and file an I-130 for each of them for them to get green cards. Then upon moving to the US as permanent residents to live with her, they would become US citizens.
 
Jackolantern said:
Based on the link I posted above, it appears the children are not US citizens yet. She would first have to move to the US and file an I-130 for each of them for them to get green cards. Then upon moving to the US as permanent residents to live with her, they would become US citizens.
Click to expand...

Basically what Jackolantern said. The aunt would have to come to the U.S. and file I-130 for each of the children for them to get green cards. After I-130s are approved, the children would have to go through consular processing and get immigrant visas. If they get immigrant visas and enter the U.S. before their 18th birthdays, they will automatically become U.S. citizens then.
 
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