citizenship for parents in their 60s?

[tedS]

My parents have green cards. Now they are up for citizenship. Can you guys comment on whether they should get it? They are old fashioned people, and my mother is decent in English but not super fluent. Additionally, they do not have their original birth certificates.

Is there any downside to applying, such as having their green cards revoked? They are law abiding people and pay their taxes and my father still works fulltime, mother stays home.

I am just worried if they apply, that the USCIS may find some reason to send them back to their country.

They really want to get the citizenship.

Thanks.

 

[Jackolantern]

I am just worried if they apply, that the USCIS may find some reason to send them back to their country.

If there are no discrepancies in their green card process that would affect their eligibility, and they have not committed a deportable offense (that includes voting!) or violated their status in some other way (e.g. spending too much time outside the US without a reentry permit), they will simply keep their green cards if their citizenship application is unsuccessful.

Is there any downside to applying, such as having their green cards revoked?

There are downsides to becoming a US citizen, such as jury duty (if you don't like jury duty), and having to file US tax returns when no longer living in the US.

 

[tedS]

Thank you for your kind reply.

The biggest concern is the lack of birth certificate. They will apply in Atlanta and it seems from reading the Atlanta thread, that IOs ask for birth certificate. My parents did not have their original BCs when they applied for their GCs. They were initially declined but upon review granted the GC.

Do you think that this lack of BC issue can come up again at the interview for citizenship.

Best regards,

 

[Jackolantern]

The biggest concern is the lack of birth certificate. They will apply in Atlanta and it seems from reading the Atlanta thread, that IOs ask for birth certificate. My parents did not have their original BCs when they applied for their GCs. They were initially declined but upon review granted the GC.

Do you think that this lack of BC issue can come up again at the interview for citizenship.

It is possible, especially if there is a discrepancy with the name or date of birth on any of their documents (e.g. passport DOB doesn't match green card, or green card name doesn't match an old visa in their file). When there is such a discrepancy, they usually look for the birth certificate to resolve it.

Were they ever issued birth certificates? If yes, it may be possible to obtain another one before the interview through their birth country's embassy, or with the help of family members still living in their birth country. If not, they just have to hope it doesn't become a problem, and try to deal with it if it is a problem.

 

[tedS]

Thank you very much for the reply.

They do not have birth certificates at all. For GC, the asked the embassy to issue them BC based on their passports.

However, from others who have gone to Atlanta office for interviews, it seems the IOs are not accepting the embassy-issued BC. This is just another one of those things where I think they try and be jerks about it.

Apparently, they are asking people for affidavits from the districts where they were born.

This is very difficult because in our country, the districts no longer exist from those decades ago when my parents were born. It is close to impossible to request a governmental authority in their country, while they are in the US, for help on this matter.

I think that I will tell my father to try one more time to see if they can obtain some kind of affidavits in lieu of a BC. Short of that it would be a gamble to go in for the interview.

Thanks again!

 

[Jackolantern]

Thank you very much for the reply.

They do not have birth certificates at all. For GC, the asked the embassy to issue them BC based on their passports.

However, from others who have gone to Atlanta office for interviews, it seems the IOs are not accepting the embassy-issued BC. This is just another one of those things where I think they try and be jerks about it.

That's because they know the embassy-issued one isn't based on the hospital records or other files that were directly recorded soon after the birth.

But if it's embassy-assisted and not embassy issued, USCIS will accept it. In those cases, the embassy corresponds with government officials in the birth country to obtain the birth certificate from the appropriate state/city/district, they send it to the embassy, then you pick it up from the embassy or they mail it to you (all for a fee, of course). But if their births were never officially registered, the embassy can't help them to get a birth certificate, neither can anybody else.

They should go ahead and apply, and hope the interviewer doesn't ask for the birth certificate. If the names and dates of birth on all their official documents are consistent, that reduces the chances of being asked for the birth certificate.