Citizenship

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drmavi23

Registered Users (C)
Hello,
I have a question regarding applying for citizenship here in the US. Alittle background information.....

I have lived my whole life with a green card here in the US. My parents came to the United States when I was 3 months old . I am 33 years old now. The first time I applied for citizenship I had an interview a week after September 11, 2001 and they cancelled my appointment due to the Attacks. Later they told me they lost my file and I had to begin the whole process again. But then I started university till 2005 and went to Medical school in Europe for 6 years till september 2011 and I didnt have time to go through the process again as I was busy in school. Now I'm back in the USA for over a year now.

My question is when can I apply for citizenship? Do I have to wait a certain amount of time before I can apply even though I lived here in New York for most of my life and done all my schooling here up until and including university??

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

thankyou very much
 
What was your age when you became Greencard holder?
If you came to United States with Greencard as 3 months old child, I guess you should be able to file N-600 application for your citizenship certificate.
 
drmavi23 said:
I have lived my whole life with a green card here in the US. My parents came to the United States when I was 3 months old .
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Did either parent become a US citizen before you turned 18? If yes, you might be able to claim derivative citizenship right now. Otherwise if you're not eligible for derivative citizenship you'll have to wait 4 years and one day after the end of your last long absence (i.e. September 2015).

But then I started university till 2005 and went to Medical school in Europe for 6 years till september 2011 ...
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Is that 6 consecutive years without entering the US? Or did you go back to the US at least once a year (or once every two years with a reentry permit)?

Are you inside the US now, and did you use your green card the last time you entered?
 
Jackolantern said:
Were you adopted? That also affects your eligibility for derivative citizenship.
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No I was not adopted. I became a green cards holder on March 23, 1980 when I was 3 months old.
At that time my mother was a citizen and my father was a green card holder.
I entered the United States every year with my greencard I made sure not to go over a year with out reentering the US.
 
Jackolantern said:
Did either parent become a US citizen before you turned 18? If yes, you might be able to claim derivative citizenship right now. Otherwise if you're not eligible for derivative citizenship you'll have to wait 4 years and one day after the end of your last long absence (i.e. September 2015).


Is that 6 consecutive years without entering the US? Or did you go back to the US at least once a year (or once every two years with a reentry permit)?

Are you inside the US now, and did you use your green card the last time you entered?
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I became a green cards holder on March 23, 1980 when I was 3 months old. I am 33 years old now still with a green card.
At that time my mother was a citizen and my father was a green card holder.
While in Med school I entered the US every year with my greencard I made sure not to go over a year with out reentering the US. And yes Ive been in the US now for over a year since November 27 2011
 
Did either parent become a US citizen before you turned 18? If yes, you might be able to claim derivative citizenship right now. Otherwise if you're not eligible for derivative citizenship you'll have to wait 4 years and one day after the end of your last long absence (i.e. September 2015).
 
I Lived in New York my whole life I went to preschool all the way to college. For medical school I went abroad for 6 years thats why I wasnt here for a period of 6 years but i came back once a year so I wouldnt lose my greencard. Each time I entered they asked at immigration at the airport why I was away for so long so I showed them school transcripts, Id's etc etc and I always entered into the US with no problems. All my life I lived here, what was funny that the immigration officer always asked me how I know english so will lol !!!! because I lived here my whole life I told them... Its pretty weird how I lived here my whole life and I am still not a citizen and I know people who are here for few years and are citizens. I even have 2 friends who were never in the United States physically and are citizens bc their parents were US citizens but they never lived in the US. Its pretty weird how the system works..
 
Yes my mother became a citizen when I was a child . both my siblings are US citizens bc they were born here. Bc I was born outside the US I was screwed.. :(
 
You turned 18 before the Child Citizenship Act took effect in 2001, so to derive citizenship you'd need both parents to be US citizens before you're 18, unless they got separated, divorced, or the noncitizen parent died.

So what happened with your father? Did he become a US citizen before you were 18? If not, was he still married to (and not separated from) your mother when you turned 18?

Was your mother already a US citizen when you moved to the US at 3 months old? If yes, was she a citizen at the time of your birth? That's another possibility for obtaining citizenship through her (see the paragraph quoted below).

http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_5199.html
Birth Abroad to One Citizen and One Alien Parent in Wedlock

A child born abroad to one U.S. citizen parent and one alien parent acquires U.S. citizenship at birth under Section 301(g) of the INA provided the U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for the time period required by the law applicable at the time of the child's birth. (For birth on or after November 14, 1986, a period of five years physical presence, two after the age of fourteen, is required. For birth between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986, a period of ten years, five after the age of fourteen, is required for physical presence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child.) The U.S. citizen parent must be genetically related to the child to transmit U.S. citizenship.
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