Clarification on Child Citizenship Act of 2000, Sections 320 & 322

[imsdac]

Hi everyone, I hope you can help me. I have a question regarding the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, sections 320 & 322.

If I understand this correctly, if a child under 18 is admitted as an immigrant (with a green card) to live in the legal and physical custody of a US citizen parent, then he automatically becomes a citizen? Is this right? Can you still apply for a passport without a citizenship certificate?

Here is some background on my situation...

I am a US citizen born abroad (Canada) to a US citizen father and have a CRBA that was issued shortly after my birth. I lived in the US as a child but not after the age of 14. My son was born in Canada to a Canadian father. We were legally married at the time but got divorced when my son was 7.

In 2004, I moved to the US with my son. I applied for my son's citizenship via an N-600K because I didn't meet the residency requirements for the N-600 form and with the N-600K, I was able to use my US citizen father's residency to qualify for my son's citizenship. Well, unfortunately because of bad information I got when I called immigration, I filed the N-600K from the US and because it wasn't filed from abroad, it was denied. At the time, I didn't know it had to be filed from abroad. Like I said, I was confused and was given bad info from the USCIS office I called.

I was able to get my son LPR status as an I-130 Immigrant Petition for Alien Relative at the US consulate in Montreal, Canada and he entered the United states in March of 2005. The consulate gave us the information about the Child Citizenship Act and a passport application, but we never applied for his passport (I know, that was my bad!) because he had a green card and didn't realize the Passport would essentially confirm his newly acquired citizenship.

Well, unfortunately, at the age of 18, my son decided to leave us to go to school in Canada. He lived with us from 2005 until he finished high school in 2009. He moved to Canada and went to college. He did come back to the US at least once a year every year since then but I'm assuming he no longer qualifies as an LPR.

Fast forward to 2013 and now he wants to move back to the US. Now I don't know what to do. He is over 18 now (22) and I'm confused. Did he automatically get citizenship when he crossed into the US in 2005 as an LPR? What can we do now to get his citizenship? He still has a valid green card that doesn't expire until 2015. Does he have to apply for a visa and wait 7 years like everyone else since he is now over 18?

Can anyone offer any help with this? What do I do?

 

[newacct]

Yes, he automatically became a U.S. citizen when he lived with you in the U.S. as a permanent resident under 18.

Yes, he can apply for a U.S. passport now directly. He doesn't need to get a Certificate of Citizenship first. (The Certificate of Citizenship is nice to get eventually for permanent proof. But it takes many months to get and is quite expensive to apply for. The passport is quicker to get and is sufficient for proof of citizenship now.)

 

[Jackolantern]

Well, unfortunately because of bad information I got when I called immigration, I filed the N-600K from the US and because it wasn't filed from abroad, it was denied. At the time, I didn't know it had to be filed from abroad.

It's not just about being filed from abroad; you need to be residing abroad when the N-600K is filed, because the N-600K is for children of US citizens who reside abroad.

Anyway, from everything else you've described, he became a US citizen in 2005 when he was admitted as a permanent resident ... unless you didn't have legal custody. He'll need the custody papers to show that you had legal custody after the divorce.

Well, unfortunately, at the age of 18, my son decided to leave us to go to school in Canada. He lived with us from 2005 until he finished high school in 2009.

He can use his school records to prove that he was living with you in the US when he was under 18 with a green card. He'll also need to submit your CRBA* and his own birth certificate, along with your divorce decree and custody papers when applying for the US passport at a consulate in Canada. And his green card, of course.

Once he moves to the US, he should apply for the N-600 (not N-600K !) so he'll have his own unexpiring proof of citizenship which is independent of your documents. Without his own citizenship certificate, he may have to rely on your CRBA and divorce papers again if his passport is lost or stolen.


*your US passport may be submitted instead, if it is still valid and was issued before he turned 18.

 

[imsdac]

It's not just about being filed from abroad; you need to be residing abroad when the N-600K is filed, because the N-600K is for children of US citizens who reside abroad.

Anyway, from everything else you've described, he became a US citizen in 2005 when he was admitted as a permanent resident ... unless you didn't have legal custody. He'll need the custody papers to show that you had legal custody after the divorce.

He can use his school records to prove that he was living with you in the US when he was under 18 with a green card. He'll also need to submit your CRBA* and his own birth certificate, along with your divorce decree and custody papers when applying for the US passport at a consulate in Canada. And his green card, of course.

Once he moves to the US, he should apply for the N-600 (not N-600K !) so he'll have his own unexpiring proof of citizenship which is independent of your documents. Without his own citizenship certificate, he may have to rely on your CRBA and divorce papers again if his passport is lost or stolen.


*your US passport may be submitted instead, if it is still valid and was issued before he turned 18.

Thanks so much for your reply. I have hope now.

I did have full legal custody of him when I moved to the states and have divorce documents to prove it. I'm in the process of getting his school records now to prove he lived with me in the US from 2005-2009. We have the green card and his birth certificate, but I'm assuming we will have to get the birth certificate translated (he was born in Quebec, so it's in French) before we send it in. I have both a CRBA and my US passport was issued in 2007 (before he turned 18) and is still valid, so I'm good there.

He is visiting us right now... can he just apply from within the US? He was supposed to go back to Canada after Christmas and now he doesn't want to go back and that is why we are going through this process.

We definitely still plan on getting the N-600 done after he gets a passport... but looking over the form, will they deny it over my lack of residency requirements? I actually looked back on the paperwork I had filed, and it was an N-600, not an N-600K... He wasn't a LPR though when I sent it in. It was denied based on my lack of residency after the age of 14... won't this be the case again or does it not matter because he became a citizen once he was given LPR status? All this stuff is so darn confusing and calling USCIS is useless!

 

[imsdac]

Yes, he automatically became a U.S. citizen when he lived with you in the U.S. as a permanent resident under 18.

Yes, he can apply for a U.S. passport now directly. He doesn't need to get a Certificate of Citizenship first. (The Certificate of Citizenship is nice to get eventually for permanent proof. But it takes many months to get and is quite expensive to apply for. The passport is quicker to get and is sufficient for proof of citizenship now.)

So it doesn't matter that he's over 18 now, correct? As long as he met all the requirements before he turned 18, he is good to go, right?

 

[Jackolantern]

He is visiting us right now... can he just apply from within the US?

Yes, he can apply at a post office or City Hall. Check their web site or call them to verify that they accept passport applications (not all post offices and City Halls do) and find out if they require an appointment or allow walk-ins.

We definitely still plan on getting the N-600 done after he gets a passport... but looking over the form, will they deny it over my lack of residency requirements? I actually looked back on the paperwork I had filed, and it was an N-600, not an N-600K... He wasn't a LPR though when I sent it in. It was denied based on my lack of residency after the age of 14... won't this be the case again or does it not matter because he became a citizen once he was given LPR status?

You're confusing N-600 and N-600K. N-600 is for those who already derived citizenship through their parent(s) based on the Child Citizenship Act or other applicable laws, whereas N-600K is for US citizens living abroad who are seeking US citizenship for their children. N-600K allows qualifying based on a grandparent's years of presence in the US, N-600 doesn't.

His citizenship is through the Child Citizenship Act, which doesn't impose any years of residence requirement on you; you only have to be residing in the US at some point when he's under 18 with LPR status (and you having custody etc.).

All this stuff is so darn confusing and calling USCIS is useless!

Their people on the phone are highly unreliable.

So it doesn't matter that he's over 18 now, correct? As long as he met all the requirements before he turned 18, he is good to go, right?

Correct. Once he met all the conditions before 18, he can apply for N-600 and/or a US passport at any age. But as a practical matter it may become impossible to find the relevant documents if he waits too long -- who knows if he'll be able to obtain your CRBA and his high school records when he's 40 or 50 years old -- so it's best not to wait too long while he's still dependent on those old documents.

 

[imsdac]

Yes, he can apply at a post office or City Hall. Check their web site or call them to verify that they accept passport applications (not all post offices and City Halls do) and find out if they require an appointment or allow walk-ins.


You're confusing N-600 and N-600K. N-600 is for those who already derived citizenship through their parent(s) based on the Child Citizenship Act or other applicable laws, whereas N-600K is for US citizens living abroad who are seeking US citizenship for their children. N-600K allows qualifying based on a grandparent's years of presence in the US, N-600 doesn't.

His citizenship is through the Child Citizenship Act, which doesn't impose any years of residence requirement on you; you only have to be residing in the US at some point when he's under 18 with LPR status (and you having custody etc.).


Their people on the phone are highly unreliable.


Correct. Once he met all the conditions before 18, he can apply for N-600 and/or a US passport at any age. But as a practical matter it may become impossible to find the relevant documents if he waits too long -- who knows if he'll be able to obtain your CRBA and his high school records when he's 40 or 50 years old -- so it's best not to wait too long while he's still dependent on those old documents.

Great, thanks. We are not going to wait. We are filling in a passport application today and just need to get the documents we are waiting for (his green card and birth certificate were in Canada and are being Fed/ex'd to us). We also have to wait on the school records which I have already requested (he graduated in 2009, so it wasn't that long ago - we should get those in a few days as well).

I am also going to go ahead with the N-600 application once we get his passport so that we don't have to go through all of this again if he happens to lose it. I am looking over the form and in section 2 that asks for information about the applicant (Question C) does he choose "Other" and explain citizenship obtained 3/31/09 under CCA section 320? None of the other answers really apply (except for the LPR, but he got citizenship, so technically he's not an LPR anymore, right?)

Also, under part D, I assume he has to answer yes as we had previously attempted to apply for a certificate of citizenship for him (but got rejected because he didn't have LPR status at the time we first attempted).

In section 24, why does it matter if he was out of the US after he arrived? Will that affect his application? The instructions mention that you have to fill this out if claiming US citizenship from birth which he is not. Does this mean he leaves this blank?

Thanks again for answering all my questions. I just don't want to fill in anything incorrectly and send another $600.00 down the drain!

 

[imsdac]

Don't think my son can apply for Certificate of Citizenship

Well, I was just reading over the instructions for filling out the N-600 form and there is one big issue. Point #5 under "Who should NOT fill out this form" clearly states that you cannot use this form "if you have already filed a N-600 and received a decision from USCIS on that previously filed N-600." It goes on to say: "USCIS will reject (not accept) any subsequently filed Form N-600. Please review your Form N-600 denial notice for more information."

So, based on this, we will never be able to obtain a certificate of citizenship for my son??? Yes, it was denied the first time we tried but that was before he entered the United States as an LPR and that was why it got rejected. Is there any way around this or are we just screwed?

 

[Jackolantern]

If you filed N-600 before and it was denied, you're supposed to file a Motion to Reopen (with details of the original N-600) instead of a new N-600.

But you need to make sure that you filed N-600, not N-600K. In your first post, you mentioned N-600K, and also using your father's years of presence to qualify because you didn't have those years yourself. Using one of the child's grandparent's years of presence to qualify is consistent with N-600K, but is not allowed for N-600.

You also said was denied because it was not filed from abroad. That is also consistent with N-600K, which requires you to reside abroad, whereas the N-600 is normally filed from within the US.

So to me it looks like you actually filed N-600K, not N-600. If you filed N-600K, the answer to that question about applying for a certificate of citizenship should be NO. N-600K is a naturalization process, not an application for a certificate (although a certificate is given at the completion of the N-600K process).

 

[imsdac]

If you filed N-600 before and it was denied, you're supposed to file a Motion to Reopen (with details of the original N-600) instead of a new N-600.

But you need to make sure that you filed N-600, not N-600K. In your first post, you mentioned N-600K, and also using your father's years of presence to qualify because you didn't have those years yourself. Using one of the child's grandparent's years of presence to qualify is consistent with N-600K, but is not allowed for N-600.

You also said was denied because it was not filed from abroad. That is also consistent with N-600K, which requires you to reside abroad, whereas the N-600 is normally filed from within the US.

So to me it looks like you actually filed N-600K, not N-600. If you filed N-600K, the answer to that question about applying for a certificate of citizenship should be NO. N-600K is a naturalization process, not an application for a certificate (although a certificate is given at the completion of the N-600K process).

Yes, I realize in the OP, I said I filed an N-600K, but I was mistaken. I found the original paperwork from January 2005, and it clearly says "Application for Certificate of Citizenship, Form N-600" Please keep in mind that he was basically denied because at the time of the filing of the N-600, he had not yet come to the US as an LPR and was here only as a visitor. When he re-entered the US in March 2005 with his LPR, it was at this time that he met all the requirements for being granted US Citizenship.

Like I said earlier, I was confused about the N-600K because I thought I had filled that one out so I could use my father's time in the US to fulfill the residency requirement since I did not meet it.

The denial says this (I will shorten it because it is 3 pages long):

Your application can be considered under three separate sections of the INA. However it is determined that you are ineligible for citizenship under each applicable section of the law.

Section 301(g) - to be considered a national at birth. Decision: Applicant is denied based on US citizen mother's physical presence in the United States does not meet the physical presence requirements. Please note that a grandparent's residence may not be utilized to meet the physical presence requirement under Section 301(g).

Section 320 - a child born outside of the US automatically becomes a US citizen of the US when all the following conditions have been fulfilled (we already know what these are, so I won't bother repeating). Decision: According to your application you entered the US on Aug 24th, 2004 in Detroit, MI as a visitor. You have not obtained lawful permanent residence status in the US therefore you are not eligible for citizenship under Section 320. As I stated before, this N-600 application was submitted BEFORE he got his LPR status. I obviously didn't realize that he didn't qualify based on this at the time but was misinformed by USCIS.

Section 322 - A parent who is a citizen of the US may apply for naturalization on behalf of a child born outside of the US who has not acquired citizenship automatically under Section 320. The Attorney General shall issue a certificate of citizenship if all of the following conditions have been met. (Again, I will not bother listing them) Decision: As stated above, under Section 322, the child must be living outside of the US and in the legal and physical custody of the applicant. You have failed to provide evidence of your foreign residence, therefore you are not eligible for citizenship under Section 322.

So there you have it in a nutshell... all the reasons that he was denied at the initial application of the N-600. I understand why he was denied at the time, but he since met all the requirements under section 320 when he came into the US in March 2005 with his LPR status.

Now that we've determined that I can no longer submit a new N-600 application, what can I do? You mention filing a motion to reopen. Is that the same as an I-290A? I search for an I-290A form but I can't find one, just the I-290B which is the Notice of Appeal or Motion (which I can't do, because it's been 8 years, so I'm WAY over the 33 day period required to file an appeal.) If you know where I can find this form (motion to reopen) please can you provide me a link to the form?

Thanks for all your help... I realize this case is messed up.. I really wish I had been better informed way back when, but I guess it's too late for that.

 

[imsdac]

Can anyone answer my last question? How do I file a motion to reopen? Can I reopen a N-600 application 8 years after the fact? Do I need a lawyer?

 

[Jackolantern]

For N-600, they will accept late Motions to Reopen with form I-290B, even if it's decades after the original application. They don't let N-600 applicants reapply, so the Motion to Reopen (or Reconsider) is the only remedy for a denied N-600 before taking it to a higher level with the AAO or Federal Court.

See http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?318058-N-600-Appeal-Rights

 

[imsdac]

Thanks Jackolantern

For N-600, they will accept late Motions to Reopen with form I-290B, even if it's decades after the original application. They don't let N-600 applicants reapply, so the Motion to Reopen (or Reconsider) is the only remedy for a denied N-600 before taking it to a higher level with the AAO or Federal Court.

See http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?318058-N-600-Appeal-Rights

Thanks Jackolantern. That's what I needed to know. I appreciate all of your help on this matter. I will go ahead and apply for his passport and once I get all the paperwork back from that I will file a Motion to Reopen.

 

[sabelano]

Can anyone answer my last question? How do I file a motion to reopen? Can I reopen a N-600 application 8 years after the fact? Do I need a lawyer?

Can i please ask you this!? When you said that you had to be abroad to file the application were you talking about N600 or N600K because am planning to go to the US to file the N600k!! And the immigration officer told me that i have to be there!?

 

[newacct]

Can i please ask you this!? When you said that you had to be abroad to file the application were you talking about N600 or N600K because am planning to go to the US to file the N600k!! And the immigration officer told me that i have to be there!?

N-600 and N-600K are completely different and unrelated things. N-600 is for someone who is already a US citizen, to receive a certificate. N-600K is for a child who is not a US citizen, and who is residing abroad, to naturalize in the US and then return abroad. Are you sure you are talking about the right thing? For the N-600K process, it is filed abroad, and when it is approved, the child then needs to enter into the US in some nonimmigrant status (e.g. with B2 visa) then then take the oath. Only upon taking the oath, does the child become a US citizen. This is only for people who do not intend to relocate to the US, as you cannot enter into the US in visitor status with preconceived intent to immigrate.

 

[sabelano]

N-600 and N-600K are completely different and unrelated things. N-600 is for someone who is already a US citizen, to receive a certificate. N-600K is for a child who is not a US citizen, and who is residing abroad, to naturalize in the US and then return abroad. Are you sure you are talking about the right thing? For the N-600K process, it is filed abroad, and when it is approved, the child then needs to enter into the US in some nonimmigrant status (e.g. with B2 visa) then then take the oath. Only upon taking the oath, does the child become a US citizen. This is only for people who do not intend to relocate to the US, as you cannot enter into the US in visitor status with preconceived intent to immigrate.

Thank you kindly,
Yes am sure i talk about the N600k as am trying to naturalize my child but I don't fulfill the requirements of physical presence so i'd use my father's
But now i see that i have to stay abroad, file the N600k from here( overseas ) and then wait for them to approve the app and eventually give us an interview date? Is that correct? Ok but meanwhile do i have the right the US while my app is pending!? Am not trying to relocate but am planing to study in the USA for a year at least?

 

[sabelano]

N-600 and N-600K are completely different and unrelated things. N-600 is for someone who is already a US citizen, to receive a certificate. N-600K is for a child who is not a US citizen, and who is residing abroad, to naturalize in the US and then return abroad. Are you sure you are talking about the right thing? For the N-600K process, it is filed abroad, and when it is approved, the child then needs to enter into the US in some nonimmigrant status (e.g. with B2 visa) then then take the oath. Only upon taking the oath, does the child become a US citizen. This is only for people who do not intend to relocate to the US, as you cannot enter into the US in visitor status with preconceived intent to immigrate.

What i wanted to add is that at the embassy the officer said that i have to file for a b2 visa take my child to the US AND THEN FILE the N600k ??? Am confused ??