I have seen this question asked before, but the answers never ended up applying to my situation. For this forum I am a little difference because I am a natural US citizen (born and raised there), but in my searches this seemed to be the only forum that has addressed this question at all.
I am currently living in Beijing, China. My Chinese wife and I are expecting our first child in the next month. I was looking to ensure that our child would be a US citizen so I read the instructions that start with completing a DS-2029 form (Consular Report of Birth Abroad).
One of the requirements is that I "List periods of physical presence in the U.S. prior to the child's birth in exact detail". Associated with that I need to prove that I lived in the US for 5 years. I am over 50 years old and until last year I have lived there for my entire life. However, I have traveled outside of the US many times (at least 60 trips by a quick calculation). In the 1990s I was a consultant who traveled extensively, but usually for around a week or so. There is no way that I could list all the trips I took, much less provide dates, sometimes I don't even remember the year.
After reading posts here I am now wondering how I can actually prove the 5 years thing. School transcripts? I was born in 1961 and my grammar school and high school (both private) no longer exist. When I moved to China I got rid of everything I owned, including any paper files I had.
So two issues:
(1) There is no way I can provide an accurate record of my trips. Not even close. What do I do?
(2) How do I prove that I lived in the US for all of those years?
Final Note: Each time we deal with the Chinese government I go off on a rant about how ridiculous they are. I should learn to keep my mouth shut. They have nothing on the US government in the BS department.
I am currently living in Beijing, China. My Chinese wife and I are expecting our first child in the next month. I was looking to ensure that our child would be a US citizen so I read the instructions that start with completing a DS-2029 form (Consular Report of Birth Abroad).
One of the requirements is that I "List periods of physical presence in the U.S. prior to the child's birth in exact detail". Associated with that I need to prove that I lived in the US for 5 years. I am over 50 years old and until last year I have lived there for my entire life. However, I have traveled outside of the US many times (at least 60 trips by a quick calculation). In the 1990s I was a consultant who traveled extensively, but usually for around a week or so. There is no way that I could list all the trips I took, much less provide dates, sometimes I don't even remember the year.
After reading posts here I am now wondering how I can actually prove the 5 years thing. School transcripts? I was born in 1961 and my grammar school and high school (both private) no longer exist. When I moved to China I got rid of everything I owned, including any paper files I had.
So two issues:
(1) There is no way I can provide an accurate record of my trips. Not even close. What do I do?
(2) How do I prove that I lived in the US for all of those years?
Final Note: Each time we deal with the Chinese government I go off on a rant about how ridiculous they are. I should learn to keep my mouth shut. They have nothing on the US government in the BS department.