Derivative Citizenship and Passport Application

[DannyP]

Hello, I applied for a U.S. Passport as I derived citizenship from my mother's naturalization but am having difficulties with my application being processed. Any help would be appreciated.

I found out a few months ago that I am U.S. citizen. I was born abroad and became a citizen through my mother's naturalization. My mother naturalized when I was 14 years old. I am claiming U.S. citizenship through the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. I was born out of wedlock in 1993 and my parents married in the U.S. in 1998. My father was born in the U.S. but grew up abroad. My parents divorced in 2007, and my mother naturalized in 2008. I was a legal permanent resident at the time of her naturalization and was under her custody. The divorce decree gives both parents custody but my mother has the exclusive right to designate my primary residence, so I lived with her. I've learned that to get proof of citizenship I can either apply for a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600) or apply for a U. S. passport. I decided to apply for a passport because it has a faster processing time and is a lot less expensive. I was planning on applying for the N-600 after I receive my passport, but now I am not sure that I made the right decision. Before applying for the passport, I called the Department of State to verify what documents I would need to send along with my application. So I sent my birth certificate, a certified translation of the birth certificate, my parents' divorce decree, my mom's naturalization certificate, my green card, a passport photo, and a copy of my driver's license.

About a month ago I received a letter from the Department of State along with form DS-5507, Affidavit Parentage, Physical Presence and Support. The letter asked for proof of my citizenship or my father's birth certificate along with the DS-5507 form and my parents' marriage certificate. Since I don't have a Certificate of Citizenship, they are asking for my father's birth certificate and the DS-5507 form. This form is used in the Consular Report of Birth Abroad process. I think that since my father's nationality is listed as "American" on by birth certificate, they want me to claim citizenship through my father. I was born out of wedlock and my parents are divorced. I don't maintain contact with my father so I will not receive any help from him. I have called the Department of State but the person who answered wasn't very helpful and basically just told me to do what the letter says to the best of my ability. She then told me to just write a letter to the local Regional Office explaining my situation to them.

So I wrote them a letter explaining my situation and included the marriage certificate to show that I was born out of wedlock. However, they just sent me another letter asking for the same documents. I don't know why they want me to claim citizenship through my father when I am doing it through my mother. What should I do? I don't know what to do at this point. I don't understand why they are not allowing me to claim citizenship through the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. Since I was born out of wedlock, I thought I had to take certain steps before I turned 18:

Birth Abroad Out-of-Wedlock to a U.S. Citizen Father – “New” Section 309(a)
A person born abroad out-of-wedlock to a U.S. citizen father may acquire U.S. citizenship under Section 301(g) of the INA, as made applicable by the “new” Section 309(a) of the INA provided:

1. A blood relationship between the person and the father is established by clear and convincing evidence;
2. The father had the nationality of the United States at the time of the person’s birth;
3. The father was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions prior to the child’s birth for five years, at least two of which were after reaching the age of 14.
4. The father (unless deceased) has agreed in writing to provide financial support for the person until the person reaches the age of 18 years, and
5. While the person is under the age of 18 years --

• the person is legitimated under the law of his/her residence or domicile,
• the father acknowledges paternity of the person in writing under oath, or
• the paternity of the person is established by adjudication of a competent court.

http://travel.state.gov/content/tra...s-policies/citizenship-child-born-abroad.html

I don't know if any of the above conditions were fulfilled. I don't maintain contact with my father so there is no point in trying to ask him for help.

 

[newacct]

You are almost certainly a U.S. citizen now, but how and when you became a citizen is unclear. If you were a citizen from birth, then you could not then get citizenship again later through the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. You don't get to choose which way you became a citizen; there was only one way and it's determined by the facts. You don't know whether you are a citizen from birth, because you don't know whether your father satisfied the requirements, in particular the one about written agreement to support you until 18. It may be that he applied for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) and you didn't know about it. You could have them search for a CRBA, although that will cost money. Even if you weren't a citizen from birth, I don't think your mother's naturalization would have been the point you became a citizen. More likely, you became a citizen on February 27, 2001 (the effective date of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000), if you were a permanent resident in the U.S. at that time, because you were living with your U.S. citizen father; or if you weren't a permanent resident in the U.S. at that time, you would have became a citizen at whatever time you became a permanent resident living in the U.S., because you were in the custody of your U.S. citizen father, prior to the divorce.

However, for the purposes of a passport, I believe that it does not matter how or when you became a citizen, only that you are a citizen. For the Certificate of Citizenship maybe it matters, because it lists the date you became a citizen; but a passport does not list such a thing. And you can argue that if you weren't already a citizen, then you became a citizen through the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, either through your father or your mother. So therefore, you must be a citizen now. But maybe the bureaucrats evaluating this don't think in such a flexible way; they have to determine the exact way you became a citizen. Plus, from their point of view, your application may look like you are saying you are a citizen from birth through your father, and there is no place for you to indicate on the form something like "forget about citizenship at birth; regardless of that, I would have derived citizenship through my parents later if I wasn't already a citizen".

I am not sure how to help you. It seems you've tried all this already, but I think you should stress to them that you believe you are not a citizen at birth, because for example your father didn't make a written agreement to support you till 18, as far as you know.

 

[DannyP]

Thank you for your response. That certainly clears things up! I've talked to my mother, and she says that my father did not apply for a CRBA. She also says that he did not live the required five years in the U.S. prior to my birth. I guess this means that I cannot be a U.S. citizen by birth. Also, I became a permanent resident after February 27, 2001. How would I go about explaining this? Should I consult an attorney?

 

[Jackolantern]

You will have write another letter to clearly explain that you do not qualify for US citizenship at birth because your father lived abroad since his birth and does not meet the requirement of having lived outside the US for 5 years including 2 years after his 14th birthday. And that you have a green card because you did not qualify for US citizenship at birth (include a copy of your green card with your response, if you didn't already do so), therefore you are applying based on your mother's naturalization and the Child Citizenship Act.

If that still doesn't work, you can either get an attorney to help, or just apply for the N-600 and ask them to put the passport application on hold while your N-600 is being processed. Make sure to include a similar letter with your N-600 application to clarify that you are NOT claiming citizenship based on your father and why.