Hello,
I'm 43 and I live in Ireland. My father passed away a few months ago and was a US citizen by birth, as well as my grandparents and great-grandparents.
I was born out-of-wedlock and I know that this makes things a "little" more complicated, but not impossible.
I was never documented as a US citizen since I've always lived in Europe and that I have a European passport. Now that I'm getting older and that most of my family live in the States, I'd like to visit them and apply for a passport.
On the US embassy of Ireland website, it says that if you apply for the first time for a passport and that you are over 18, you must fill out "form ds 5507" and bring a lot of documents along with you that prove your connection with your US parent. It also says that, if the parent is deceased, "it may be completed by the applicant, to the best of their knowledge. "
Now, as maybe some of you know already, if you were born out-of-wedlock, your citizen parent must sign the DS 5507 form.
Since my father is not alive anymore, will I have to sign it for him, too??? Sorry if the question may sound stupid, but I can't find any answer on their website.
One last thing: I don't have any document stating any sort of support from my father before I reached the aged of 18. These documents were probably lost when I was younger, the court in the country of origin of my mother only keep records for 30 years. So, would my father's name on my birth certificate, his few old US passports, birth and death certificates, proof of residence on US soil, etc. be enough?
Finally, is it black & white, or do have consular officers some flexibility? Should I hire a solicitor to help me with this application?
In the end, it's interesting to see that depending of your country of residence, passport applications can vary at US embassies.
Thank you for reading me that far, I shall hope someone will be able to give me a clear answer
Cheers
I'm 43 and I live in Ireland. My father passed away a few months ago and was a US citizen by birth, as well as my grandparents and great-grandparents.
I was born out-of-wedlock and I know that this makes things a "little" more complicated, but not impossible.
I was never documented as a US citizen since I've always lived in Europe and that I have a European passport. Now that I'm getting older and that most of my family live in the States, I'd like to visit them and apply for a passport.
On the US embassy of Ireland website, it says that if you apply for the first time for a passport and that you are over 18, you must fill out "form ds 5507" and bring a lot of documents along with you that prove your connection with your US parent. It also says that, if the parent is deceased, "it may be completed by the applicant, to the best of their knowledge. "
Now, as maybe some of you know already, if you were born out-of-wedlock, your citizen parent must sign the DS 5507 form.
Since my father is not alive anymore, will I have to sign it for him, too??? Sorry if the question may sound stupid, but I can't find any answer on their website.
One last thing: I don't have any document stating any sort of support from my father before I reached the aged of 18. These documents were probably lost when I was younger, the court in the country of origin of my mother only keep records for 30 years. So, would my father's name on my birth certificate, his few old US passports, birth and death certificates, proof of residence on US soil, etc. be enough?
Finally, is it black & white, or do have consular officers some flexibility? Should I hire a solicitor to help me with this application?
In the end, it's interesting to see that depending of your country of residence, passport applications can vary at US embassies.
Thank you for reading me that far, I shall hope someone will be able to give me a clear answer
Cheers