How do I prove to CBP that I am *NOT* a US Citizen?

R

Really Confused

New Member
I was born in the United States in 1962, however as my father was a military attaché assigned to the US Air Force I am not a US Citizen by birth and that really doesn't bother me. For most of my life explaining that my father had been a diplomat and as such I am ineligible for a US passport has been sufficient. I even worked in the US for seven years (1995-2002) and all immigration authorities appeared satisfied with my explanation.

Unfortunately last year while I was clearing US Customs at a Canadian airport the immigration officer demanded a US passport. My explanation was not satisfactory and he said "I don't care what you tell the IRS, but you need a US passport from now on." I dismissed the man as ignorant and went on my way. I subsequently entered the US via LAX and was not challenged on the subject. However this past month entering the US via Newark Airport I was again informed I am a US citizen and as such I require a US passport and I should consider this my final warning.

Do I need to travel with the portrait of my father with Gen. Curtis LeMay? Do I need to rummage my mother's attic for his diplomatic passport? My birth certificate lists my parents and their nationalities, but in no way indicates my father's military or diplomatic status. A written inquiry to the State Department and US Consulate both went unacknowledged.

I have to travel to the US at least four or five times a year and this is becoming unnerving. I'm afraid I will be arrested for tax evasion at the airport.

How does one who is in this situation prove they're not American?

Thank You,
 
Do I need to rummage my mother's attic for his diplomatic passport?
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Yes, and dig up whatever other documents you can find to prove his diplomatic status at the time of your birth. And talk to your father's country's government (which presumably is also your country of citizenship) for their records. Your father should have reported your birth to the embassy of his country.
 
Can you give more information? Like what was your father's exact status, and your mother's exact status, when you were born? I don't know what exactly a "military attaché assigned to the US Air Force" means. But children of your parents would have to be totally immune from the laws of the United States for you to not be born a U.S. citizen.

The current version of the Foreign Affairs Manual, in the section that talks about citizenship from birth in the U.S., in 7 FAM 1111 d. 3 (on page 3), refers to "7 FAM 1100 Appendix J" on the topic of children of diplomats. However, such an appendix is not available. There is an excerpt of a previous version of the Foreign Affairs Manual, with lots of information regarding birth to foreign diplomats, and which children would still be born U.S. citizens.
 
Before there was a lot of discussion about how US government know which of US born person is children of
diplomats and thus deny their citizenship. Many suggest department of state always keep a list of children
born to diplomats. I actually doubt it.
 
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newacct said:
I don't know what exactly a "military attaché assigned to the US Air Force"

Maybe some liason officer or even exchnage program officer from a militray ally. It is possible the OP is indeed a US citizen.

I think the OP should gather some docuemnts and consult an immigration lawyer with some JAG experience to
prove or disporve his US citizenship.
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A military attaché is a diplomat who represents a foreign military or specific branch in another country. There are a lot of interactions between allied militaries that just don't concern the civilian bureaucracy. The attaché isn't an exchange officer but part of the embassy entourage.

I believe my parents were in the country on a G-1 visa. I really think that if I had a claim to US citizenship that would have been brought to my attention when I was obtaining a work visa in 1995. My father died in 2008 but kept all his mementos from his diplomatic assignments. I have access to photos, a box of his letterhead, his passport, telegrams, miscellaneous security passes, written orders, official gifts and best of all an I-94 form he neglected to surrender in 1966. But I don't think the immigration officer wants to see a scrapbook.

I think the immigration officer is just going by the place of birth on my passport. From about the time I was sixteen and went on a school trip to Detroit and Chicago I have been explaining to immigration officers why I am not a US citizen, I have entered the US by air at least a hundred times in my lifetime as a non-resident. It is only recently that this has become an issue. I am curious as to what has changed and the sudden interest.

The irony is my parents intended to travel home for my birth for the sake of my mother's ailing grandmother, but then then the Cuban Missile Crisis happened.
 
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Make an appointment with a US consulate in the country where you live so you can have a face to face conversation with them and present your stack of evidence (not the whole big box of it, but provide enough to make a convincing case). Maybe they can give you an official letter or certificate declaring that you're not a US citizen, and/or send notes to CBP's system so the officers will see in the system that you're not a US citizen.

You'll also need proof of your mother's diplomatic status at the time of your birth. If she did not have diplomatic status, that probably means you're a US citizen.
 
WBH said:
Many suggest department of state always keep a list of children born to diplomats. I actually doubt it.
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They do keep a list; people born in the US have been refused US passports due to having diplomatic parents. But it's incomplete because hospitals and birth registration authorities are not required to report such births to the Department of State. I figure in most cases the DoS knows only when the diplomatic parents report the birth, so it's essentially an honor system.
 
Really Confused said:
A military attaché is a diplomat who represents a foreign military or specific branch in another country. There are a lot of interactions between allied militaries that just don't concern the civilian bureaucracy. The attaché isn't an exchange officer but part of the embassy entourage.

I believe my parents were in the country on a G-1 visa. I really think that if I had a claim to US citizenship that would have been brought to my attention when I was obtaining a work visa in 1995. My father died in 2008 but kept all his mementos from his diplomatic assignments. I have access to photos, a box of his letterhead, his passport, telegrams, miscellaneous security passes, written orders, official gifts and best of all an I-94 form he neglected to surrender in 1966. But I don't think the immigration officer wants to see a scrapbook.

I think the immigration officer is just going by the place of birth on my passport. From about the time I was sixteen and went on a school trip to Detroit and Chicago I have been explaining to immigration officers why I am not a US citizen, I have entered the US by air at least a hundred times in my lifetime as a non-resident. It is only recently that this has become an issue. I am curious as to what has changed and the sudden interest.

The irony is my parents intended to travel home for my birth for the sake of my mother's ailing grandmother, but then then the Cuban Missile Crisis happened.
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As Jackolantern says, you need to schedule an appointment at a U.S. emabbsy/consulate in your country of residency, bring all the official documents that you have relating to your birth and your parents' stay in the U.S., and talk to a U.S. consular officer face to face.

The mere fact that somebody has a G-1 visa does not necessarily imply that that person has diplomatic immunity. See p 14 of the State Department guide:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/150546.pdf

The U.S. State Department issues special identity cards to foreign diplomats who do have diplomatic immunity; if such cards were issued to your parents, the State Department would have some records to that effect. More broadly, the State Department should have some records regarding most foreign consular personell, and they'll have some records related to your parents G visas and their statis in the U.S.
So make an appointment and talk to the State Department people in person. If they determine that your parents did indeed have diplomatic immunity, and hence that you are not a U.S. citizen, they should be able to give you some official letter to that effect.
 
I have a question for ''really confused". Do you want to be a citizen? you can apply and if denied use the letter as evidence that you are a not a citizen.
just thinking.......
 
USC2013 said:
I have a question for ''really confused". Do you want to be a citizen? you can apply and if denied use the letter as evidence that you are a not a citizen.
just thinking.......
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Does he use a green card now or a non-immigration visa? citizenship can be a long shot.
Immigration requires a quota and how does US law allocate immigration quota for US-born foreigners?
COuld be it that immigration law assume everyoneborn in USA is a US citizen and thus immigration
is not needed so allocate no quota at all?
 
USC2013 said:
I have a question for ''really confused". Do you want to be a citizen? you can apply and if denied use the letter as evidence that you are a not a citizen.
just thinking.......
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That's not evidence. For example, you can apply for a passport and not have enough evidence. Being denied does not mean you are not a U.S. citizen.

Whether one is a U.S. citizen is determined by law. You need to look to the law to show one way or the other.
 
Really Confused said:
However this past month entering the US via Newark Airport I was again informed I am a US citizen and as such I require a US passport and I should consider this my final warning.
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Final warning, or what? If they consider you to be a U.S. citizen (and they do), they cannot not let you in to the U.S. So what are they going to do? Prosecute you for not entering the U.S. with a U.S. passport? I have never heard of that happening. Don't worry about it.

Really Confused said:
I have to travel to the US at least four or five times a year and this is becoming unnerving. I'm afraid I will be arrested for tax evasion at the airport.
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Well, if you ever get sued for tax evasion, the good side is that you get to present arguments why you are not a citizen in court and they will be forced to decide whether you are a citizen once and for all.
 
My brother was born in the US to foreign parents, father a diplomat. He holds a US passport and has dual citizenship. So you probably are (were?) entitled to a US passport. But you shouldn't be *required* to travel with a US passport if you have another country's passport handy - that doesn't seem to make sense.
 
Ms.A said:
My brother was born in the US to foreign parents, father a diplomat. He holds a US passport and has dual citizenship.
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That's probably because only his father was a diplomat. But the OP believes both parents had diplomatic immunity.

But you shouldn't be *required* to travel with a US passport if you have another country's passport handy - that doesn't seem to make sense.
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The requirement makes sense for US citizens entering the US. It doesn't make sense for leaving the US, and it doesn't apply at all when arriving in another country.
 
Jackolantern said:
That's probably because only his father was a diplomat. But the OP believes both parents had diplomatic immunity.
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Well in my brothers case both parents were foreign, and although only one was a diplomat, both were on diplomatic visas, since the mother was also from the foreign country and travelling as the spouse.
 
Jackolantern said:
That's probably because only his father was a diplomat. But the OP believes both parents had diplomatic immunity.


The requirement makes sense for US citizens entering the US. It doesn't make sense for leaving the US, and it doesn't apply at all when arriving in another country.
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Displomatic immunity extends to spouses and children of many dioplamats. I understand spouses and
chidlren who entered USA may have an option not to use it, but can not imagine babies born in USA to
diplomats. I think they don't have a choice, either they have immnunity or not ummunity.
 
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Ms.A said:
But you shouldn't be *required* to travel with a US passport if you have another country's passport handy - that doesn't seem to make sense.
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Jackolantern said:
The requirement makes sense for US citizens entering the US. It doesn't make sense for leaving the US, and it doesn't apply at all when arriving in another country.
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Well, it's a law; whether it makes sense or not. U.S. citizens are required to enter and leave the U.S. with a valid U.S. passport. U.S. doesn't care what you do in other countries. It makes some sense -- when you are a U.S. citizen, the U.S. treats you as only a U.S. citizen, and does not acknowledge your other nationalities, or travel documents from those nationalities.

Ms.A said:
Well in my brothers case both parents were foreign, and although only one was a diplomat, both were on diplomatic visas, since the mother was also from the foreign country and travelling as the spouse.
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Not all diplomats have full diplomatic immunity. For example, the document I linked to list that certain people, including technical staff at embassies, consular officials, etc., generally do not have full diplomatic immunity unless provided by an agreement between the U.S. and that country. Their children would then be U.S. citizens.
 
newacct said:
Well, it's a law; whether it makes sense or not. U.S. citizens are required to enter and leave the U.S. with a valid U.S. passport.
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It is the law, but requiring a US passport when leaving doesn't make sense and might even be unconstitutional. You shouldn't need any passport to leave as long as you have documents that the other country will accept for your entry*. It's tantamount to an exit tax or exit visa, like what communist countries do to keep people in against their will. The US government can revoke or refuse to issue a passport to US citizens without a court process, so the potential is there for that kind of abuse.


*as a practical matter, at this time the US passport exit requirement isn't enforced, but the law is on the books and it could be enforced in the future.
 
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