Minor child denied US passport renewal abroad because NOT residing in US

D

desichka

New Member
Hi,

My child received citizenship through the Child Citizenship Act. I am a US citizen through naturalization. She entered the US with an Immigrant visa in 2018 and applied for US passport. We intended to settle there for a while but family issues required that I return to my home country. My child was 8 years old at the time. We have been living in my home country ever since with the intention that my daughter will move to the US when she's old enough to continue her education.
Now, I applied for a passport renewal for her and it was denied because "she didn't live long enough in the US after her passport was issued". The officer even said he will revoke her citizenship. While I understand that the requirement is to live there pursuant to acquiring the passport, nowhere does it say for how long or in what point in time. Also, as far as I know, citizenship cannot be revoked unless it was acquired by fraud, which is most definitely NOT our case.

Now I have 60 days to appeal this decision but I am wondering what would be the best way to approach this.

Any help, ideas, similar experience welcomed!

Thank you very much in advance!
 
Automatic citizenship under INA 320 does not require presence in the US for a particular length of time, but it does require that she be "residing" in the US at that time. Whether she was residing is a subjective determination that looks at many factors. The length and character of her stay does play a role in the determination. See USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 12, Part H, Chapter 2, section E, for details on how USCIS defines residence, and see 8 FAM 301.10-2(F) for how the Department of State defines residence.

The officer denied the passport because they determined that your daughter is not a US citizen because they're saying she did not "reside" in the US after she became a permanent resident. They are not "revoking" her citizenship because they are saying she never had US citizenship in the first place. The fact that she was previously issued a US passport does not necessarily mean that she was a US citizen, because US passports could have been issued in error (and there are cases of people who were deemed to have never been citizens despite previously having been issued US passports). So saying that she got a US passport previously is a weak argument against denial now for not being a US citizen. You must argue that she became a US citizen, by arguing that she met all the requirements of iNA 320, including the requirement that she was residing in the US.
 
Thanks very much for replying. The problem is that she was residing in the US for 3 weeks only and then we had to leave. She did meet all requirements of INA 320 at the time to be issued a US passport and she automatically acquired citizenship upon entering the US with an immigrant visa which was based on the fact that I am a US citizen. So now that the residency is the problem what are my options? Do I have any at all?
 
She was physically present in the US for 3 weeks. Whether she "resided" in the US is in dispute. You are saying yes; they are saying no. A lawyer can help make your case.

Is she planning to go to the US anytime soon?
 
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