Mother, Daughter, and Granddaughter

S

ScottG

New Member
Hello,

I have a bit of a compilated question about US citizenship acquired through birth abroad. My wife's mother is a US citizen and married a Canadian man and moved to Canada. She then gave birth to my wife in Canada. I know she didn't file any paperwork with the US embassy or back in the US in regards to my wife's birth. My wife and I now have kids of our own and we are wondering if my wife and our children can file for citizenship through the naturalization route or has to much time past for my wife to file and thus our kids are no longer eligible. We are unclear of the path we should take here or even if there is a path to take. If anyone has any advice we would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
ScottG
 
US citizenship for children born abroad is automatic and involuntary at birth if the conditions are met, and do not depend on any "paperwork" or any other action being taken at any age. Your wife's mother very likely met the physical presence requirements to pass on US citizenship to your wife at birth (the exact requirements depend on the year of birth of your wife, and whether she was born in wedlock or out of wedlock), so your wife very likely has been a US citizen her entire life.

However, if your wife hasn't spent much time in the US before the birth of her kids, your wife likely didn't meet the residency requirements to pass on US citizenship to them. (Again, the exact conditions will depend on the year of birth of the kids and whether they were born in wedlock or out of wedlock; for children born after 1986 in wedlock to one US citizen parent and one alien parent, the condition is that the US citizen parent had to have been physically present in the US before the child's birth for a cumulative total of 5 years, including 2 years after turning 14.)

If the kids are not US citizens, the path for them to get US citizenship depends on whether they are moving to the US or not. If they are moving to the US, your wife (a US citizen) should petition for them to immigrate with I-130, and they will get immigrant visas, and when they enter the US with their immigrant visas, they automatically become US permanent residents (green card holders), and will also automatically become US citizens under INA 320 as permanent residents under 18 living in the US with a US citizen parent. If they are not moving to the US, your wife can apply for them to undergo the INA 322 naturalization process with N-600K, qualifying by using her US citizen mother's (the kids' grandmother's) physical presence in the US of 5 years including 2 years after turning 14. They enter the US on visitor visas to attend the interview and take the oath, and become US citizens.
 
Thank you so much for the information. I'll look into whether my mother-in-law was married to my father-in-law at the time of my wife's birth in 1979. For some reason I don't think they were. After I figure this out and we start the INA 322 naturalization process I am assuming my wife will need some paperwork to prove she is a citizen. What process will she need to follow to get that going?

Thanks again for the info,

ScottG
 
Do you know how much physical presence your mother-in-law had in the US before your wife's birth? So for a child born abroad between 1952 and 1986 to a US citizen mother and an alien father to get US citizenship at birth:
* If the child was born in wedlock, the US citizen parent had to have been physically present in the US before the child's birth for a cumulative total of 10 years, including 5 years after he/she (in this case, your mother-in-law) turned 14.
* If the child was born out of wedlock to an American mother, the mother had to have been physically present in the US before the child's birth for some continuous period of 1 year (could be at any age).

For INA 322 naturalization (I am assuming your kids are under 18, because the whole process, including the interview and oath, must be done before the children turn 18), you would need to file N-600K. But you would need to get proof of your wife's US citizenship first, plus proof of her mother's physical presence in the US. And you would need proof of your mother-in-law's physical presence in the US to apply for proof of your wife's US citizenship (the easiest would be to apply for a US passport for your wife). So you should start by collecting evidence of your mother-in-law's physical presence in the US.
 
I know my mother-in-law lived in the US for at least 17-18 continuous years. Our children are all under 14 currently. I would think there has to be some records such as school records that my mother-in-law would have or we could get to show her presence in the US. So now I have to get the paperwork together to help wife file for a US passport and then we can go from there. Thanks so much for showing me the path. This processes seemed very overwhelming and you have shed some light on it for me.

Thanks,
ScottG
 
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