N-400 for kids under 18yrs of age

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kurtkarl0722

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

We are planning of applying for US Citizenship this month of September 2013. We have a 17yrs old Son but turning 18 this coming November 2013. We are confused whether to include our Son with us in our N-400 application before he turns 18. This way, he will be an automatic US citizen since he is under 18 and also for us not to pay for his application in full amount. This is our understanding only.

We know that N-400 application process would take 5 months before we could get our US Passport and Certificate of Citizenship which these two documents are requirements when applying your kids for citizenship if the kids are below 18yrs of age. So by the time we have our US Passport and Certificate of Citizenship, our Son would be 18 yrs old already.

So we don’t know if we will include him in our application (by having him his own N-400 application) so he can go with us the same time we will be doing our interview OR do ours first (Me and my wife only) then apply him later once we have these two documents? Chances are, our son might still be still under 18 (if our N-400 processing done by Nov) or he might be 18 already wherein in this case he has to file for his own N-400 and be doing his interview alone too.

Any inputs will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
 
We know that N-400 application process would take 5 months before we could get our US Passport and Certificate of Citizenship which these two documents are requirements when applying your kids for citizenship if the kids are below 18yrs of age.
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Only one of those documents is required to apply for your children's passport or citizenship certificate. It's not necessary to have both.

All your children must be listed in the section of the N-400 which asks about your children, regardless of their age or whether they will be eligible to derive citizenship. So list him anyway. If he wants US citizenship he'll have to file his own N-400 on or after his 18th birthday, because you almost surely won't be able to complete the citizenship process by November if you apply in September.
 
Thank you for the Information Jack,

So if we will apply now (just me and my wife) for N-400 and do our Sons after we receive our US Passport or Certificate of Citizen, would my Son need to apply for N-400 or N-600 to be a US citizen?

Thank you again.
 
kurtkarl0722 said:
Thank you for the Information Jack,

So if we will apply now (just me and my wife) for N-400 and do our Sons after we receive our US Passport or Certificate of Citizen, would my Son need to apply for N-400 or N-600 to be a US citizen?

Thank you again.
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If you kid turns 18 BEFORE the day of your citizenship oath, they will have to aply for N-400 on their own. If they are still under 18, they can derive citizenship from you and can either apply for a US passport directly or apply for a certificate of citizenship.
It is highly unlikely that your oath will take place before your son turns 18 if you file N-400 in September.

Once cannot file N-400 if one is under 18 years old.
 
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Hi,

Thank you for all your replies. Really appreciate it.

So in this case, we will just submit our N-400 (just me and my wife) this September 2013 and include our Son in our application. Since most likely we will be getting our Oath after November 2013, we will just apply our Son his own N-400 sometime next year.
 
When do you complete 5 years as a permanent resident? If your 5-year GC anniversary is after your son's 18th birthday, that guarantees he won't be able to derive citizenship through you. Although you can apply and be interviewed before the 5-year mark, you can't have the oath before the full 5 years are complete.
 
kurtkarl0722 said:
Hi,

Thank you for all your replies. Really appreciate it.

So in this case, we will just submit our N-400 (just me and my wife) this September 2013 and include our Son in our application. Since most likely we will be getting our Oath after November 2013, we will just apply our Son his own N-400 sometime next year.
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I am not familiar with the process for USC for kids and hence am asking a question out of curiosity here. What is the reason to not have your son get USC at the same time as you, especially when it sounds like its easier to apply together?
 
Dedo said:
I am not familiar with the process for USC for kids and hence am asking a question out of curiosity here. What is the reason to not have your son get USC at the same time as you, especially when it sounds like its easier to apply together?
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Son cannot file N-400 since he won't be 18 years old when parents file their N-400's. Son would turn 18 when parents get citizenship, so he cannot get derivative citizenship. This leaves the son with no choice but to wait until he turns 18 and then file N-400.
 
Jackolantern said:
When do you complete 5 years as a permanent resident? If your 5-year GC anniversary is after your son's 18th birthday, that guarantees he won't be able to derive citizenship through you. Although you can apply and be interviewed before the 5-year mark, you can't have the oath before the full 5 years are complete.
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Hi jack,

Our 5-year GC anniversary is Nov 30 of 2013 which is after my sons 18th birthday which is on Nov 28 2013.

Thanks again.
 
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