N-600 Application Filed - Can I Register to Vote?

R

RicoCA

Registered Users (C)
Hi everyone,

I love this forum, it has so much helpful information and it's always great reading about other peoples' experiences and to see everyone helping one another as best we can. What a truly great community. :cool:

As for myself, I JUST filed and sent in my N-600 application for a Certificate of Citizenship. I had no idea I was a citizen since I was 15... and only found out recently and applied.

Here's my question, now that I know I'm a citizen, can I register to vote? I really want to participate in this upcoming election as it's a big one for governor of California, etc...

I came to the US when I was 2 years old, became a legal permanent resident when I was 4, lived in the US all my life since then, school, work, etc. My mother and father divorced when I was 13 and my mother naturalized when I was 15.

I just renewed my green card like 2 years ago thinking I was still an LPR... so if I register to vote before I get my actual certificate, are there any red flags here?

Thanks for any help you can provide!
RicoCA
 
I know that the upcoming election is very important. However, as there has been a divorce in your family and depending on when you turned 18 and all that there might be a chance that the N-600 could be denied. I would just wait and let this election go. You wouldn't like to find out you need to naturalize and have to explain that you registered to vote and voted because you had a reasonable expectation of being a citizen. You could also try to apply for a passport, that is faster than N-600, if you get the passport then register yourself to vote and vote. Again, there could be a slight chance that department of state and USCIS disagree on your situation, but it shouldn't happen, so if you get a passport it is very, very likely that your N-600 will also get approved. Again, depending on circumstances (and perhaps you have already explained them in another post) you might have or not derived citizenship. For example under the child citizenship act of 2000 your naturalizing mother should have had legal (with court document) and physical custody of you before you turned 18. Again, I don't mean to scare you, but I wouldn't register to vote until either you get a US passport or the N-600 approved.
 
Hi Huracan,

Thank you for the pragmatic advice - that's how I was leaning, although it's natural to be anxious and excited about voting for the first time :)

I turned 18 in 1995 so the law post Feb 2001 doesn't apply to me. With that said, I did include all the paperwork and court rulings around my parents' divorce, as well as a court document showing my mother being granted sole legal and physical custody of me after the divorce. :)

I also included copies of my mother's tax filings correlated to my junior high school and high school transcripts (grades 7-12) showing matching addresses (overkill, I know).

My girlfriend (she's an attorney) and I went over my application and supporting documents very thoroughly a bunch of times before we both came away satisfied that I met all the requirements...

With that said, you're right, I should still play it safe and sit out this next election. I wonder if I can use this same logic to sit out jury service :P
 
RicoCA said:
Here's my question, now that I know I'm a citizen, can I register to vote?
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How are you so sure that you're a citizen and that the government will also think so, especially when considering that you turned 18 before Feb 2001 so your burden of proof will be more difficult?

Have you obtained a US passport or applied for it yet? The N-600 certificate takes 3-6 months, whereas the passport is issued in days or weeks. So apply for the passport if you haven't already done so, and if you request expedited service you might get it before the deadline to register for the upcoming election.
 
Jackolantern said:
How are you so sure that you're a citizen and that the government will also think so, especially when considering that you turned 18 before Feb 2001 so your burden of proof will be more difficult?
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I guess I'm not 100% sure, I'm about 99% sure. The only difference in the law previous to Feb 2001 was that in my case, both parents had to be naturalized before I turned 18 whereas the new law states only one of the parents has to naturalize for child to get derivative citizenship. If parents divorced, then child can gain derivative citizenship via the parent with sole legal/physical custody. This happens to be the case for me and I provided extensive documentation around it.

Only time will tell, I was hoping to vote but can wait.
 
Jackolantern said:
Have you obtained a US passport or applied for it yet? The N-600 certificate takes 3-6 months, whereas the passport is issued in days or weeks. So apply for the passport if you haven't already done so, and if you request expedited service you might get it before the deadline to register for the upcoming election.
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Oh yeah, I never applied for a US passport as I had no idea I was a citizen or that the derivative citizenship law existed until a few months ago. I just checked the requirements for applying for a US passport and I don't have proof of US citizenship via their requirements (US birth certificate, certificate of naturalization, certificate of citizenship) so it sounds like I'll have to go through the N-600 process before being able to apply for a passport (bummer).

Thanks for the suggestion though!
 
RicoCA said:
Oh yeah, I never applied for a US passport as I had no idea I was a citizen or that the derivative citizenship law existed until a few months ago. I just checked the requirements for applying for a US passport and I don't have proof of US citizenship via their requirements (US birth certificate, certificate of naturalization, certificate of citizenship) so it sounds like I'll have to go through the N-600 process before being able to apply for a passport (bummer).
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No you don't need the N-600 to get a passport. The web site only lists a certain set of commonly used documents, they don't list a complete all-encompassing set of all documents under the sun that can be used as proof of US citizenship when applying for the passport.

Basically all you need for the passport is the same thing you provided for the N-600, except that for the passport application they'll take the original naturalization certificate of your parent, not a copy. Then the certificate will be returned about the same time as the passport is delivered (but in a separate mailing a few days earlier or later).

Here is an example of someone who derived citizenship through parents naturalization and successfully obtained a US passport without the N-600: http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?315588
 
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Jackolantern said:
No you don't need the N-600 to get a passport. The web site only lists a certain set of commonly used documents, they don't list a complete all-encompassing set of all documents under the sun that can be used as proof of US citizenship when applying for the passport.
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Hi Jackolantern,

THANK YOU for pointing me to the other thread and for this additional information. This is awesome news. I'm gonna go for it and apply for my US passport, I really have nothing to lose, aside from waiting 6 months for the n600 and losing out on voting this November.

Thank you thank you thank you!
 
RicoCA said:
Hi Jackolantern,

THANK YOU for pointing me to the other thread and for this additional information. This is awesome news. I'm gonna go for it and apply for my US passport, I really have nothing to lose, aside from waiting 6 months for the n600 and losing out on voting this November.

Thank you thank you thank you!
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Also, it will be a good idea to avoid jury duty until you are a US citizen. It could come back to bite your knees. Apply for a US passport and see what comes out of it. Good luck...

Don't worry about the governorship, Meg is buying her way into Sacramento and position herself for national office in 2016. Remember Reagan, from CA to DC...
 
Al Southner said:
Also, it will be a good idea to avoid jury duty until you are a US citizen. It could come back to bite your knees. Apply for a US passport and see what comes out of it. Good luck...

Don't worry about the governorship, Meg is buying her way into Sacramento and position herself for national office in 2016. Remember Reagan, from CA to DC...
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I actually got summoned and had to check in on Tuesday... in the past I just ignored all summons as I figured I didn't qualify but this past Tuesday I actually called in to check and made sure my group was dismissed. Glad we were dismissed as I like my knees and would hate to get them bitten.

As for Meg, no comment, I'm really torn b/t her and JB.

Finally, I checked the State Dept website about applying for a passport and showing secondary evidence of citizenship. There isn't any direct language around proof via derivative citizenship except born abroad US citizens. I wish I could post the URL but the forums won't let me until I've got 15 posts under my belt :)
 
RicoCA,

I think you have a good shot at citizenship as your mother had sole and legal custody of you. I should have been more clear when I recommended you to apply for a passport. Yes, Department of State will probably want to see the same kind of documents as USCIS but in original, at least the original naturalization certificate. They will like to see the court papers about custody and divorce but you should have a good chance of getting a passport within a few weeks and be able to register to vote and vote.
 
Huracan said:
RicoCA,

I think you have a good shot at citizenship as your mother had sole and legal custody of you. I should have been more clear when I recommended you to apply for a passport. Yes, Department of State will probably want to see the same kind of documents as USCIS but in original, at least the original naturalization certificate. They will like to see the court papers about custody and divorce but you should have a good chance of getting a passport within a few weeks and be able to register to vote and vote.
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Hi Huracan,

I think so too, I just asked my mother to send me her naturalization certificate, so she's going to send it certified mail to my office - and we'll take it from there. I just double checked the DS-11 form and it clearly states there the requirement:

1) If You Claim Citizenship Through Naturalization Of Parent(s): Submit the Certificate(s) of Naturalization of your parent(s), your foreign birth certificate,
and proof of your admission to the United States for permanent residence.
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I pretty much have everything from the N-600 application process so once I get the original copy of my mom's nat.cert. I should be good to go. I have translated foreign birth certificate, notarized with affidavit of competence in translation, and I have the original documents from when I was a baby and became an LPR =) Edit: also, I have the court orders showing clearly the divorce of my parents before she naturalized, and that she was granted sole legal/physical custody =)

I signed up for expedited service, so hope to get quick turnaround to this. Thanks everyone for your help and guidance here. This is really a great community.

Really excited to partake in my first election!
 
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RicoCA,

Just go with JB. Meg is just trying too hard, which means CA is going to be screwed even further by her need to prove her conservative reputation to earn a spot in the 2016 ticket.

I think you did a smart thing by applying for expedited, it should give you a quick resolution before end of two weeks.
 
JB was mayor of my city and didn't put our city in a very good position :(

JB used to work out at the same gym I went to so I would see him all the time, it was so weird, working out side by side w/ him, but never having the guts to say hello! haha silly me

I haven't applied yet for my passport, waiting for my mom's nat cert (should get here by next Tues) but yeah, I filled out the expedited checkbox. Which means it'll cost $195 total for the passport ($110 for the passport book, $25 processing fee, $60 expedited fee) - that plus the $460 that was just taken out of my bank account by USCIS yesterday for the N-600 and wooooo, I'm in the poor house! =) but it's all worth it!
 
So it's been 8 days since I applied for N-600. My check was cashed for $460 last Thursday. Should I get some kind of confirmation of receipt of application via postal or e-mail?

Still planning on applying for passport once I get my mom's nat cert...
 
RicoCA said:
Thanks Al!
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Did I mention that it is pigeon mail for all N600 cases? Do you receive pigeon mail in your area? If not, you might want to call the local post office to pick the mail at their pigeon mail station, because carrier pigeons aren't allowed in some neighborhoods. Also, all those pigeons are owned by Mike Tyson, so if anything happens, he will certainly bite your ear off...lolQQQ
 
Whoa, you went from extremely helpful, to extremely bat crazy in a span of 11 minutes. I guess the shrooms kicked in? J/k.
 
RicoCA,

I'm not sure if you took offense on Al's reply. Al usually likes to make funny postings to take the weight off some of the immigration issues. I'm sure he meant his comment as to say that you shouldn't hold your breath waiting to hear soon about the N-600 as it can be a slow response.
 
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