N600 vs N600k for Child on a F2 Visa

[Dlee_8]

Hi,

My name is Delwyn Lee. I am a Canadian citizen studying in Bay Area, California. My wife, son, and I moved to California in 2021 to start my studies. My wife was born in the USA and is a US citizen. I am currently on a F1 visa and my son is on a F2 visa.

We are interested in applying for citizenship for my son first, then myself after. From what I understand, the N600K is for children that are not currently residing in the USA; however, for N600K one of the requirements is that the child is “admitted to the United States for lawful permanent residence”. Since my son is on F2 visa (which is not a permanent residence status) but we currently live in the USA, we are not sure whether we should file for the N600 or N600K. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

[newacct]

First of all, N-600 is for people who are already US citizens (who either automatically became a US citizen at birth, or automatically became a US citizen as a permanent resident under 18 living in the US with a US citizen parent). If your son is not already a US citizen, N-600 cannot be filed for him.

I am assuming that your son is your wife's biological child? I am assuming that you have verified that your son did not get US citizenship at birth due to your wife not having met the conditions for transmitting US citizenship to a child born abroad? The key question is whether you guys intend to remain in the US.

If you guys intend to remain in the US, your wife should petition both you and your son to immigrate (i.e. to become US permanent residents, a.k.a. green card holders) and apply for Adjustment of Status by filing I-130 and I-485 for each of you. Once your son becomes a permanent resident, if he is still under 18, he will also immediately become a US citizen under INA 320 due to being a permanent resident under 18, living in the US in the custody of a US citizen parent (his biological mother). After that happens, you could file N-600 to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship for him, but there is no requirement to do so. As a US citizen, he could also just apply for a US passport at any time without needing to file N-600.

If you guys intend to return to residing abroad, then the INA 322 naturalization process (applied with N-600K) might be advisable, if either your wife, or your wife's US citizen parent (i.e. the child's grandparent), meets the 5 years of physical presence (including 2 years after turning 14) requirement.