Need help...am i eligible for n-600?

M

makebreak

Registered Users (C)
Hello everyone,
Need some help with this. I applied for n400 and had an interview yesterday. During the interview, the ins officer told me that i might be a citizen under the law. I passed the interview and the officer did not request any other documentation. She will have to consult with the other department (N-600?) and make a decision. So i am waiting for the letter.
My question is: am i eligible for n-600? Here's the whole situation. My step mom is a citizen. She married my dad and brought us over here to the states. My dad then became a citizen in 1997. I was under 18 when he became citizen. I read the instruction for n-600 and this little paragraph caught my eye.

"NOTE: If you are now over the age of 18 years but all of the above conditions applied to you before your 18th birthday and you were under the age of 18 on February 27, 2001 (the date the law took effect), you may file this form to obtain a certificate of citizenship."

The problem is, i'm not under 18 on that date (02/28/2001). So am i eligible?
 
Tricky, let's see what they tell you. The good thing is that you have already spent your money on the N-400, so hopefully one way or another you'll get your citizenship. I think before 2001 you would need both parents to be citizens, in this case I am not sure because you had your father as a citizen, but then your stepmother as a citizen. I don't think stepmothers count, but I might be wrong. Bottom line, and in my humble opinion, I don't think you derived citizenship through your dad, as you are pointing that you were older than 18 on Feb 21st, 2001. Good thing is that you passed the interview and the oath should come pretty quickly. Please let us know what you find, and what they tell you as I find your case very interesting.

Good luck.
 
If your father had legal custody over your then you might be a citizen.
Keep in mind that that "legal custody" must have been awarded by court, for instance during divorce. So, if your father had such a court decree granting him sole legal custody over you, then you might be a citizen now
 
Huracan said:
Tricky, let's see what they tell you. The good thing is that you have already spent your money on the N-400, so hopefully one way or another you'll get your citizenship. I think before 2001 you would need both parents to be citizens, in this case I am not sure because you had your father as a citizen, but then your stepmother as a citizen. I don't think stepmothers count, but I might be wrong. Bottom line, and in my humble opinion, I don't think you derived citizenship through your dad, as you are pointing that you were older than 18 on Feb 21st, 2001. Good thing is that you passed the interview and the oath should come pretty quickly. Please let us know what you find, and what they tell you as I find your case very interesting.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Will do. So now, the wait game. Hopefully, i don't have to spend the extra 460 for the N-600. :mad:
 
bertgolz said:
If your father had legal custody over your then you might be a citizen.
Keep in mind that that "legal custody" must have been awarded by court, for instance during divorce. So, if your father had such a court decree granting him sole legal custody over you, then you might be a citizen now
Click to expand...

Not sure if my dad had legal custody over me. They got married, legally. Then my stepmom brought us over here to the States. We then lived together ever since. Gotta ask my parents about this for sure.
 
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makebreak said:
Is this before the new law was enacted?
Click to expand...

No, I think lazycis has been a bit lazy in checking the facts ;) He has pointed you to the law after Feb 2001. I still think your best bet is to wait for USCIS determination, but it looks to me like you probably didn't derive automatic citizenship. One way or another it looks like you'll be a citizen in a few weeks which is the good news.
 
makebreak said:
Is this before the new law was enacted?
Click to expand...

As Huracan pointed out, that's the curent version. The previous version read:

“(a) A child born outside of the United States, one of whose parents at the time of the child’s birth was an alien and the other of whose parents then was and never thereafter ceased to be a citizen of the United States, shall, if such alien parent is naturalized, become a citizen of the United States, when—
“(1) such naturalization takes place while such child is unmarried and under the age of eighteen years; and
“(2) such child is residing in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the time of naturalization or thereafter and begins to reside permanently in the United States while under the age of eighteen years.
“(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall apply to an adopted child only if the child is residing in the United States at the time of naturalization of such adoptive parent, in the custody of his adoptive parents, pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence.”

Looks like you qualify under the old version as well.
 
Just an update: my next appointment is on Feb 9. INS wants to see the marriage certificate of my dad's previous marriage.

I have a question though. Say i do qualify for N600. But because of some reason, i can't produce the evidence. Will i be qualified for N400 then?
 
With the information you have provided so far I would say to continue with the N-400 process and see what USCIS tells you. You are not going to get your money back, so at least get your money's worth of your N-400 application. The problem is that if they tell you that you qualify for N-600 because they think you are already a citizen you might end up applying for N-600 and get denied there. It would be great if the outcome of N-400 were a certificate no matter what, I mean whether one is already a citizen or not, as it is pretty much the same amount of work and research. If they tell you that you are a citizen in their eyes and to apply for N-600 make sure that you get that in writing. Again, the problem would be that you would still have to wait a few months to complete N-600 and in the meantime if you don't have other means of obtaining a passport you would have a hard time proving your citizenship. Anyway, all of this is hypothetical talk. I still think that you will get your citizenship through naturalization.
 
There is a problem with the marriage certificate. My dad misplaced the original. And we have only a copy of it in another language. I am thinking just to translate it and get it notarized. Not sure if that'll work but that's all i've got.

I've already pass the N400 interview. So they're now deciding whether i'm already a citizen or not. Wanting to see my dad's previous marriage certificate suggests that they believe i am qualified for n600 and already a citizen. But if i can't produce the marriage certificate, what else can i do?

Man, why can't the INS naturalize me already without going through all of this? Either way, i'm a citizen. :confused:
 
Translate the copy yourself along with a sworn statement that you are fluent in both languages and that is it a true and exact translation. However, they may want to see the original. If so, they should give you additional time so that you can obtain a certified copy from your country of origin.
 
Just an update on my case....need some serious help with this as i am totally confused.

Well, my little sister just went to an interview. She passed and just got her Oath Ceremony letter. What's going on? Should i call in to find out? Need some help as i'm totally lost on what to do? She got her citizenship and i didn't? How can that be.
 
Should i go back to the local immigration office to ask them the status of my case? What should i bring? I only have my application number.
 
Is it wise to go there and speak to an immigration officer about my case? Ask them why did my sister receive her citizenship and not i? Would that just irritate them? I am just so confused about this whole mess. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Read my first reply. Most likely you didn't derive citizenship. You can schedule an Infopass to find out more details about the status of your case. It is possible that the IO took seriously that you might be a citizen and put your application into a different queue to find this out. The Infopass shouldn't have any adverse effects, so go there and ask about what's going on. You should have heard something from them by now.
 
Thanks i will try the Infopass. I waited 2 months to give in additional evidence. Now i will have to wait for another 2 months for a decision. That's crazy.
 
Just got my decision today. I'm seriously thinking about requesting a hearing because the explanation they gave me doesn't seem right at all. So let me hear what you think.

Well, USCIS stated that i'm INELIGIBLE for N-400 because i'm already a citizen through my father. The weird part is the law they used to state that i derived my citizenship. They used: INA Section 321 [8 USC 1432]. I check the code and Section 321 has been repealed since Oct of 2000.

NOTE: If you are now over the age of 18 years but all of the above conditions applied to you before your 18th birthday and you were under the age of 18 on February 27, 2001 (the date the law took effect), you may file this form to obtain a certificate of citizenship."

I was not under 18 on 2/27/2001. So that forbids me from filling N-600 right?

Anyway, i'm not sure if i should apply for N-600 because it clearly states that if you're not under 18 you are not eligible which i'm quite certain i'm not. So should i just request a hearing and bring up that little fact? What do you do in a hearing? Can i go to the Service office they made the decision and speak to an office about that little fact and see what they think? Anyway thanks for your input. Oh, is the title 8 of the USCIS code the law that we should all follow and up to date (law that took effect)? Where did they get that little excerpt?

I have only 30 days left for a request of hearing and i like to find out as much as possible before i do. Hopefully someone can help me out a little. Thanks.

BTW, there wasn't a signature where they explain the reason why i was ineligible. The letter does have a signature, not hand written, on the first page. The attached papers, which contain the explanation, did not come with any signature. Maybe i should ask for one when i go visit them? How should i go about it?
 
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