New US citizen: Immigration process for child born and living outside the US

[Gavs]

Hello, forum!

I hope you can help me out with a question. I have done some research and I think I understand most of it.


Context

• As I'm posting this, I'm still a Green Card holder, but I actually have my oath ceremony tomorrow, so I'll officially be a US Citizen tomorrow.
• I have a daughter that's currently 9 years old and she lives in Mexico (where she was born) with her mom. My daughter currently doesn't have a Green Card, not even an American visa (never had one).
• I was already a US Permanent Resident years before my daughter was born, but not a Citizen.

According to the information I've found, I'm aware my daughter is not eligible for automatic citizenship, I know that in order for that to be an option, my daughter needed to previously have a Green Card, so at the moment I become a Citizen, she would have had an "automatic" status upgrade, but I know this is not the case because of the following reasons:

• I wasn't a Citizen before she was born.
• She currently doesn't have a Green Card.

Obviously, I'm interested in investing in my daughter's future and giving her this opportunity that a lot of people would like to have and doesn't, so, as far as I understand, the option I have is the following:


My assumptions
I can't request for her to become a Citizen without being a Permanent resident first. So I need to fill a I-130 form (Petition for alien resident) so she can become a Green Card holder and eventually a US Citizen.

My questions

• Am I correct with my assumption, is that the process I need to follow in this case?
• If that's the process to follow, would she need to wait the usual 5 years after the Green Card before applying for naturalization or would it be less time in this case?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SusieQQQ]

Are you planning for her to live with you in the US when she gets a green card, and do you have at least joint legal custody? If so and she is still under 18 when she does, she will at that stage automatically acquire citizenship under INA320. It is only if she is over 18 that she would have to have had lpr status for 5 years before naturalizing.

I know there is a process for if she wants to continue to live overseas (that would not be a green card) but I’m not familiar with it.

 

[newacct]

The correct process depends on whether you guys plan for her to move to the US or stay living abroad.

If she will move to the US, the correct path is for you to petition her to immigrate to the US, i.e. to get a green card, by filing I-130. After I-130 approval, it will go to NVC and the consulate for Consular Processing. At the end, she will get an immigrant visa. The moment she enters the US with the immigrant visa, she immediately becomes a US permanent resident (i.e. green card holder). If, at that time, she is under 18 and living with you (her US citizen parent) in the US, she also immediately becomes a US citizen under INA 320, without needing to apply for or do anything. At that point, you can apply for a US passport for her if you want. If she enters the US with her immigrant visa after she turns 18, she will just be a permanent resident, and will need to naturalize under the 5-year rule after living in the US for 5 years, if she wishes to.

If she will remain living abroad, the correct path is for you to apply for her to go through the INA 322 naturalization process by filing N-600K. (To qualify, either you or your US citizen parent will have needed to have been physically present in the US for 5 years up to now, including 2 year after turning 14. But if you naturalized, you probably have been in the US for at least 5 years, so you almost certainly qualify.) After approval, they will ask her to come to the US for the interview and oath. She will get a nonimmigrant visa, usually B2 visitor visa, to enter the US for the interview and oath. This visa requires her to not have immigrant intent, and this is why this route requires that she not intend to move to the US. She becomes a US citizen upon taking the oath, and then she returns to living abroad. The entire process, including the oath, must be completed before she turns 18.