Passport help - N-600 or not

[inkedking]

Hey guys, My girlfriend and I are going to be in Cancun next June and are needing help with some things related to getting a passport for her. She was born in Honduras then moved to the US when she was 2. (1986). She was naturalized by her Mother. I've read that we can get a passport for her without needing to do the n-600 because of the time frame. If this is true, what steps do we need to do to get everything processed? We have most of her paperwork in my safe..green card, social security card, mothe's citizenship papers, school records, shot records, and all.. Thanks so much guys for the help!

 

[cafeconleche]

Have you looked at the instructions on the passport application form? http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/79955.pdf

She'll need her GC and birth certificate, as well as her mother's naturalisation certificate, to prove she derived citizenship.

 

[Jackolantern]

Copied some posts from the other thread so the context is more clear ...

Thanks for the quick response, Jackolantern.

1. a) She did have a green card when she was under the age of 18 and it's still in our safe. b) She lives with me, so yes.
2. She moved to the US when she was 2, 1986, so yes.
3. She turned 18 in 2002.
4. I believe it was in the mid-late 80's but I'd have to double check that. We have copies of all of her mother's information in the safe.
5. She's not adopted.
6. Her mother had legal custody of her when she was a citizen.
7. Her real father no, step father, yes.

Please double-check that. With the above facts, it doesn't make sense that her mother became a US citizen in the mid-1980s. If her mother became a citizen in 1986 or 1987, that means she would have had a green card since 1984 or before, and if that is true why would she give birth outside the US and leave her daughter outside the US until age 2?

It appears that her mother got a green card in the mid-1980s, not citizenship! When was her mother's naturalization certificate issued?

Her mother was naturalized in 1999.

 

[Jackolantern]

Based on the information you have given, it looks like she derived citizenship in 1999, on the same date her mother naturalized. However, if her mother did not have full custody at that time, but only partial/joint custody, the old law has sometimes been interpreted in a strict way that would not give her citizenship at that time. If they interpret it that way, her citizenship would instead start on Feb 27, 2001, the effective date of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.

In either case she became a citizen before turning 18, the difference is just with the time frame of the supporting evidence. Ideally she should submit evidence to satisfy both interpretations -- i.e. evidence of living in the US with her mother in 1999 on or after her mother's naturalization, and evidence of living with her mother in 2001 (or or after Feb 27). School records would probably be the easiest evidence to obtain (assuming the school still has those records).

As far as her trip to Cancun is concerned ... while it is important for your girlfriend to eventually obtain proper documentation of her citizenship, she doesn't need a US passport to go to Mexico and come back. Mexico will allow green card holders to enter without a visa, and the US will let her return with her green card. Although US citizens are supposed to use a US passport to enter the US, her US citizenship has not yet been confirmed by any US government agency, and there is a tiny possibility that she won't be recognized as a citizen, so she's still free to use the GC for travel.

But if the travel plan is for June 2013, that's more than enough time to get both the N-600 and US passport. The passport takes a few weeks, and the N-600 takes about 2-6 months. If she plans to get both, I would suggest getting the N-600 first in this case. There may be some complexities due to the old laws and custody issues, and the USCIS folks who deal with N-600 are more familiar with the old laws and complex situations than the passport authorities. Once the N-600 is approved, the US passport approval will be automatic but not vice versa. There would also be less paperwork when applying for the passport if the N-600 is approved first.

 

[BigJoe5]

IF she meets ALL the requirements under former INA 321, then her date of citizenship would be the same as her mother. I did not see information about the parent's "legal separation" or "custody" issues or if mom was unmarried and if so, if the biological dad had legitimated her. (It's complicated stuff.)

IF she must rely on current INA 320, then her date of citizenship is Feb. 27, 2001 (the effective date of the change in the governing law).

 

[inkedking]

Helpful

Thank you all, I appreciate everyone's input on this important topic. BigJoe5, the Green Card expired in 2009 and she didn't realize that until we had taken it out of the safe a while back.. What can we do with that? As far as the N-600 goes, I think we'll do that first as you said..just so we have that taken care of. The paperwork for that is pretty much done and ready to be mailed with the check.

Thanks again.

 

[inkedking]

Forgot to mention

She's been living in the US since she was 2 and graduated high school in Tennessee in 2002, I'm sure we can get school records immediately.

 

[inkedking]

.

As I mentioned, BigJoe5, the GC expired and I know you said we wouldn't need a passport to travel next June but what steps would we need to travel to Mexico then?

 

[Jackolantern]

She'll have big problems trying to enter Mexico and return with an expired green card.

With this new information about the green card being expired, I'll say she should apply for the passport first. It's not good to continue for months with no valid document to prove her legal status or allow her to travel internationally, so the passport should be the first priority.

Take all the supporting documents that were going to be used for the N-600 and use it for the passport application instead. Note that the passport application will require her to submit the originals of her green card and mother's naturalization certificate, whereas the N-600 only needs copies of those documents. So make the copies before sending away the originals, if the copies haven't already been made.