renew greencard before applying for citizenship?

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firefly10

New Member
Hello everyone,

I'm currently 17 years old and am turning 18 in December when I plan to apply for citizenship immediately after my birthday. I still have a couple of questions, though.

1. I moved to the US when I was 10 years old. I have not updated my green card since I've received it and it is not expired. Do I need to renew it before I'm allowed to file for naturalization?

2. Is there any way I can apply for citizenship now so I can receive it by my 18th or should I just wait?

For reference, I live in Nevada

Thanks in advance! I really appreciate it
 
When you're under 18 you can't apply for citizenship on your own. But if any of your parents obtain citizenship before your 18th birthday, you can automatically derive citizenship from them that way (which means you may already be a citizen if they obtained citizenship).
 
1) No need to renew before you apply since GC will still be good for another 2-3 years.

2) You can only apply once you reach 18 years of age.
 
Jackolantern said:
When you're under 18 you can't apply for citizenship on your own. But if any of your parents obtain citizenship before your 18th birthday, you can automatically derive citizenship from them that way (which means you may already be a citizen if they obtained citizenship).
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I'll need to file Form N-600 (Application for Certificate of Citizenship) for that, right?

acr said:
How is it good when it supposed to be renewed at the 14th birthday?
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So I'll definitely need to renew first?

Thanks again everyone! This is excellent advice :)
 
cafeconleche said:
So, your parents became citizens before you turned 18? When exactly?
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I'm sorry, I misspoke. My parents are planning to apply for citizenship in December, but they can definitely file now.

acr said:
No, you do not need N-600. You are a citizen. Thus, can apply directly for the passport. Take you green card, birth certificate, a parent passport to a post office. See complete instructions on . . .
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Even if my parents file today, I doubt that they'll obtain citizenship by my 18th birthday in December. Will I still be eligible for the Child Citizenship Act then?
 
Misspoke? That's rather misrepresentation - a deportable if above 18.:cool:
 
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firefly10 said:
I'll need to file Form N-600 (Application for Certificate of Citizenship) for that, right?
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To become a citizen you don't need to apply for anything if at least one of your parents naturalize before your 18th birthday and you are still living with them, because in that event you would automatically derive citizenship.

But to have proof of your derived citizenship you would need to apply for N-600 and/or a passport. The passport is faster and cheaper, but the N-600 has an advantage in that it doesn't expire, and it serves as a useful backup in case your passport is lost or stolen.
 
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firefly10 said:
Even if my parents file today, I doubt that they'll obtain citizenship by my 18th birthday in December. Will I still be eligible for the Child Citizenship Act then?
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Encourage them to apply ASAP if they are already eligible to apply. Many people are seeing their citizenship process take less than 4 months, so it is possible for them to naturalize before December.
 
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