Unable to complete N-600 please help

S

suze Daniel

New Member
Hello, I was born in 2001 outside of the US, my dad naturalized in 1996. So I was born a US citizen. However, my relationship with father haven't been the best for the past 3 years and as of right now we are no longer in contact. I wanted to get my Citizenship certificate but when I tried filing for the N600 they asked for a copy of my dad's birth certificate and a copy of his citizenship certificate,I don't have them because he refuses to give them to me when I asked, now I do know what to do. My father was the one who filed for my green card, so immigration have all of the documents because my dad sent them to them when filing for the I-130 for me, so immigration does have these documents in my file. But when I called and talked with a representative, she said they "MIGHT" deny it, so to not lose my money I did not complete the application. So now I am stuck here I do not know what to do, please give me some advise. Thank you!

Ironically, if I try filling the N-400 they will deny it under the premise that I am already a US citizen, but if I send the N-600 they "MIGHT" deny it saying that I did not provide enough evidence to prove that I am a US citizen. Isn't this hilarious!

I also filed the FOIA to get my files but I heard I might have to wait for a whole year, but my green card is expiring soon.
 
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Did you ever have a US passport or a CRBA?

If you were "born a US citizen", then why did you have a green card? If you were born a US citizen, the US consulate would not have issued you an immigrant visa, and instead would have issued you a US passport. You would not have been able to get a green card. Do you mean that you were not a US citizen at birth (due to your father not meeting the conditions to pass on citizenship to you), but became a US citizen upon getting a green card, due to being a minor living in the US with a US citizen parent?
 
newacct said:
Did you ever have a US passport or a CRBA?

If you were "born a US citizen", then why did you have a green card? If you were born a US citizen, the US consulate would not have issued you an immigrant visa, and instead would have issued you a US passport. You would not have been able to get a green card. Do you mean that you were not a US citizen at birth (due to your father not meeting the conditions to pass on citizenship to you), but became a US citizen upon getting a green card, due to being a minor living in the US with a US citizen parent?
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Hello, I do not know how that works to be honest. Yes, immigration told me l am a US citizen all I need is to file for the N-600 or get a US passport. It seems like my father should've made me and my siblings come here on a US passport (I guess). But we all came on an immigrant visa or a green card. My older sister had to file for the N-600 to get her certificate. So we all came here on a green.


And yes I came here when I was 14 years old, we all came here when we were underage. I don't know if that helps.

I am a US citizen at birth (technically and lawfully) because my dad was already a US citizen before I was born. My sister who was born in 1997 only had to file the N-600 to get the certificate because she was already a us citizen too. My older brother however had to file the N-400, because he was born in 1990 and that was before my father naturalized.

I am given more information so you might understand the situation better.
Thank you very much for helping!!!!
 
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Given that you got a green card, most likely you were not a US citizen from birth. You were a US citizen at birth if your father was a US citizen when you were born, and your father met the conditions to pass on US citizenship to a child born abroad at the time of your birth. Basically, for a child born abroad, in wedlock, after 1986, to one US citizen parent and one alien parent, the condition is that the US citizen parent had to have been physically present in the US, before the child's birth, for a cumulative total of 5 years, including 2 years after turning 14. There are more conditions if you were born out of wedlock. So you would not have been a US citizen at birth if a) your father did not meet the physical presence requirement at the time of your birth, or 2) you were adopted.

If you were not a US citizen from birth. You would have automatically become a US citizen under INA 320 when you entered the US with your immigrant visa, as a permanent resident under 18 living in the US in the custody of a US citizen parent.

Your father's birth certificate should not be necessary. But your father's Certificate of Naturalization or US passport valid from when you entered would be necessary for proof of his US citizenship. (Birth certificate might be listed as one of the forms of proof of US citizenship, for people born in the US, but that isn't relevant for someone who was naturalized like your father.) Your parents' marriage certificate would also be necessary as proof of custody; you should be able to get a copy of your parents' marriage record as their child.

You actually don't need to get a Certificate of Citizenship -- as a US citizen, you can apply for a US passport directly -- however, the evidence needed to apply for a US passport would be basically the same as to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship, so you would have the same problem.

I have heard someone say that if you apply for a Certificate of Citizenship, USCIS will be able to look up your parent's Certificate of Naturalization even if you aren't able to provide a copy of it. I don't know if this is true or not. If you try this, you should state clearly in your cover letter that your father naturalized in 1996 but you are unable to get a copy of his Certificate of Naturalization.
 
Hello, an update. I filed the FIOA, I management to get a copy of his certificate of citizenship, I even got a copy of his passport. now the only thing missing is his birth certificate. Can I attach a note stating that I do not have access to his birth certificate. Would that work?

Thank you!
 
As his child you should be able to get a copy of his birth record from the country of his birth (though it depends on the particular country's procedures). However, if you are unable to get it, I think you should be able to say you don't have access to his birth certificate, since that serves no purpose to prove his citizenship (because he was naturalized).
 
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