m_rocky said:
I am filing N-400 application for my citizenship. However, do I need to file for my child who is 10 and became permanent resident with me 5 years ago.
Thanks.
Your child can't apply. You have to be at least 18 years old to file N400. However, your child will become a US citizen as soon as you do - through something called 'derivative citizenship'. When you get your Certificate of Naturalization, you can apply for passports for yourself and your child.
See
http://www.ptla.org/immigrants/english/citizenship.htm
Derivative Citizenship
Some children become U.S. citizens automatically, or "derivatively," through their parents' naturalization. (Special rules may apply to immigrants who have done active duty service in the U.S. Armed Forces.) The laws about "derivative citizenship" vary, depending upon the date that the parent(s) naturalized.
On or after February 27, 2001, a child will become a U.S. citizen derivatively as soon as all of the following things happen:
the child is under 18 years old;
the child is or becomes a permanent resident;
a parent of the child is sworn in as a naturalized U.S. citizen after February 27, 2001; and
the child lives with and is in the legal custody of the parent who became the U.S. citizen.
It does not matter in what order these things happen. The child will become a U.S. citizen derivatively through his parent's naturalization as long as all of these requirements are met before the child's 18th birthday. The child could have been living outside the U.S. at the time his parent became a U.S. citizen, as long as he later enters the U.S. as a permanent resident to live with that parent while still under 18 years old.
