US citizenship for a child

A

acca

New Member
I and my wife are Indian Citizen and will be eligible to apply for US citizenship in Jan 2006. We have two kids, elder is Indian Citizen and has Green Card and younger is US citizen By Birth.

Is it possible to apply for US citizenship for my Elder kid without applying for US citizenship for me or for my wife?

Thanks
 
acca said:
I and my wife are Indian Citizen and will be eligible to apply for US citizenship in Jan 2006. We have two kids, elder is Indian Citizen and has Green Card and younger is US citizen By Birth.

Is it possible to apply for US citizenship for my Elder kid without applying for US citizenship for me or for my wife?

Thanks
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you do't have to apply for your kids. When one or both of you will become citizen and apply for passport at that time you can apply passport for your child if he/she is under 18, that is the cheapest and easiest way to get citizenship for kids.
 
The answer to your question "Is it possible to apply for US citizenship for my Elder kid without applying for US citizenship for me or for my wife?" is "No". Minors don't apply for citizenship. They gain citizenship when one of their parents becomes a citizen (and the child is a permanent resident and is living with the parent citizen).

It happens "automagically". If the parent becomes a citizen, and the child meets the criteria, the child becomes a citizen. If you become a citizen (making your child a citizen), you can apply for a naturalization certificate for the child (via an N-600 application), but that is an "application to become a citizen", it is application to get a certificate that states that the child is, in fact, a citizen.

Look up section 320 of the Immigration act (as updated in 2000).
 
If you do not wish to become citizens yourselves, but want your older child to be one, there are a few ways

1. Your younger child needs to be an adult and sponser the older sibling
2. Your older child needs to go the GC/Citizenship route

But, at Sehaider says, the easiest way for you to get your older child citizenship is when you become a citizen.
 
Older child is GC holder... can he/she apply for citizenship him/herself, after accumulation of 5 years staying in USA and becoming 18 or 21 (?) years old?
I think yes... I had a friend, his family got GC, then daughter turned 21, then they all applied for citizenship at same time independently, and daughter got her citizenship mush earlier than parents!
I hope same will happen with my daughter.....she just turned 21 and got her GC...still need to wait for those 5 years.
 
N-400 application for naturalization can only be made by persons 18yrs or older.

What is not clear to me, is whether GC residency prior to their 18th birthday can be counted into the 5 year waiting period. Presumably yes, but you should probably check into it.
 
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