Wife and Daughter Citizenship

[rafa1138]

Hi. I need to start the citizenship process for my daughter and wife.

I'm born US Citizen, in 2018 I made the process to grant the Green Card (Permanent Resident) to my wife and daughter. The reason if you ask why my Daughter is because I used to leave overseas when she was born, and I wasn't in the US the last 20 years.

Now I need to grant the citizenship and I know my Wife needs to fill the N400 form. But what about my daughter? She is 12 years old. I have read she needs to fill the N600, but why is this way more expensive than a N400? That doesn't makes sense to me.

Appreciate any help.

Thank you.

 

[newacct]

Assuming this is your biological daughter, then she already automatically became a US citizen under INA 320 the moment she entered the US, as she was a US permanent resident, under 18, who was living in the US in the custody of a US citizen parent (you).

As your daughter is already a US citizen, you can simply apply for a US passport for her at any time, without needing to have obtained a Certificate of Citizenship first. For evidence of her US citizenship for applying for a US passport, you guys would present her birth certificate, her green card or other proof of permanent resident status, proof of your US citizenship, and your marriage certificate as proof of custody. See the US passport Citizenship Evidence page -> Examples of Secondary Citizenship Evidence -> I was born outside the United States -> I became a U.S. citizen through my parent who naturalized or through the Child Citizenship Act of 2000:

• Your foreign birth certificate listing your parent(s)
• Evidence of your parent’s U.S. citizenship such as a U.S. birth certificate, Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA), or naturalization certificate
• Evidence of your permanent residence status. Examples include:
  • Permanent Resident Card/Green Card
  • Foreign passport with the original I-551 visa entry stamp
• Your parents' marriage certificate (if your parents were married when you legally entered the U.S. and before your 18th birthday)

You guys can also file N-600 for a Certificate of Citizenship for her. As you already know, it is pretty expensive and isn't really mandatory for anything if she already has a US passport, but some people like having a certificate.

(By the way, how many years you were out of the US has no bearing on whether your daughter got US citizenship at birth. Rather, it's the cumulative total of the amount of time you were in the US in your whole life (before her birth), that matters. For a child born in wedlock after 1986 to one US citizen parent and one alien parent, the US citizen parent (you) had to have been physically present in the US, any time in your life before her birth, for a cumulative total of 5 years, including a cumulative total of 2 years after you turned 14. It's possible for that to be true even if you have not been in the US for the 20 years before her birth. I am guessing that you failed to meet one of those two conditions.)

 

[rafa1138]

Thank you for the explanation. yes I was born in 1979 and 2 years later I moved overseas. When I moved back to the US she was already born, that is why I had to process the Residence for her. So, is she eligible?

If she is eligible Can I get the passport for her with no other requirement? Even if her mom is still permanent resident? And my other question is, how about her migration process and Social Security (Permanent Resident) status? That will be automatically updated once she gets the passport?

Thank you a lot!

 

[newacct]

So, can I get the passport for her with no other requirement?

yes

Even if her mom is still permanent resident?

That's not relevant.

And my other question is, how about her migration process and Social Security (Permanent Resident) status? That will be automatically updated once she gets the passport?

She wouldn't need to get a new Social Security card since she already has an unrestricted Social Security card as a permanent resident. It's still recommended to update her status with Social Security Administration at some point, as there are some rare state disability benefits that are only for citizens, but in the vast majority of cases, it makes no difference.

Not sure what you mean by "migration process". There is nothing to "update". She will do everything as a US citizen, and where US citizenship needs to be proven, she would present her US passport.

 

[rafa1138]

Is because right now she has a green card as Permanent Resident. Once she gets the passport i forget about the Green Card right? Not sure if when expires USCI will send a letter or something.

Thank you for the explanation. yes I was born in 1979 and 2 years later I moved overseas. When I moved back to the US she was already born, that is why I had to process the Residence for her. So, is she eligible?

So, even when I just live in the US only for 2 years before she was born, is eiligible?

 

[newacct]

Is because right now she has a green card as Permanent Resident. Once she gets the passport i forget about the Green Card right?

Yes. She is actually not a permanent resident right now; she is a US citizen, and has been for the last few years; she just doesn't have proof of citizenship. Her old green card serves as part of the evidence of citizenship for her to get a US passport. Beyond that, you can forget it. In fact, I believe the Department of State will keep the green card when she applies for a US passport. If they keep it and she later wants to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship, she can just state that the Department of State kept her green card.

So, even when I just live in the US only for 2 years before she was born, is eiligible?

For citizenship at birth, no. You needed to have had a cumulative total of 5 years in your life before she was born. And a cumulative total of 2 of the years have to be after you turned 14. So if you left the US at age 2 and never came back, then you only have a cumulative total of 2 years before her birth, and 0 years after you turned 14, so you fail both conditions.

 

[rafa1138]

Yes, I just saw that here:



So the correct move should be first wait for my Wife Citizenship and then apply for my daughter passport right? So we can use this:

 

[newacct]

So the correct move should be first wait for my Wife Citizenship and then apply for my daughter passport right?

No. Your daughter was already a US citizen upon entering the US because you are a US citizen. It doesn't matter under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 if you are a US citizen from birth or by naturalization. It also doesn't matter if you became a US citizen before or after your child became a permanent resident. As long as all of the conditions are met at the same time (since you were already a US citizen, the last condition to be met is that your child became a US permanent resident and is residing in the US in your custody), she became a US citizen. Whether your wife naturalizes is irrelevant. The form instructions are sometimes not very complete.

 

[rafa1138]

So this is what I'm alleguing?

Section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA 320) provides that children acquire U.S. citizenship if they satisfy certain requirements before age 18 which include:

• Have at least one U.S. citizen parent by birth or naturalization
• Be admitted to the United States as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence
• After admission to the United States, reside in the country in the legal and physical custody of a U.S. citizen parent
• If the child is adopted, his or her adoption must be full and final so that the adoption process is legally complete and fully recognized by the U.S. state where the child is residing.