hori_giloh

Hello,

Does anyone know how to prove physical presence inside the US for the purposes of getting a CROBA for a child when you cannot produce any of the suggested documents?

I am a US citizen only by birth inside the US, my wife is a foreign national and our son was born in her country. I was physically present from birth until age 21 continuously in the US, I never had a passport until that year when I left the US.

I was never employed during my time in the US so no tax returns, I had dropped out of school at age 12 so no school records(since received a GED while outside the US). I lived with my parents so no utility bills or leases in my name, aside from the fact my parents claimed me as a dependent on their tax returns and my passport being my first ever I can produce no proof of physical presence.

I met my wife in her country and we got married, I eventually applied for permanent residency and we have lived here since. She got pregnant and had our son, I am on the birth certificate as the father and have pics holding him after delivery, and many since proving he is my son and lives with me.

We've decided to move back to the US and so we finally investigated getting my son a passport, and run into this. Does anyone know if the embassy has the power of ignoring this requirement in otherwise straightforward cases? Anyone have advice?

fatbrit

How old is your son?

hori_giloh

He is ten months old.

crg

US Medical records? Affadavits from people who knew you in the US? Did you register with the selective service?

I wouldn't expect them to ignore any requirements and the case may not seem to be "otherwise straightforward" to them. As far as they know, you never lived in the US.

What about the wife? What mechanism are you using to get her to the US?

ian-mstm

If you can't prove your time in the US, you can't get a CROBA - and so you can't prove that your son is a US citizen from birth. That being the case, there's a relatively easy workaround... you sponsor both your wife and your son for immigrant visas (IV). The day your son enters the US with his IV he will immediately become a US citizen as a matter of law... so no CROBA required.

Ian

A I

Did you get a Driver's License when you became 16?

What did you do with your idle time ? Perhaps Church records, some courses you might have taken ?

Doctor Visits ?

Any paper trail available would work in your favor. Also since you had your first passport late in life (and hopefully still have it) and you have your birth certificate, you have available to show when you were born, and when you left...no stamps in between ought to mean you were still in there...

I would consider giving a hard look at this option...Specially since you truly qualify, you are just having hard time proving it.

Like Ian says, it's not hard to fix if you are really moving back with an Immigrant Visa. Only drawback I can think of is the Medical exam, and possibly additional fees ( think the IV is more expensive than the passport).

fatbrit

As others have said.......if it's going to be a major hassle proving it, just get him an immigrant visa instead. He will become a instant citizen on entering the US with this visa.

The only downside is he can never be president.

JAJ

The Embassy have the power to interpret the law as they see it. If dissatisfied, you can either investigate another method of getting your child US citizenship (there are at least two), or challenge their ruling in a federal court.

Michael

I wouldn't necessarily say that.

Besides Obama, other well know presidential canidates have had been questioned about their right to run for president. Some of the better known included George Romney (Mitt Romney's father), John McCain, Barry Goldwater, and Chester A. Arthur (21st president).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen..._United_States

In the case of George Romney, his entry into the US would have probably been a reason to not allow him to run if his name was Obama.

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/12/24/...y-immigration/

JAJ

Most constitutional scholars are of the view that anyone who was automatically a U.S. citizen at birth is eligible to be President.

A person acquiring U.S. citizenship subsequent to birth is not.

Michael

Yes but the question is did George Romney acquire US citizenship at birth or was it acquired when he entered the US. This sounds similar to the the OPs child if he were to enter as an IR1.

A I

According to the very credible Wiki,

Romney was born to American parents in the Mormon colonies in Mexico

So...likely he was a citizen at birth.


We know if you enter with IR-1 you are NOT a citizen at birth.

(My test is: At birth, were you eligible for a US passport?)

IF I'm wrong, please enlighten me.

hobbes79

Sounds as though the child is American, but the OP can't necessarily prove it.

One could assume that if the child grows up to have the resources to embark on a Presidential campaign, he would also have the resources to drag up enough of a papertrail on the OP to prove he's American

To the OP, try a 2 week trial of ancestry.com. Might be able to drag up a few school records. I believe you've only got to prove 5-years of presence.

hobbes79

I could be way off here, but since to the best of our knowledge the child is American but the OP can't necessarily prove it, wouldn't that make the child ineligible for a greencard?

A I

You are right, but, I would hope reason would prevail.

If he is deemed an American, he should get the passport from the Consulate. If they deny him the passport because they deem him NOT a citizen, they would NOT disqualify him from a GC for being an American Citizen. If so, you could ask the consulate to issue proof that he is a citizen to prove their bluff that he is not qualified for GC since he is an American. Maybe they let you get a passport with that....