budleigh

I became a naturalized US citizen last Thursday, with my husband due to attend his oath ceremony next Thursday.
We have 3 kids all born in the UK, oldest is 15. The kids automatically became citizens after my oath ceremony but we are looking at the new filing fees for N600s, for 3 kids, ouch!!

Very tempted to just go with the passport and card for each of them but can anyone think of any reason that it would be a good idea to spend over 3K on certificates?

My husband was born in the Middle East and son has a Middle Eastern sounding name, do you think we should get him a certificate just to be on the safe side?

TIA

Rete

Get each of the children a US Passport. Since the filing fee is so high for the N-600, why not budget to get one each year. Start with the son you are concerned about. Although don't all your children have middle eastern sounding surnames? I know of several people who never did the N-600 for their children and just went with the passport. That said, many authorities here on BE say it is something that should be done in case the passport lapses or is lost, etc.

Congratulations.

PS there is a long running N-600 thread on the forum you should be reading. http://britishexpats.com/forum/us-im...cently-853150/

ian-mstm

That thread is not appropriate. The N-600K is for people who reside outside the US and who are attempting to claim US citizenship via a parent or grandparent. The OP's children already are US citizens.

Ian

Rete

Thanks, Ian.

budleigh

Thanks Ian, I think it is the N-600 though, https://www.uscis.gov/n-600 to apply for citizenship certificate.

budleigh

Thanks Rete, Passport lapses/losses are a definite consideration.

With the fees going up in such large increments we probably shouldn't leave it too long. I will take a look at the other thread too.

ian-mstm

Correct.


The fees have just been increased. They're unlikely to go up again within the next 5 or so years.

Ian

MarylandNed

I don't think it's necessary to get N600 for the kids - I didn't for mine. The usual case for getting N600 is that it makes it easy to prove derived US citizenship should the US passport get lost.

I agree that you should get a US passport card along with the US passport book for each kid. If the US passport book is lost, the US passport card can be used as proof of US citizenship for a new US passport book application. Also, expired passports are returned whenever passports are renewed and these expired passports can also be used as proof of US citizenship for future passport applications. At this point each of my kids have a US passport card, an expired US passport book and a current US passport book. The number of expired US passports will grow with each renewal. I think that's sufficient.

cynthia786

My husband and I became citizens in 2012 and my son and daughter became citizens automatically. Although at the time I didn't apply to get them the certificate of citizenship as I didn't have the extra $1200.00 required, I knew that this was something I was going to do when I had the money. Fast forward to the 2016 elections and my growing trepidation with the way things were playing out (even though I was born in Kuwait, we are not of Middle-Eastern origin, not Muslim, nor do we have Middle-Eastern/Muslim-sounding names), as well as the planned increase in filing fees and I decided to borrow the money for the application. I managed to send in the paperwork just before the increase and expect to receive the certificates in 5 months. I don't know if the kids will be called to have their biometrics done as they are now 14 and 17.
It might seem like overkill, but it gives me peace of mind knowing that this is one obstacle/ hurdle that the kids will not have to deal with later on in life.