In A-2 status; how to stay in the US?
 

I would like to add to the discussion if I may? My situation is similar to that described with some differences. My wife and I are also desperate to live permanently in the USA. We also do not have any formal qualifications above GCSE/A Level. Here is the main difference in our situation. We are family of 4 currently living in the USA. We arrived 3 years ago and have another 18 months until we are due to return to the UK. It was my work that brought us here. I work for the British Government and we are here on A2 Visas. Although I like and am good at my job, staying here doing this job is not an option. My work cannot extend my tour any further and even if I were able to obtain a Green Card I could not go on to work for the US Government as you need to be a US citizen to do the line of work that I am in.

My reasons for wanting to stay are simple. Over the last 3 years we have settled here and this has become home to us. We have been back to the UK twice for short visits and it no longer feels the same. Our eldest has easily adapted to school and the US way of life. Our youngest was born here and has dual citizenship (full US birth cert, passport, SSN etc.) I already know that I cannot obtain a Green Card through my youngest child until she is at least 21 years of age. The type of work that I do is office administration (not exactly a labour shortage for this line of work). It would appear that all the odds are against us staying but I’d be grateful for any help or advice that anyone can offer.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

It doesn't look like there are any options. Read the article as follows:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Pulask...ork_in_the_USA

Do you have diplomatic immunity? If so, your child may not be a US citizen.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

You want to start your own thread rather than piggy back off someone elses thread.

Doesn't look good though on the face of it, but you don't say what the other half does, nor what kind of admin work you do, top level exec assistant at a govenment contractor outfit might not be easy to blag but might not be impossible if your willing to not work directly for the government.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

I bet you read the same article I did this year ..where citizenship was revoked in a similar case

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

Can't have been revoked, was never acquired in the first place. However not everyone on "official" status has diplomatic immunity.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

I do not have diplomatic immunity as I do not work for the Embassy. My child definitely has full citizenship. As stated above she has a US passport, birth cert and social security no. I myself have a US driving licence and SSN. However, the only thing that I have which allows me to remain in the US is the A2 Visa. Once my tour is up that Visa will no longer be sponsored and I must return to the UK. Thanks for the link. I'll have a read through it later.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

Even though the child has a US passport, it was likely issued by mistake and therefore can be revoked along with any claim to citizenship. A person holding an A2 visa is not subject to US law for any crimes committed... and therefore is not subject to US jurisdiction. That you don't work for the Embassy is irrelevant.

The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

However, A2 visa holders are not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" and so are not US citizens even though born in the US.

Ian

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

Not everyone holding an A2 Visa is accredited the same status. I and many others like me who do not work for the embassy, are issued with paperwork advising us of this when we first arrive. This is why we do not have diplomatic driving plates and have to obtain a US license. As for not being subject to US law for any crimes committed, I know several people out here that have had to go to court because we do not have diplomatic immunity. If as you say the passport has been issued by mistake then it’s happened to a lot of people. As you have quoted the 14th amendment “All persons born or naturalized in the United States….” Well this is my daughter. She was born here and for that reason does not require an A2 Visa. She must enter and leave the US under her US passport. Her UK passport does not require an A2 Visa. I had all of this information verified by both the US and UK embassies before my daughter was born. I even know people that have had children born in the US, while on tour, obtain a US passport for the child, return to the UK after tour finished then several years later return to the US. The US embassy still issued a new US passport. Still it does little to help my case. Bottom line is she can stay but I can’t. Thanks for the info anyway and please don’t take this response in the wrong way. I am grateful for your advice it’s just I have had my daughters status verified by both UK and US authorities so know that I’m right on this one.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

Ian
Please provide a reference supporting your assertion that every A-2 visa holder automatically has diplomatic immunity ...

The following is from an unofficial source but appears genuine:
http://www.immigration-lawyer-us.com...f-record.shtml

"1) Status of person. A person born in the United States to a foreign diplomatic officer accredited to the United States, as a matter of international law, is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. That person is not a United States citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Such a person may be considered a lawful permanent resident at birth."

Automatic green card, at least ...

"Definition of foreign diplomatic officer. Foreign diplomatic officer means a person listed in the State Department Diplomatic List, also known as the Blue List. It includes ambassadors, ministers, charges d'affaires, counselors, secretaries and attaches of embassies and legations as well as members of the Delegation of the Commission of the European Communities. The term also includes individuals with comparable diplomatic status and immunities who are accredited to the United Nations or to the Organization of American States, and other individuals who are also accorded comparable diplomatic status.

(b) Child born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. A child born in the United States is born subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and is a United States citizen if the parent is not a ``foreign diplomatic officer'' as defined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. This includes, for example, a child born in the United States to one of the following foreign government officials or employees:

(1) Employees of foreign diplomatic missions whose names appear in the State Department list entitled ``Employees of Diplomatic Missions Not Printed in the Diplomatic List,'' also known as the White List; employees of foreign diplomatic missions accredited to the United Nations or the Organization of American States; or foreign diplomats accredited to other foreign states. The majority of these individuals enjoy certain diplomatic immunities, but they are not ``foreign diplomatic officers'' as defined in paragraph (a)(2) of this section. The immunities, if any, of their family members are derived from the status of the employees or diplomats.

(2) Foreign government employees with limited or no diplomatic immunity such as consular officials named on the State Department list entitled ``Foreign Consular Officers in the United States'' and their staffs."


State Department Blue List appears to be here:
http://www.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/dpl/winter2009/index.htm

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

I have always wondered why the diplomatic list (blue list) only appears to include diplomats stationed in washington, dc and does not include other senior diplomats in charge of foreign consulates outside the DC area. It appears to me incomplete in this respect - unless I am mistaken.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

There's a separate list.
http://www.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/fco/s...mmer/index.htm

And it appears that as a general rule, consular officers do not enjoy full diplomatic immunity.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

Thanks for clarifying this JAJ. I am still a bit puzzled though - the first list does include consular officers stationed in DC, the second list includes both those consular officers stationed in DC that are already included in the first list as well as others stationed in other areas. So it seems that DC consular officers are listed in both. I would imagine that DC consular officers have equivalent immunities with consular officers in other areas.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

I see no consular officers on the first list, at least not for the United Kingdom.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

Perhaps it is that DC consuls are more than just consuls and have titles such as "SECOND SECRETARY & CONSUL" or "COUNSELOR & CONSUL", which may mean they are both consular officers as well as senior diplomats.

Every person i checked on the second list stationed in DC does also appear on the first list, perhaps with a slightly different title.

Re: Desperate to live in USA
 

http://faq.visapro.com/A2-Visa-FAQ3.asp#Q3. No more or less official than your source! :)

Ian