dunxiah

Hi. I am a USC & I live in the US. I have a 16 year old son who lives in the UK who is a British Citizen but not a USC. He visits me regularly (once or twice each year for a couple of weeks at a time) on his UK passport using ESTA and has only visited and not ever lived here. However I really think it would be a good idea to get him US citizenship before he is 18. Does anyone have any advice or experience on the best way to do this? I think I can do it by getting him a GC. Once he is in the US with a GC in my custody as a minor under the age of 18 he would immediately "become" a USC based on my status and all I need to do is complete an N400 and go to a ceremony. My question is should I just bring him in and adjust status to GC or should I apply for a GC first via the Embassy in London? Am I misunderstanding the situation? I think as a minor child under 18 with a USC parent he can apply for a GC and then apply for citizenship provided he lives here before he is 18. If I leave it much longer he can still get a GC until he is 21 but he does not automatically have the right to apply for citizenship. Has anyone done this and is my reasoning flawed? Thanks for your help.

BritInParis

Were you a US citizen at the time of his birth?

SanDiegogirl

Where was you son born ?

Rete

If you are not eligible to pass your citizenship to your child, then yes, he needs to enter the US with an Immediate Relative Visa ... you cannot get a green card aboard. Once he enters the US with the approved IR Visa, he will become a USC automatically based on your US Citizen. You won't file an N-400 which is the form to naturalize as he will already by a US Citizen but rather you can file an N-600 to get his naturalization certificate which is proof of his US Citizenship. He/You can also apply for his US Passport once he has entered the US with the approved IR Visa and the US Passport will also be proof of his US Citizenship.

dunxiah

Thanks for the info on the N600. I was not aware, Much appreciated. Anyway - in response to the other questions, I was not a USC at the time of his birth. I naturalized later. He was born in the UK. I actually had not heard of an immediate relative visa? I thought I needed to get him a Green Card as he is an immediate relative. The N600 states that you need to be admitted for lawful permanent residence ( which I thought meant getting permanent residency - GC). It looks like I can file N600 before he is 18 as I am a USC, he is my biological son, he could live here legally and be in my custody. So - my question is do I have to get him permanent residency first and if so do I file in London or do I adjust status when he is here?

Rete

You are still a bit confused. The IR Visa is applied for by you for your son. You file the I-130 and the accompanying petitions in the US at the address specified by the USCIS. Once that is approved, it is sent to the National Visa Center where you will be notified to submit an affidavit of support (I-864) for your son and other mundane documents. Once the affidavit of support is approved it all goes to the US Embassy in London. At that point your son will need to complete more paperwork, if over the age of 16 he needs a police clearance certificate (ACRO) and once that is received he needs to make an appointment for a medical with the doctors at Knightsbridge. He will go online at the site that the US Embassy sends him to make his interview appointment for his visa. At the interview, if he is approved, he will leave his passport and it will be couriered to him with the IR Visa inside of it. He then boards a plane to the US. At the POE, he will go to secondary where the envelope that he is sent by the US Embassy will be opened and examined and he will be photographed and fingerprinted and his passport will be stamped with the stamp version of the green card (I-551). The actual green card will be mailed to the US address he specifies.

As I said you cannot get him a green card in the UK but by getting him the IR Visa he will become a permanent resident/green card holder at the POE.

You cannot file the N-600 until he has the visa and has entered the US.

Rete

Please note that it is fraudulent for him to enter the US for the purpose of staying to file for adjustment of status as he has full intent to do so. He needs to get the IR Visa. It is the proper way for him to become a permanent resident/green card holder. Do not play games with this.

If you start the I-130 process now, he should be in the US within the next 12 months well before his 18th birthday. Damn shame you left it so long.

SanDiegogirl

deleted....answered by own question

scrubbedexpat099

Age freezes but about 15 months for the I 130.

dunxiah

Thank you all for your help. This is exactly what I needed. Really appreciate it. This forum is so helpful. Thank you.

Twinkle0927

zzrmark

Am I missing something? Does the US not consider all persons under 21 as a child, certainly for immigration purposes?

Twinkle0927

Rete

It is also the cut-off date for a child receiving citizenship if the child is living in the US as a green card holder and the parent naturalizes.

zzrmark

Gotcha.
With the draconian state of immigration proceedures at the moment the OP might be glad that his son still has a reasonably accessible window to entry post-19, timelines for over 21's are somewhat lengthy! Hopefully the OP has already submitted the initial paperwork.