Aminorjourney

So we've just successfully completed the pre-immigration part of the process of moving to the U.S. My American Wife (who is here on IRL) and I have been together for twelve years. We've been married for six.

As a consequence and after all the right paperwork was submitted, I'm now in receipt of an IR1. Our two adopted kids are now in receipt of IR2, and we picked up THE BIG ENVELOPES and our passports yesterday.

Inside our outer package along with our passports was the letter instructing us to pay the USCIS for the green card, with each of the three of us getting a similar letter. However, as I understood it since my kids have a U.S. citizen as a parent they're immediately eligible for U.S. Citizenship. Indeed, at the embassy, that was kind of the conversation which was had with an advisor there. We didn't need to put them on the affidavit of support as dependents either, because they'll be eligible for U.S. citizenship.

So, I really really do not want to pay unnecessary money for my two kids to get IR2 green cards when they just need to apply for citizenship.

What should I do? I've learned the hard way that the embassy does sometimes get things wrong....

ian-mstm

Correct - so long as they meet all 3 requirements:

1) are under age 18
2) are in the legal and physical custody of a US citizen parent, and
3) are admitted to the US in lawful immigrant status.


They must each have an I-864W, regardless.


They don't actually apply for citizenship. Citizenship will be automatic as a matter of law once they meet the 3 requirements above. They can immediately apply for US passports and/or for a Certificate of Citizenship (N-600). Applying for both is a good idea! Please search for prior threads to discover why... we really don't want to hash it out again!

I agree, the children do not need green cards, and so do not need to pay the fee.

Ian

MarylandNed

When USC's, the kids are required to leave/enter the US using US passports so I would apply for their US passports as soon as they are eligible (Ian has already stated the requirements). As Ian said, US citizenship certs are not required for their US passport applications (although, of course, you'll still need all the other required documentation for proving their US citizenship when you apply for US passports). If you wish, you can also apply for their US citizenship certs to make it easier to prove their US citizenship later (especially when you're dead & buried and the kids have no clue how it all happened) but this is an optional step and, again, I think the first step is to get the kids' US passports.