forestial

I became a naturalized US citizen in October 2009 (was born British). My wife is a Singaporean citizen. We now want to obtain US citizenship for our daughter.

Our daughter was born in Singapore in 1995. We moved to the US in 1996 and became permanent residents in 1999.

In July 2009 my wife and daughter moved back to Singapore and I intend to join them there, pending a job transfer, but have no firm date for this yet. So my daughter is not in my 'legal and physical custody' as of now, though she was for all the intervening years.

It appears that the N-600K is a way to do this; but the 'legal and physical custody' requirement is a problem as long as I am not living with them.

Is there anything else we can do, other than wait until my move to Singapore to establish legal and physical custody? (For various reasons we do not want to wait for that.) If my daughter were to return to the US for a short time would that be sufficient to meet the custody requirement?

(Her green card is no longer valid, though we still have it, because she has been out of the US for more than 6 months. So any return would be on a visitor visa of some kind.)

Is it possible for her just to apply for a passport without going through the N-600K process? (I saw this suggested in another thread, but I don't see how to meet the condition that she must first be a US citizen before obtaining the passport.)

JAJ

Are you divorced or legally separated? You don't say.

forestial

We are still married

Noorah101

Why do you assume her green card is no longer valid if she's been outside the USA for more than 6 months?

Rene

forestial

I was told that by a USCIS officer. She indicated that the immigration officer at a port of entry could deny entry to the country if a green card holder had been out of the US for a long time.

Anyway this is probably not too important for the main question about citizenship - I mentioned it only in passing.

dreamercon

I suspect that the child is most likely already a US citizen. The facts of your case are not too different from Petition of Donsky, 77 F. Supp. 832, 835 (S.D. N.Y. 1948), that had found a child to be residing with her mother even though the child was temporarily residing with the maternal grandparents until the mother and her husband could find suitable accommodations for the child.

I would go ahead and apply for a US passport for your child, while avoiding to mention details that may not be to your advantage.

discoviking

Why on earth would you assume USCIS is going to give you correct information? Speak to a qualified immigration attorney.

Noorah101

It might be important, it might not be, BUT just to clear it up, a POE officer has no right to deny entry to the USA if someone holds a green card, no matter how long they've been outside the USA. The POE officer must let that person into the USA in order to see an Immigration Judge, who will make the determination whether PR status has been abandonded or not.

The "out of USA for more than 6 months" is not a hard and fast rule, there is lots of flexibility there.

Rene

Rete

Did you daughter have a valid green card when you naturalized? You are married to her mother? Then the child should be a USC and should be able to get her US Passport at the US Consulate. She probably will need her birth certificate, your marriage license and your original naturalization certificate.

forestial

So even though her birth certificate shows that she was British/Singaporean at birth, and though I was not a US citizen at that time, she can still get a passport? I thought the passport application process required evidence to prove that she has a claim to US citizenship? In these circumstances, what IS the basis of her claim to US citizenship?

To answer the questions above: yes, she had a green card at the time I naturalized but she had already moved to Singapore 3 months previously. And yes, I am still married to her (non US citizen) mother.

Jerseygirl

As far as I know...if a parent becomes a USC before the child's 18th birthday and providing the child is in the US...the child automatically becomes a USC.

ian-mstm

There are 3 criteria which must be met... in any order! 1) The child must be under age 18; 2) the child must be in the legal and physical custody of a US citizen parent; and 3) the child must be a US permanent resident. Once all 3 criteria are met, the child *IS* a US citizen as a matter of law.

This was true *at the moment* that all 3 criteria were met. Whether all 3 criteria are currently met is irrelevant. Why? Because when it was true, she was automatically a USC... and she can not now lose that status.

Ian

Rete

It does not matter that she was not born in the US. Her basis for US Citizenship is YOU. If she had a valid green card at the time you naturalized and you are legitimately her parent as noted on her birth certificate and married to her mother at the time of her birth (makes life easier), then she qualifies for a US Passport.

Your marriage certificate showing you were/are married to her mother at the time of her birth, her birth certificate listing you as one of her parents, your naturalization certificate showing your US citizenship and her valid green card is all that is needed.

Rete

That is as long as the child has a valid green card. They do not qualify for derivative US Citizenship simply based on parentage.

The parent with the US citizenship should have physical custody of the child if the parents are divorced or legally separated. The OP is making his plans to move back to his country. The only hitch might be if the US Consulate finds that the child has abandoned their green card by not living in the US.

JAJ

I thought the criteria was: "The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence."

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/h...1----000-.html

Is the child a US resident in these circumstances?

I wouldn't recommend applying for a US passport by concealing material facts because that could mean a US passport being issued to a non-US citizen.

Is expedited naturalization a possibility instead? If the parent has 5 years residence in the USA? The law doesn't appear to insist that the parent acquired this residence before the child was born.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/h...3----000-.html

Is a consultation with a good immigration attorney recommended?