clarissageo

When I finally get my Immigrant visa (hubby is USC, I'm the UKC), I know that it will be with conditions for the first two years, as we only got married in December.

To apply for citizenship, can I apply after spending 3 years in the US (two with conditions, one without) or do I have to wait the 2 years with conditions then another 3 years on top without?

I'm just wondering because my boys are nearly 11 and i'm trying to work out if they will get citizenship by default when I apply or if they will have to apply on their own (and knowing how long these things take in theory they should only be 16 but they could end up being closer to 18!!)

AlanR

You can apply 3 years for citizenship less 90 days after the date of your permanent residency assuming you're still married and living with the USC. 2 years less 90 days after your permanent residency date you and your USC husband (both sign the form) will file I-751 for removal of conditions.
I assume that the children were not born in the USA?

clarissageo

Thanks Alan - the difference between the conditional and the legal was getting me all confused - especially with us only being married a year to date.

The children are mine from my previous marriage - both UKC

Folinskyinla

Hi:

The conditional residence is not a form of "temporary residence." It is "lawful permanent residence" in all respects, except that it is subject to a "condition" that one puts in that second application to remove the condition.

I'm using the quotation marks because "condition" is a contract concept that was imported into the immigration laws. An example would be if you had made a contract on September 1, 2000 to rent space in the NYC World Trade Center for a period of 10 years. As part of your obligation to pay the rent every month for 10 years there was an implied "condition" that the landlord would provide that space to you. There was a massive failure of condition on September 11, 2001 and all the tenants no longer had to pay their rent.

BritishGuy36

I believe there's much more mileage in this thread.

I don't know the answer myself, but I reckon that Clarissageo's Citizenship in no way passes down to her kids, and they may "age out". Is this correct?

ian-mstm

You can apply 3 years less 90 days from the "effective from" date on your green card. Conditional... not conditional... doesn't matter.


Your boys will become US citizens automatically (no special paperwork needed) when all three of these conditions are met: 1) they have PR status; 2) they are under age 18; and 3) one of their parents (= you) becomes a US citizen. These conditions don't have to be met in any specific order.

Ian

Rete

Huh?

If she becomes a USC before the child reaches 18, the child is also a USC by virtue of the custodial parent under whose care the child is living. The child must also be a permanent residence.

clarissageo

Thanks for all the responses so far...... Now I'm gonna throw a curve ball in which may or may not confuse things!!

In the UK, Both biological parents have parental responsibility for the children if they were born whilst the parents were married, as my kids were, and therefore my ex has parental responsibility for the boys, and we have had a the mother of all battles getting the leave to remove juresdiction papers signed to even allow us to leave the UK.

Once we do go for citizenship, assuming they don't age out and obviously that I'm still with beloved (although sometimes premier league a$$hole ) USC hubby, will the UKC biological father have any say when it comes to the boys getting a nice shiny blue passport?

I've been told that once we are permanent residents in the US, pretty much any UK orders are worthless unless he gets a mirror order in the US - so does this also apply to things like changing name, getting passports etc? (I do have residency / custody)......

Looks like i've opened a whole new can of worms, and I appologise!!

BritishGuy36

I don't see how a problem would arise re: citizenship, seeing as your kids would never lose their UK citizenship anyway, by obtaining US citizenship.

Name change.....hmmm.....

ian-mstm

The UKC biological parent can object to it all he wants (if he is so inclined), but he is ultimately powerless to do anything about it. Getting a US passport is a *right* of US citizenship... and it is the US government who decides who is/isn't a citizen - not the biological father.


None of this will be an issue for *you*. For a name change for the children though, it depends on whether you have "sole" custody and whether your new husband is going to adopt the children. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along to help sort it out for you. Either way, getting US passports will not be an issue for you or the children.

You have asked the children whether or not they want to change names, right?

Ian

Rete

You have primary custody of the kids as they are here in the US and living with you. There should not be an issue at the time of naturalization. When you naturalize and go for your US Passport, apply for the children's at the same time. They will need in addition to all the same documentation you need, their green cards, their long form birth certificates and helpful if you have your marriage certificate from your marriage to their biological father.

As for the issue of name change, if their father is paying support for them, sees them on visits, etc. you don't have the right to change their names without his input. He is still their father. They cannot be adopted by your new husband / their stepfather until your ex gives his consent.

clarissageo

My name changed when I remarried, and the children already refer to themselves by my husbands surname, just not on legal documents, because of the whole parental responsibility thing. The stupid thing is, between their current name, and my married name the only change is the addition of one letter!

On the leave to remove juresdiction papers we had a clause put in that said 'the children reside with the mother' - which covers the whole residency thing, but under the UK law, the biological father has to give permission - i'm not sure if it is the same with parental rights in the US. He's never paid child support and even when we were in the UK only really spoke to the children once every 3 months or so..... Its so confusing who's laws we will come under once we are Permanent Residents in the US as far as the children are concerned with the biological father being in a different country.

Its very reassuring to know that the citizenship and passport issue wont be able to be ruined by him though.

Manc

once he realizes they can sponsor him at 21 he'll prolly be all over it anyways.

SecretGarden

Hi there,
I went through the US passport thing almost four years ago. I am the USC, with three natural born US citizen children. I wanted them to have passports in the event of a visit to the UK to see my UKC husband's family (he was a K-1 back in 2003/04). At the time, the kids were 11, 8, and 8 (yep, twins!)

The US passport application form required BOTH parents' signatures as their father and I have joint custody although the kids live with me. They also preferred that BOTH parents show up to the passport application appointment. This was no easy task to get their father to agree to do this, as even two years post divorce he was sure I was going to do a runner to the UK with the kids. *sigh* He finally agreed as he was planning a trip to Canada with the kids and thought it would be a good idea for them to have passports.

Anyway, point being that having a US passport might be a *right* for USCs, but child custody issues might supercede that right for minor children. Although my situation was different from the OP's, I wouldn't take it as a given that the kids can get a passport after becoming a USC unless mom and stepdad have sole custody and biological father has waived his parental rights and they can prove that. Of course, much of this is up in the air given the OP's point in her timeline, but certainly food for thought.

Good luck to the OP!

~SecretGarden

BritishGuy36

So what you're saying is that you couldn't be bothered finding a new husband with the exact same surname?