cgiz

Here is the situation with my friend's mother:

-Her father, a US citizen, registered her birth in one of the overseas US consulates in Asia shortly after her birth back in the 1930s.
-Unfortunately, her birth certificate was lost, but the picture of her on the certificate remains with her (with partial stamp left).
-She's never been to the US and was born overseas.
-Her father's citizenship proof was not available since he's passed away for over 60 years and she doesn't have her father's citizenship certificate.

Question: Is there anyway for my friend's mother to have the overseas US consulate help her to check on her own birth certificate (US citizenship)? Or, is there any government office back in the US that can help to verify her citizenship since she needs to reclaim it?

Any information is highly appreciated. Thanks.

Rete

The Department of State should be the office that can do this for her. I was born in a foreign country of one US Citizen parent and had my birth registered with them by my USC parent. When I needed a duplicate of that registered birth certificate all I had to do was write them in Washington, DC with my name and birth information and information about my father and I was sent a duplicate copy of my birth certificate. Since she is still in Asia then she would have to contact the US Consulate and have them do it for her. Check out their website for the fine points.

Rete

Harry

"Rete" <[email protected]> wrote

    > > -Her father, a US citizen, registered her birth in one of the overseas
    > > US consulates in Asia shortly after her birth back in the 1930s.
    > > -Unfortunately, her birth certificate was lost, but the picture of her
    > > on the certificate remains with her (with partial stamp left).
    > > -She's never been to the US and was born overseas.
    > > -Her father's citizenship proof was not available since he's passed
    > > away for over 60 years and she doesn't have her father's citizenship
    > > certificate.
    > >
    > > Question: Is there anyway for my friend's mother to have the overseas
    > > US consulate help her to check on her own birth certificate (US
    > > citizenship)? Or, is there any government office back in the US that
    > > can help to verify her citizenship since she needs to reclaim it?
    > >
    > > Any information is highly appreciated. Thanks.
    > The Department of State should be the office that can do this for her.
    > I was born in a foreign country of one US Citizen parent and had my
    > birth registered with them by my USC parent. When I needed a duplicate
    > of that registered birth certificate all I had to do was write them in
    > Washington, DC with my name and birth information and information about
    > my father and I was sent a duplicate copy of my birth certificate.
    > Since she is still in Asia then she would have to contact the US
    > Consulate and have them do it for her. Check out their website for the
    > fine points.
    > Rete

Could her father be researched through the Freedom of Information Act form
G639 on the INS (or whatever they call it now) website for all documents
relating to?

There is also a toll free number in the US that the Motor Vehicle Agencies
provide to research birth certificates. I was incorrectly told that it was
for naturization documents but the person on the phone told me it was birth
certificates. From my notes, *I believe* this is the number 1 800 375
5283 - don't know if one can call that number from overseas and can't
absolutely know if that is the best number.

Harry

Rete

Don't know if records from 1930 will be there ;-( Or if you can do that from an overseas address. I was born in 1948 and didn't have a problem with the DOS in obtaining my birth certificate. It was interesting to note that on the BC was all the information on my parentage as well as my dad's military status and orders to return home and our landing information from Springfield, MA.

This poster has never been to the US so I would think to start first with the US Consulate and go from there.

Rete

crg

When was the child born? Was the child legitimate? Were the parents married? Which parent was a US citizen?

If the child was born after 5/24/1934 and never lived in the United States since that time, and the parent wasn't an employee of certain US government occupations such as military, diplomat etc then they may have lost their citizenship. The problem is that citizenship had a retention requirement during that time period which required the child to move in and stay in the US for 2 to 5 years before reaching a certain age or they lost citizenship.

If the child was born prior to 5/24/1934 then they wouldn't have to live in the United States and didn't have to meet retention requirements.

Matrix

"cgiz" <member28222@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    > Here is the situation with my friend's mother:
    > -Her father, a US citizen, registered her birth in one of the overseas
    > US consulates in Asia shortly after her birth back in the 1930s.
    > -Unfortunately, her birth certificate was lost, but the picture of her
    > on the certificate remains with her (with partial stamp left).
    > -She's never been to the US and was born overseas.
    > -Her father's citizenship proof was not available since he's passed away
    > for over 60 years and she doesn't have her father's citizenship
    > certificate.
    > Question: Is there anyway for my friend's mother to have the overseas US
    > consulate help her to check on her own birth certificate (US
    > citizenship)? Or, is there any government office back in the US that can
    > help to verify her citizenship since she needs to reclaim it?
    > Any information is highly appreciated. Thanks.

Prior to 5/24/1934, if either parent is a USC and the USC parent had resided
in the US, the child born in wedlock is a US citizen **at birth**. There was
no retention requirement for the child to live in the US for a certain
amount of time!

The problem now is to prove that the person in question meets all
requirements.

crg

5/24/34 to 1/13/41 and 1/13/41 to 12/24/52 had retention requirements so we need to know when in the 1930s she was born.

Matrix

"crg14624" <member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected] m...
    >> "cgiz" <member28222@british_expats.com> wrote in message
    >> news:[email protected] m...
    >> > Here is the situation with my friend's mother:
    >> > -Her father, a US citizen, registered her birth in one of the
    >> > overseas
    >> > US consulates in Asia shortly after her birth back in the 1930s.
    >> > -Unfortunately, her birth certificate was lost, but the picture of
    >> > her
    >> > on the certificate remains with her (with partial stamp left).
    >> > -She's never been to the US and was born overseas.
    >> > -Her father's citizenship proof was not available since he's passed
    >> > away
    >> > for over 60 years and she doesn't have her father's citizenship
    >> > certificate.
    >> > Question: Is there anyway for my friend's mother to have the
    >> > overseas US
    >> > consulate help her to check on her own birth certificate (US
    >> > citizenship)? Or, is there any government office back in the US that
    >> > can
    >> > help to verify her citizenship since she needs to reclaim it?
    >> > Any information is highly appreciated. Thanks.
    >> Prior to 5/24/1934, if either parent is a USC and the USC parent had
    >> resided
    >> in the US, the child born in wedlock is a US citizen **at birth**.
    >> There was
    >> no retention requirement for the child to live in the US for a certain
    >> amount of time!
    >> The problem now is to prove that the person in question meets all
    >> requirements.
    > 5/24/34 to 1/13/41 and 1/13/41 to 12/24/52 had retention requirements so
    > we need to know when in the 1930s she was born.
That's true. The OP has to be more specific if he/she wants more specific
and substantive answers.

Matrix

"matrix" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]. ..
    > "crg14624" <member20421@british_expats.com> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected] m...
    >>> "cgiz" <member28222@british_expats.com> wrote in message
    >>> news:[email protected] m...
    >>> > Here is the situation with my friend's mother:
    >>> > -Her father, a US citizen, registered her birth in one of the
    >>> > overseas
    >>> > US consulates in Asia shortly after her birth back in the 1930s.
    >>> > -Unfortunately, her birth certificate was lost, but the picture of
    >>> > her
    >>> > on the certificate remains with her (with partial stamp left).
    >>> > -She's never been to the US and was born overseas.
    >>> > -Her father's citizenship proof was not available since he's passed
    >>> > away
    >>> > for over 60 years and she doesn't have her father's citizenship
    >>> > certificate.
    >>> > Question: Is there anyway for my friend's mother to have the
    >>> > overseas US
    >>> > consulate help her to check on her own birth certificate (US
    >>> > citizenship)? Or, is there any government office back in the US that
    >>> > can
    >>> > help to verify her citizenship since she needs to reclaim it?
    >>> > Any information is highly appreciated. Thanks.
    >>> Prior to 5/24/1934, if either parent is a USC and the USC parent had
    >>> resided
    >>> in the US, the child born in wedlock is a US citizen **at birth**.
    >>> There was
    >>> no retention requirement for the child to live in the US for a certain
    >>> amount of time!
    >>> The problem now is to prove that the person in question meets all
    >>> requirements.
    >> 5/24/34 to 1/13/41 and 1/13/41 to 12/24/52 had retention requirements so
    >> we need to know when in the 1930s she was born.
    > That's true. The OP has to be more specific if he/she wants more specific
    > and substantive answers.

If born after 5/24/1934: Since the person in question had never been to the
US, therefore did not have any physical US or OLP residency qualifications,
the only redeeming condition for her is if at the time of her birth her USC
parent was employed by the US government or a specified US organization.

cgiz

Thanks for the various feedback.

As for the "rentention requirement", there has been a law amended waiving the requirement for those born between 1934 and 1978, please see the following from http://shusterman.com/intca.html:
===========
THE NEW LAW
Section 101 of INTCA provides that children born abroad prior to May 24, 1934 of citizen mothers (who had resided in the U.S. prior to the child's birth) and alien fathers are citizens of the U.S. Furthermore, the law treats them as citizens as of the date of their birth. Whether they ever apply for U.S. passports or Certificates of Citizenships is immaterial. However, the law specifically makes persons who participated in Nazi persecutions or who have engaged in genocide ineligible for this benefit.
Section 103 of INTCA allows persons who lost their U.S. citizenship between 1934 and 1978 due to their failure to satisfy the retention requirement the opportunity to regain their citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Unlike section 101 which became effective on October 25, 1994, section 103's effective date is March 1, 1995.

Thousands of persons born abroad and their spouses and children are expected to benefit from these amendments. Many of the persons who will benefit were born in countries bordering the U.S. (i.e., Canada and Mexico) or in countries which were previously territories of the U.S. such as the Philippines. However, the law contains no restrictions regarding the country of birth of the beneficiaries.
================================================== ===

-The person was born in 1936; her father was physically in the US before her birth; but her mother is not a US citizen.
-Again, she's never been to the US.

Can anybody offer any information for any US government agency for her to check her birth report to the consulate? Thanks.

cgiz

Can anybody provide any sources to check from the US domestic agency in case if the overseas consulate couldn't help.