Am I eligible for a form N600?

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Am I eligible for a form N600?

I’m 25years old, married and 2 kids. I came to the US 7 years ago when I was 17 through immigration from my stepdad who never adopted me. My biological mother just became US citizen 3 months ago. I want to apply for form N600 certificate of citizenship.

Asked on October 28, 2013 under Immigration Law, Virginia

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 10 years ago | Contributor

Attached is information regarding whether youy are eligible to apply using form N600 for United States citizenship.

Certificate of U.S. Citizenship Form N-600

A person born outside the United States to a U.S. citizen parent(s) may have already acquired U.S. citizenship. Such a person, to document their U.S. citizenship status based on U.S. citizen parentage can file form N600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship.

Who Should File Form N-600 Certificate of Citizenship?

An individual may file form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, if they are trying to claim U.S. Citizenship by law while in the United States or if they were born abroad to U.S. Citizen parent(s).

If an individual is the biological or adopted child of a U.S. citizen parent, they were born outside the United States and they are claiming U.S. citizenship by action of law, they automatically become a U.S. citizen if:

  • At least one parent is a U.S. Citizen by birth or through the naturalization process; and
    The individual lives in the U.S. with their U.S. citizen parent; and
  • The individual was legally admitted as permanent resident. (IMPORTANT NOTE: In the case that a person entered the U.S. as an adopted child, they should have been admitted as an IR-3 - a child adopted outside the U.S. If an individual is coming to the U.S. to be adopted (IR-4), the final adoption must take place in order for this section of law to apply to them); and
  • The individual is still under the age of 18;
  • The individual is the biological child in the legal custody of the U.S. citizen parent prior to reaching their 16th birthday or they are the biological child born out of wedlock and they have not been legitimated and their mother has become a U.S. citizen through the naturalization process.

NOTE: If the case where an individual was under 18 years of age on February 27, 2001, but did NOT meet all the required conditions mentioned above, then that person must qualify for U.S. Citizenship in their own right.

An individual may also file for a Certificate of Citizenship if the following happened before their 18th birthday and prior to February 27, 2001:

  • The individual consistently lived in the U.S. after being admitted lawfully as permanent resident; and Both parents, the parent awarded legal and physical custody of that individual, or the only surviving parent is a U.S. citizen by naturalization.

If an individual is the biological child of a U.S. citizen, they were born outside the United States and are claiming citizenship by having been born to U.S. citizen parent(s), the person automatically becomes a U.S. citizen at birth if:

  • If both parents are U.S. Citizens and one of them resided in the U.S. This residence must have taken place prior to the individual's birth; or
  • If one of the parents is a foreign national and other is an U.S. citizen who, before the person's birth, had physically been in the U.S. for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, of which at least two of those were after the parent's age of 14 years.

Who Should File Form N-600 Certificate of Citizenship?

An individual, born outside the U.S., claiming to have U.S. citizenship by birth to a U.S. citizen parent, may file Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship.

An individual who was born to a U.S. Citizen outside the United States or who met all the requirements for becoming a U.S. Citizen prior to their 18th birthday can file Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, at any time during their lifetime.

If you were adopted or the biological child under the age of 18 meeting the requirements for citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the form N-600 application must be filed by the U.S. citizen parent or legal guardian who has been awarded legal and physical custody of the child.

Based upon what you have written, you do not qualify for citizenship under the above form. I suggest that you consult with an immigration attorney in your locality. One can be found on attorneypages.com.

 

 


IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.

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