Will my daughter automatically get citizenship?
Hello Mrs Walker-Huntington,
I AM a green card holder who migrated to the USA with my family. I have been living here going on six years now. I will be applying soon for my USA citizenship. I have a 10-year-old daughter. Do I need to file a N600 for her, or once I do the N400 she will be good? The N400 application is what I’ll be filing for the rest of the family.
Thank you.
WJ
Dear WJ,
The N400 is the application for naturalisation form that persons over 18 years of age file to apply for citizenship to the United States. Eligibility for naturalisation is US residence for five years (three years if residency was obtained through marriage to a US citizen and the applicant is still married to and living with the US citizen spouse through whom they received their US residency); an applicant can file 90 days before their eligibility. An applicant must be physically present in America for at least half the residency period and not absence from the US for six months or more during the relevant time frame. The immigrant must also be a person of good moral character, which has bearing on encounters with the criminal justice system and filing annual tax returns. There are also a few other minor requirements.
The citizenship applicant is tested on their knowledge of US history and civics, and their ability to read and write English. If the applicant is elderly and has lived in America for a significant period, they might be able to avoid the tests or parts of it; likewise, if there is some cognitive impairment, a special form may be completed by a doctor to indicate a person’s inability to be tested.
The N600 form is the application for a certificate of citizenship. It is available to biological and adopted children of US citizens if the parent with whom they resided was a US citizen before the child was 18 years old. The key here is that the child automatically became a US citizen if they lived with a parent who was a US citizen before the child was 18. This is a privilege and, as such, there is a high burden of proof required to show that the US citizen parent had custody of the child and that the child lived with that US citizen parent. There are also two different laws that apply to this process, and each case is viewed individually to determine which law applies.
It seems from your email as though you might be able to meet the burden of proof above, but you must wait to acquire US citizenship before filing the N600 application for certificate of citizenship for your minor daughter.
Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq, is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator, and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com