Citizenship is in the (green) cards
Q My family and I came here in 2001 in green card status. My mother naturalized in 2011, when I was under 18. Did I get U.S. citizenship automatically through my mother? Hortense, Jacksonville, Fla.
A Yes. Isn’t that good news? Since you are already a U.S. citizen, you don’t need to apply to naturalize. You can vote, hold public office, or become a police officer. You’ll want proof that you are a citizen, so you should apply for a U.S. passport or file U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship. Getting a passport is faster and less expensive.
Derivative citizenship is automatic. Permanent resident children not yet 18 on Feb. 27, 2001, or born afterwards derive U.S. citizenship if at least one parent is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization, the child is unmarried and under 18 years old and is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent.
The rules are different if a permanent resident child was already age 18 on Feb. 18, 2001. Then a child with a U.S. citizen parent derivedU.S. citizenship upon the naturalization of the other parent if the other parent naturalized before the child turned 18, or the child is illegitimate and the parent naturalized was the mother, or the child’s other parent was deceased, or the parents were divorced or separated and the naturalized parent had legal custody of the child following the divorce or separation.
Q My permanent resident dad petitioned for me. After waiting seven years to get an immigrant visa, I married. I know the law doesn’t allow a married child to immigrate through a permanent resident parent. My U.S. citizen mom petitioned for me, but that process will take 12 or more years. Can the wait be shortened since I’ve been waiting seven years already? O. A.
A Bad news. You can’t count the time waiting on another petition. Once you married, you lost your place in line and must start from the beginning of the line with your mother’s petition.