My wife is American by birth(has her SSN) and we have been married here in Canada for 8 years. We have 2 small children born here, ages 1 and 3. My wife wants to move back to the US to be closer to her mother. My wife hasn't lived in the US since she was a child. Her mother, also a US citizen by birth, moved back to the US approx 10 years ago. According to the Child Citizenship Act, our children can apply for US citizenship (form N-600) under the following criteria:

The American citizen parent has been physically present in the United States for a total of at least five years, at least two of which are after the age of 14. If the child''s American citizen parent cannot meet the physical presence requirement, it is enough if one of the child''s American citizen grandparents can meet it.

We will be filing the I-130 for myself (Canadian husband) here in Canada in order for me to get my green card, however, my confusion is with the following provision from the Child Citizenship Act :

The child lives abroad in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent and has been lawfully admitted into the United States as a nonimmigrant.
Children who acquire citizenship under this new provision do not acquire citizenship automatically. They must apply to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) and go through the naturalization process.

Does this mean we have to file the N-600 for both children from here in Canada and await it's approval before the children can go, or do we file the forms once I've been aprroved and we move to the US?? If we have to file them from here, where exactly do we send them? Vermont? Chicago? We realize that I have to wait here until my I-130 is approved and I get my interview/green card, but if my wife sees a amazing job she's qualified for in her mothers area (where we'll be living), can she go and bring the children with her, then apply for their citizenship there? Sorry if this is long winded, but I'm searching for the right answer.

thank you

Mike

apparently I can't spell Citizenship either.....

From what I've read the children will automatically be US Citizens. Just need to go to the local consulate and file the right paperwork. I've been looking into it too as my wife is in Canada, I'm in the US filing our I-30 and the baby is due in 30 days

Here's a good place to look about the grandparent thing

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/info/info_456.html