CRBA in Philippines (Child born out of wedlock to a US Citizen Mother) NO physical presence in the US

[jan22 2,898]

i was born in the Philippines. but have been an immigrant here in the US on Sept 1 2004. but not a year after i arrived here, i went back to the Philippines to have a vacation. By september 1 2005 i flew back in the US again. after i graduated middle school, july 2006, i went home again to the Philippines. but before that my mom have acquired me to have a re entry permit, that allowed me to stay outside the US for 2 years straight because i was still a green card holder then. by 2008, months after my re entry permit expired, i was able to be back here in the US but only for a few months and went back to the Philppines again. and since then i was there in and out for 6 months, then went back here again in the US for couple of days or weeks. by may 2010 my mom have applied and was approved for a US citizenship. and since i was still a minor by then, i was automatically became a us citizenship though i am outside the US. by feb 2011, i went back here again to have my oath taking by the 3rd of feb 2011. weeks after my US passport arrived, i flew back to the Philippines again. to finish my college. but by april 2011 i found out that i am pregnant. i was not able to give birth here in the US because my pregnancy was complicated enough. so by nov2011 i gave birth. by jan 2014, i applied for CRBA, but i got denied right there and then. because i do not have any proofs of showing that i have been in the US for 1 year straight. and the consul said that even though i would go back here in the states and would stay for more than a year or more, my daughter wont still be qualified for CRBA itself. because the CRBA only applies to those who have been present 1 year/ 5 years straight or more in the US before the child of the USC parent/s was born. by feb 2014, i applied again. i was given the chance to send the lacking documents which is the bureau of immigration records, showing all my in and out travel in the Philippines, they have given me 120 days to send it to them. by april 2014, i sent it to them. by may 2014, i got a rejection and denial letter again. stating that my daughter is not qualified because i am lacking physical presence in the US. but then i do not want to leave my daughter behind and go back in the US just to file a petition (i-130) so i have researched more about CRBA. then i found out that though the USC parents did not meet the physical presence in the staes, but the grand parents of the child have lived and stayed in the US for 5 years or more in the states before the child was born, then the child could still be qualified for CRBA. now in that case my child is qualified becasue my mom have stayed in the us for 5 years straight before i have given birth. to make sure of that, i have called the US embassy manila, and tada! they said they did not honor it. and they did not adibe with it. so i told my mom to call the USCIS here. so she did. and guess what, the USCIS said that yes it is true that though the USC parents did not meet the physical presence in the staes, but the grand parents of the child have lived and stayed in the US for 5 years or more in the states before the child was born, then the child could still be qualified for CRBA. but then i could not argue with the US embassy manila and could not waste any more of my time. so i looked for other options. so i found this DCF (direct consular filling). since i have been staying in the philippines for more than 6 months nd legally, i went for that option instead. i filed nov25 2014, approved nov28, 2014. by dec3, 2014 i got the MCN. and by dec22 was set for her interview. during the interview all the consul asked was the form i-864W because she will autimatically become a us citizen once she arrive here, so she will be exempted by the affidavit of support. the consul asked if why i have not given birth to the US and why i was not qualifeid for the CRBA. so i explained it to him. then he said that it was a good move that i have tried CRBA though my child was not eligible, because its still necessary before applying for the i-130. by jan 9, 2-15, her visa arrived. by march 19, we arrived here together with my daughter. at last! and just may 7, 2015 her green card arrived. and last month i have applied for a us passpsort for her.

To clarify one point for those who actually read through this -- the grandparents' physical presence cannot qualify a child for a CRBA; that can only be issued when the parent has the require physical presence. Under the Child Citizenship Act, the physical presence of the grandparents can be used to qualify the child for a Certificate of Citizenship -- that process is done by USCIS in the US (since another requirement of it is that the grandparents be resident in the US). That's why the Embassy said they couldn't process a CRBA based on grandparents -- not that they didn't honor the law (they would have no choice if it applied to an Embassy process), it was that they couldn't, since they have no jurisdiction over processes in the US.

Edited June 5, 2015 by jan22

[jeY_ 12]

To clarify one point for those who actually read through this -- the grandparents' physical presence cannot qualify a child for a CRBA; that can only be issued when the parent has the require physical presence. Under the Child Citizenship Act, the physical presence of the grandparents can be used to qualify the child for a Certificate of Citizenship -- that process is done by USCIS in the US (since another requirement of it is that the grandparents be resident in the US). That's why the Embassy said they couldn't process a CRBA based on grandparents -- not that they didn't honor the law (they would have no choice if it applied to an Embassy process), it was that they couldn't, since they have no jurisdiction over processes in the US.

i found this on the net long time ago when i was still trying to apply for the CRBA

However there is an alternate option which is to apply for citizenship for your child under section 322 based on their US citizen GRANDPARENT fulfilling the second option (i.e. proving they’ve lived 5 years in the US at least 2 of which came after the age of 14). Note that the grandparent needn’t be living in the US now nor will they need to go to the US at any point with the grandchild. Unlike the automatic transfer from parent to child, however, citizenship through a grandparent will necessitate the citizen parent to take the child to the US for the naturalization interview (though there is no set amount of time you have to stay – if you want you can fly in the day before the interview and fly out a few hours after the interview).

and this also from USCIS.com i will provide the link down below

"

3. Reliance on Physical Presence of Child’s U.S. Citizen Grandparent ​

​

If the child’s parent does not meet the physical presence requirement, the child may rely on the physical presence of the child’s U.S. citizen grandparent to meet the requirement. In such cases, the officer first must verify that the citizen grandparent, the citizen parent’s mother or father, is a U.S. citizen at the time of filing. If the grandparent has died, the grandparent must have been a U.S. citizen and met the physical presence requirements at the time of his or her death.​

​

Like in the case of the citizen parent, the officer also must ensure that:​

​

•The U.S. citizen grandparent has been physically present in the ​United States​ or its outlying possessions for at least five years; and​

​

•The U.S. citizen grandparent met such physical presence for at least 2 years after he or she reached 14 years of age. ​

​

Like the citizen parent, a grandparent’s physical presence is calculated in the aggregate and includes time accrued in the United States during periods when the grandparent was not a U.S. citizen.​"

source: http://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartH-Chapter5.html

those are the reasons why i have called the us embassy manila to clarify things out. because it is written on the USCIS website. i am no expert, but i just stated of what i have read and what were my experiences.

[jayne1318 1]

Ok lets start. Im here in Anaheim California. Where do i submit the CRBA? I will not be present if there will be an interview, so will i still be the one to file and sign the CRBA? US embassy manila does not have the online appointment scheduler thing. How do i set an appointment?

[Mark88 183]

All information you need on the CRBA can be found here:

http://manila.usembassy.gov/service/citizenship/first-time-report-of-birth-abroad7.html

Send the application, write a cover letter you don't fullfill the physical presence requirement, and hence request that a "no-claim-letter" be issued.