Canadian daughter of an American citizen

[blest.but.strest 50]

Hey guys,

A friend of mine from Montreal is a born Canadian citizen, born from a Canadian mom and American dad(the dad is born in the USA and lived in the USA all of his life). She is over 21 years old and she would like to get an American passport as soon as possible.

She does have a little issue, since she was born out of wedlock, on her short format Canadian birth certificate card she has no father listed on it and on the regular long form birth certificate she has her Canadian step fathers name listed on it.

Her birth was never declared to any US agency, but she knows who her biological USC father is. She is actually in very good terms with him as they visit each other all the time.

What is the fastest way for her to get her American passport?? What would be proper procedure? What forms does she and he need to file with USCIS?

Thanks in advance gang.

[newacct 688]

First, the question is whether she has US citizenship or not. For children born abroad out of wedlock to an American father, in order to transmit US citizenship to the child, not only does the father have to have satisfied the physical presence requirements, but also both of the following things have to have happened before the child is 18:

• The father (unless deceased) has agreed in writing to provide financial support for the person until the person reaches the age of 18 years, and
• The person is legitimated under the law of his/her residence or domicile, the father acknowledges paternity of the person in writing under oath, or the paternity of the person is established by adjudication of a competent court

The hard one is the first condition. The statement in writing has to be voluntarily agreed to and signed by the father under oath in front of some official, and it has to say he promises to support her until 18, and the statement must be made before she is 18. There is no substitute for it. Except for the father applying for proof of citizenship for her, I can't think of many other situations in which the father would spontaneously make such a statement in front of an official. (Someone ordering him to support her doesn't count; he has to make this statement by himself.) Did the father ever apply for a CRBA for her?

Since she is over 18 now, the conditions can no longer be satisfied now if they weren't already satisfied. If the conditions weren't satisifed, then she is not a US citizen, and the only way her father can help her now is to petition her for permanent residency, which for a child over 21, has a wait of ~8 years (if she is unmarried) or 11 years (if she is married).

Edited September 13, 2015 by newacct

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

Have your friend follow these instructions from the U.S. Consulate in Toronto.

http://toronto.usconsulate.gov/mobile//service/consular-report-of-birth-abroad.html

Best of luck