17 yo son of citizen traveling to Hawaii - no id

[Spyrals17 0]

so this is a bit convoluted so hoping someone can help! My husband is a US citizen and he has an Australian son who is 17 and is currently in the US. We applied for his citizenship certificate as technically he is a citizen through his dad. We filed form N-600 but haven't received certificate yet (that will take about 6 more months). The kid wants to go to Hawaii with some family members. He does not have any ID except his Australian ID (and no valid visa. he is here on a visa waiver which has expired). Will he be able to go to Hawaii from Florida and back to Florida with no issues? thanks in advance, any help is so welcome

[Spyrals17 0]

thank you! Yes he has a notice of receipt for his N600. I hope that's sufficient but I'm still worried someone will decide to be annoying about it at the airport. When he was coming in on his valid waiver to the US a few months back, they stopped him at the border and weren't going to let him in because he said he wanted to go to school in the US! they're sto strict with everything these days.

[Starkilla09 366]

No worries he should be able to board his flight with his Australian passport as his valid form of ID. U.S domestic flights have no passport control and immigration check point he will be fine.

[jan22 3,178]

 

thank you! Yes he has a notice of receipt for his N600. I hope that's sufficient but I'm still worried someone will decide to be annoying about it at the airport. When he was coming in on his valid waiver to the US a few months back, they stopped him at the border and weren't going to let him in because he said he wanted to go to school in the US! they're sto strict with everything these days.

This is not actually on point with the OP's original question,  but ------- unless he was entering the US as a B2 who has a final interview for fhe adjudication of his N600 aplication, there really can be no complaint about the strictness of immigration or their being annoying since technically, they should likely have never admitted him.  If he is a US citizen, by law he must enter and leave the US on a US passport.  Entering on the visa waiver progrram, they treat him as an Australian citizen. There is never a guarantee of entry to the US as a non-citizen; the "valid wiaver" is merely approval to travel to the US to seek entry, not a promise you will be admitted.  That is a decision of the immigration officer as to whether the purpose of the trip is consistent with what you say you are going to do in th he US.    He is not permitted to study on a VWP entry and is committing to leave the US in 90 days or less, so the officer had reason to stop and question him.  Since he has now overstayed and you are seeking documentation that he is a US citizen, seems like their questions were appropriate and could well have ended in him not being admitted to the US until the citizenship issue was resolved.

[BigDaddy28 228]

 

so this is a bit convoluted so hoping someone can help! My husband is a US citizen and he has an Australian son who is 17 and is currently in the US. We applied for his citizenship certificate as technically he is a citizen through his dad. We filed form N-600 but haven't received certificate yet (that will take about 6 more months). The kid wants to go to Hawaii with some family members. He does not have any ID except his Australian ID (and no valid visa. he is here on a visa waiver which has expired). Will he be able to go to Hawaii from Florida and back to Florida with no issues? thanks in advance, any help is so welcome

DID your son get a green card or no? 

 

I thought it was one requirement to be under 18 (which he is) and in the custody of the US citizen parent (which he is) and he is a permanent resident for the citizenship to be transmitted. 

 

If not he might get deported if questioned by an immigration officer in the airport. 

 

Source N600 instructions. file:///C:/Users/sil/Downloads/n-600instr.pdf

[Spyrals17 0]

 

DID your son get a green card or no? 

 

I thought it was one requirement to be under 18 (which he is) and in the custody of the US citizen parent (which he is) and he is a permanent resident for the citizenship to be transmitted. 

 

If not he might get deported if questioned by an immigration officer in the airport. 

 

Source N600 instructions. file:///C:/Users/sil/Downloads/n-600instr.pdf

No he does not have a green card. He has only a visa waiver which has expired a while ago. So he's out of status and waiting for his citizenship certificate.

 

Will he be questioned by an immigration official if he's not leaving the country? I mean its considered domestic travel to Hawaii, no?

 

He will not be in custody of any parent - he's traveling alone from Florida and meeting his family in Hawaii. So he'll be on his own.

 

[Spyrals17 0]

 

This is not actually on point with the OP's original question,  but ------- unless he was entering the US as a B2 who has a final interview for fhe adjudication of his N600 aplication, there really can be no complaint about the strictness of immigration or their being annoying since technically, they should likely have never admitted him.  If he is a US citizen, by law he must enter and leave the US on a US passport.  Entering on the visa waiver progrram, they treat him as an Australian citizen. There is never a guarantee of entry to the US as a non-citizen; the "valid wiaver" is merely approval to travel to the US to seek entry, not a promise you will be admitted.  That is a decision of the immigration officer as to whether the purpose of the trip is consistent with what you say you are going to do in th he US.    He is not permitted to study on a VWP entry and is committing to leave the US in 90 days or less, so the officer had reason to stop and question him.  Since he has now overstayed and you are seeking documentation that he is a US citizen, seems like their questions were appropriate and could well have ended in him not being admitted to the US until the citizenship issue was resolved.

Yes I agree, they didn't have to let him in the country at all! I so don't feel comfortable with this Hawaii trip, but his mother (I'm his step mom) insists that he go, despite the risk involved of him not being able to get back in! It's so frustrating and I can't find any official info that says he's not allowed to travel domestically without a valid status. But so far from what I could find, is that he's not going through any immigration security checkpoints traveling to and from Hawaii. So he should be ok?

[BigDaddy28 228]

 

No he does not have a green card. He has only a visa waiver which has expired a while ago. So he's out of status and waiting for his citizenship certificate.

 

Will he be questioned by an immigration official if he's not leaving the country? I mean its considered domestic travel to Hawaii, no?

 

He will not be in custody of any parent - he's traveling alone from Florida and meeting his family in Hawaii. So he'll be on his own.

 

Than your son did not become a citizen automatically upon his entry to the US. As of right now he is in the US illegally meaning if he takes that trip and gets stopped by immigration in the airport he will be deported. 

Your N600 will be denied because one of the requirement (Being admitted to the US as a permanent resident) is not met. 

my thoughts to you, do not let him go on that trip. It will jeopardize his presence in the US.

Apply for his green card ASAP, hopefully he can get it before he turns 18, if not he will have to naturalize after 5 years of becoming a permanent resident. 

 

Sorry about the bad news, but N600 should've not been filed in this case because your son does not have a green card. 

 

Let me ask you this:

When your son was born was his father a US citizen at the time of birth?

Edited May 6, 2017 by silkafi88

[BigDaddy28 228]

I hope you say yes because if so than your husband should've applied for a CARBA in the US embassy in Australia. In that situation with the son being already in the US N600 might work but I'm honestly not sure. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by silkafi88

[Spyrals17 0]

Well from what we've researched, he is automatically a US citizen because he was born to a US citizen. So it's a matter of actually getting his citizenship certificate. When he was coming in to the US, the immigration official at the airport told him to apply for N600 to get his certificate and let him into the country. Anyway, I don't have a choice in this matter of letting him go on this trip or not, I'm just the (worried) step mom and he's got parents and both of them insisting he go. I will update to let you guys know what happens at the airport, hopefully he'll be able to come back okay. I'll be on pins and needles till the trip is over though! thanks for all your help.

[Stevephoto 230]

 

Yes I agree, they didn't have to let him in the country at all! I so don't feel comfortable with this Hawaii trip, but his mother (I'm his step mom) insists that he go, despite the risk involved of him not being able to get back in! It's so frustrating and I can't find any official info that says he's not allowed to travel domestically without a valid status. But so far from what I could find, is that he's not going through any immigration security checkpoints traveling to and from Hawaii. So he should be ok?

Hawaii IS in the USA! There is no customs nor immigration to go through either entering or leaving Hawaii on a domestic flight. TSA is NOT immigration...they want to make sure that name on the boarding pass matches the name on the ID and the FACE on the ID matches the travelers face. Done. Aloha and welcome to Hawaii!

 

[Spyrals17 0]

 

Hawaii IS in the USA! There is no customs nor immigration to go through either entering or leaving Hawaii on a domestic flight. TSA is NOT immigration...they want to make sure that name on the boarding pass matches the name on the ID and the FACE on the ID matches the travelers face. Done. Aloha and welcome to Hawaii!

 

Even if the only ID is from Australia? and I should add he also looks 25, he never gets carded - he has a full beard.

[Stevephoto 230]

 

Even if the only ID is from Australia? and I should add he also looks 25, he never gets carded - he has a full beard.

Plenty of people travel to and from Hawaii with "foreign" IDs. My point was that he would not go through immigration or customs on a domestic flight. Is there a small chance that he could be detained and questioned? Of course. There is always a risk and never any guarantees, but I think the risk is small. As others have said, get the proper paperwork filed and get his certificate so he (and you) never needs to worry again. Good luck.

[mallafri76 1,012]

On 5/6/2017 at 8:57 AM, Starkilla09 said:

No worries he should be able to board his flight with his Australian passport as his valid form of ID. U.S domestic flights have no passport control and immigration check point he will be fine.

 

Actually, sometimes TSA scroll through foreign passports on domestic flights to check the CBP stamp. It has happened to me on a few occasions, I've seen it happen to others too, including one person who got taken to the side. And CBP/ICE do sometimes do immigration checks at the airport, including during boarding and deboarding of flight.

 

OP, make sure your son brings Australian passport as well as proof of N600 application.

 

 

Edited May 18, 2017 by mallafri76

[Spyrals17 0]

thanks mallafri76, I'll make sure he brings those things with him. Still uneasy and would prefer he didn't go but I'm not his parent so I don't make any decisions. His parents are also not telling him about the possibility of his being deported/questioned, so he is completely oblivious. Being 18 in a couple of months, I feel like he needs to be aware of this so that he has a say in his going or not, seeing as that can affect his entire life - if he misses the start of the school year he'll just have to stay in Australia for that. But again I've been asked not to participate in this discussion, so I'll say nothing but I still think it's very unfair to him and he might blame them later if something does go wrong at the airport and he wasn't aware of the risks.