Born in the USA...

[EM_Vandaveer 2,369]

7 hours ago, SFSgrad said:

I guess...our problem is...we didn't realize...there was limitations....of ESTA... I guess we thought...if we don't violate the terms...we could use it as often as we liked.... Hehehe... NOT!?

No, rule of thumb (not official rule) is to spend 2x as much time OUTSIDE the US as spent inside before trying to re-enter.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,369]

7 hours ago, SFSgrad said:

She said...her father renounced her citizenship.... I think at the time...she would have had to travel to the US, to maintain it, and that was not convenient at the time, and didn't seem necessary at the time...hehehe....30 years later....Tah Dah.

If you are a USC you don't lose your citizenship by living abroad. You can live your whole life abroad & wouldn't lose your US citizenship.

[EM_Vandaveer 2,369]

31 minutes ago, Going through said:

She'd have to become a LPR first before the CR-1 if she did formally renounce prior citizenship, though, wouldn't she?.

Entering on CR-1 would make her a LPR. She'd have to remove conditions two years after entry. A year after filing for removal of conditions, if OP & her were still married & living together, she could file for citizenship.

[Boiler 43,438]

Seems odd, well to the extent I have not seen such a case and where Dual is not allowed I thought the issue arose at the age of majority.

 

EB5 would seem the obvious route.

[Going through 5,668]

16 minutes ago, EM_Vandaveer said:

Entering on CR-1 would make her a LPR. She'd have to remove conditions two years after entry. A year after filing for removal of conditions, if OP & her were still married & living together, she could file for citizenship.

Had a blanking out moment there---forgot the spouse is a USC.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

If a $500k investment is not an obstacle, then it should not be a financial problem to consult with an immigration attorney to try figure exactly what happened with the renounced citizenship and if there is any recourse on that as a first option.

[Mike E 11,723]

9 hours ago, geowrian said:

 

 

2) She needs to figure out exactly what happened with her past citizenship. If her citizenship was actually renounced, then she should need to be petitioned again and become a green card holder first.

Being a minor doesn't change things as her parents are permitted to make those decisions on her behalf as her legal guardians.

No they are not.   https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Renunciation-US-Nationality-Abroad.html

 

”Citizenship is a status that is personal to the U.S. citizen. Therefore parents may not renounce the citizenship of their minor children. “

 

This woman is an American and CBP should have been hassling her to use a USA passport to enter the USA.  

 

This is woman needs to get a USA passport.  If she is in the USA now, then the main hurdle will be determining her social security number.  But with that, her birth certificate, and a filled out passport application, she can go to the post office and get this started.  She will get a passport in a couple weeks.  

Edited October 22, 2018 by Mike E

[jan22 2,898]

A parent cannot renounce US citizenship for their child.  A minor cannot renounce US citizenship for him/herself -- you must be at least 18.  And, renunciation must be done under oath, in front of a US consular officer.  If the "renunciation" was done in front of a Korean official to maintain Korean citizenship and not in front of a US official....it was not valid.  If, however, she renounced at the US Embassy after she was 18, then she is no longer a US citizen -- unless she can convince a US consular officer that she renounced, but did so without actually intending to lose her U S citizenship.  That would be hard to do, since she has since entered the US with a visa and not a US passport.

 

There used to be retention requirements to retain US citizenship (i.e., you had to reside/be physically present in the US for a certain period of time in order to retain that citizenship).  But, that would have never applied to your fiancee for a couple of reasons --- first, it was repealed in 1978.  At the time it was repealed, it only applied to persons born in 1952 or earlier (since you had until you reached age 26 to meet the requirement).  I'm assuming your fiancee was born after 1952.  And -- most importantly, it only applied to US citizens born outside the US.  So, even 30 years ago, she would not have lost her US citizenship because she didn't meet the retention requirements.

 

She should take her US birth certificate and proof of identity and go to the US Embassy and apply for a passport. If there is no record of her renunciation, she should be issued a passport. If there is a record, they would be able to tell her if there is any possibility of regaining that citizenship. That is the only way to know for sure whether she is or is not still a US citizen.

 

Good luck!

 

 

Edited October 22, 2018 by jan22

[abum 324]

24 minutes ago, Mike E said:

No they are not.   https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Renunciation-US-Nationality-Abroad.html

 

”Citizenship is a status that is personal to the U.S. citizen. Therefore parents may not renounce the citizenship of their minor children. “

 

This woman is an American and CBP should have been hassling her to use a USA passport to enter the USA.  

 

This is woman needs to get a USA passport.  If she is in the USA now, then the main hurdle will be determining her social security number.  But with that, her birth certificate, and a filled out passport application, she can go to the post office and get this started.  She will get a passport in a couple weeks.  

exactly what i read.

 

though if she can get her US birth cert, she can go to the US embassy and apply for a new US passport, and see where that would bring her

[Mike E 11,723]

And btw, because she is an American, she should have been filing tax returns. She probably doesn’t owe any taxes but she is supposed to file to be sure.  She can file her 2017 tax return now.   

[little immigrant 800]

4 minutes ago, Mike E said:

And btw, because she is an American, she should have been filing tax returns. She probably doesn’t owe any taxes but she is supposed to file to be sure.  She can file her 2017 tax return now.   

Let her find out if she is a USC first

[Dashinka 23,247]

1 hour ago, Going through said:

Had a blanking out moment there---forgot the spouse is a USC.

I don't believe the OP and the girlfriend are married.  The OP mentioned in an earlier post not being ready for that step yet.  Hence the talk about regaining citizenship for her, or E5/EB5 potential,

[kid1412 62]

Yes, yes, yes. The first step would be to take her birth Certificate to go to the US Embassy in Korea to apply for a US passport, to see what that takes her. Worry about all the other stuff (taxes, EB5, ... ) later

[carmel34 3,531]

If OP's girlfriend has $500,000 in assets she most likely owes the IRS some back taxes, that is if she in fact has been a US citizen her whole life, which seems likely.  Once the US citizenship question has been determined, check with the IRS to be sure about back taxes.  I have a dual US/Canadian citizen brother who lives in Canada who has not moved to the US because of the back taxes problem.

[kid1412 62]

11 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

If OP's girlfriend has $500,000 in assets she most likely owes the IRS some back taxes, that is if she in fact has been a US citizen her whole life, which seems likely.  Once the US citizenship question has been determined, check with the IRS to be sure about back taxes.  I have a dual US/Canadian citizen brother who lives in Canada who has not moved to the US because of the back taxes problem.

Not necessarily. We don't know how she acquired her money. If it's through inheritance, there should be no taxes, unless she inherited over $5 million USD. You only owe taxes for "earned income".

 

Also, it's also possible that someone else can fund the money for her Investment visa, which also doesn't create a taxable event for her. 

 

But again, that is jumping the gun. First thing is she needs to figure out if she still holds US Citizenship or not. Everything else is contingent on that. 

Edited October 22, 2018 by kid1412