US citizen living abroad with common law spouse and child--what's best route?

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

5 hours ago, Boiler said:

Well an account is free unless she wants Platinum and most people do not need that.

I need platinum 

[NikLR 13,220]

Common law in Canada wouldnt cause her to be too married for the k1 however the entire family moving as close together as possible would be best so getting married first would be ideal.  

Who supports the household now?

[musicfan24 2]

2 hours ago, HRQX said:

That is one option; it'll lead to citizenship after meeting the other INA 320 requirements: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-legal-considerations/us-citizenship/Child-Citizenship-2000-Sections-320-322-INA.html

 

The other route is naturalization through INA 322. The child qualifies to submit N-600K because of the USC grandfather: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-h-chapter-5 "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."

Thank you for this. So he would not be able to apply for just a passport like I did? I remember being told I could not apply for him within Canada and I would need to submit the N-600k then wait for an interview in Buffalo which is the closest office to us.

 

Any idea how long that process would take? Just trying to decide if we should do the I-130 or the naturalization route. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

5 hours ago, musicfan24 said:

Hi there I'm the friend that Ice-Qube speaks of. So I cant get my son in like that as I only got my citizenship through my dad and have never lived in the states before. My dad is deceased. Is there any way to apply under my dad for my son as well? 

No

 

[Orangesapples 1,954]

4 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

No

 

Why are you so sure? You're very wrong about this but you seem to be so confident. I don't understand why some people here give bad advice and spread misinformation when they don't know what they're talking about. There is a link in this thread and I've definitely read quite a few stories about children getting citizenship through grandparents. 

 

[Dashinka 23,273]

8 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

No

 

This would seem to say otherwise.  If all the requirements listed below directly from the N600K instructions are met, then why is this not a route for the child?  It appears the grandparents, even if deceased can substitute for the USC physical presence requirement (Item 5).  The OP's friend @musicfan24 does need to clarify if her father met the physical presence requirements before they passed away.  I assume the grandfather did since the mother was already investigating the N600K route.

 

General Requirements

A child may acquire U.S. citizenship if he or she meets all the following criteria to be eligible for citizenship under INA

section 322:

1. The child is not married;

2. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must administer the Oath of Allegiance to the child before

reaching 18 years of age;

3. The child regularly resides outside the United States;

4. In the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent;

5. The child’s U.S. citizen parent has been physically present in the United States for a period or periods totaling at least

five years, at least two of which were after 14 years of age. If the U.S. citizen parent does not meet this requirement,

the U.S. citizen parent’s own U.S. citizen parent (grandparent) has to have been physically present in the United States

for a period or periods totaling at least five years, at least two of which were after 14 years of age.

In cases where the U.S. citizen parent died in the preceding five years, and Form N-600K has been properly filed on

behalf of the child by the U.S. citizen grandparent or by the U.S. citizen legal guardian, the child does NOT have to

be residing in the legal and physical custody of the person as long as the person who has legal and physical custody of

the child does not object to the Form N-600K; and

6. The child is temporarily present in the United States at the time of interview in a lawful status pursuant to a lawful

admission.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/n-600k

Edited January 9, 2020 by Bill & Katya

[Nitas_man 3,100]

4 hours ago, Orangesapples said:

Why are you so sure? You're very wrong about this but you seem to be so confident. I don't understand why some people here give bad advice and spread misinformation when they don't know what they're talking about. There is a link in this thread and I've definitely read quite a few stories about children getting citizenship through grandparents. 

 

That directed at me?  
 

Background:  Our daughter was born overseas.  Went through CRBA.  To get her passport and CRBA I had to prove I had lived in the US 5 years by providing school transcripts, tax records, and old passports.  

She otherwise would have been a citizen of ?nowhere?.  She was born in Saudi.  No citizenship there - neither of us are Saudi.  
 

Didn’t matter where my parents (who always lived in the US) or my grandparents (same) or their parents (same) were from.

To get our daughter to the US, she needed a passport.  Come to think of it to get her anywhere, she needed one LOL.  So I got her two of them, one from mom’s country and one from the US.  Had I not been able to supply all of that information for her CRBA and passport I would have had to petition for her, same as her mom.

Summary:  Answers here are based on personal experience and based on where you are in the immigration process.  Based on personal experience you are not going to walk up to the US embassy counter and get a US passport for your son and your son is not going to immigrate to the US as a USC.  He can apply for citizenship and take the oath after he gets there like any other immigrant.
 

 

 

 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

43 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

This would seem to say otherwise.  If all the requirements listed below directly from the N600K instructions are met, then why is this not a route for the child?  It appears the grandparents, even if deceased can substitute for the USC physical presence requirement (Item 5).  The OP's friend @musicfan24 does need to clarify if her father met the physical presence requirements before they passed away.  I assume the grandfather did since the mother was already investigating the N600K route.

 

General Requirements

A child may acquire U.S. citizenship if he or she meets all the following criteria to be eligible for citizenship under INA

section 322:

1. The child is not married;

2. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) must administer the Oath of Allegiance to the child before

reaching 18 years of age;

3. The child regularly resides outside the United States;

4. In the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent;

5. The child’s U.S. citizen parent has been physically present in the United States for a period or periods totaling at least

five years, at least two of which were after 14 years of age. If the U.S. citizen parent does not meet this requirement,

the U.S. citizen parent’s own U.S. citizen parent (grandparent) has to have been physically present in the United States

for a period or periods totaling at least five years, at least two of which were after 14 years of age.

In cases where the U.S. citizen parent died in the preceding five years, and Form N-600K has been properly filed on

behalf of the child by the U.S. citizen grandparent or by the U.S. citizen legal guardian, the child does NOT have to

be residing in the legal and physical custody of the person as long as the person who has legal and physical custody of

the child does not object to the Form N-600K; and

6. The child is temporarily present in the United States at the time of interview in a lawful status pursuant to a lawful

admission.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/n-600k

See above

The child is eligible to apply after arrival in the US

[Nitas_man 3,100]

15 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

See above

The child is eligible to apply after arrival in the US

To follow up:  the USC’s biggest hurdle here is overcoming the support affidavit’s requirements 

[Dashinka 23,273]

20 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

See above

The child is eligible to apply after arrival in the US

Isn't a Canadian citizen that crosses the border legally in the US in a lawful "B2" status?

[Dashinka 23,273]

22 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

To follow up:  the USC’s biggest hurdle here is overcoming the support affidavit’s requirements 

I agree with that with respect to the future husband, but if she can take the N600K route for the child then that could remove a big headache.

[NikLR 13,220]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

I agree with that with respect to the future husband, but if she can take the N600K route for the child then that could remove a big headache.

Not sure it's less of a headache than IR2.  OP will have to decide doing two peocesses and cost etc. 

[Dashinka 23,273]

30 minutes ago, NikLR said:

Not sure it's less of a headache than IR2.  OP will have to decide doing two peocesses and cost etc. 

I don't know, if I had a pathway to get my child a US passport I would take that route (I hear there are some advantages to having both a US and Canadian passport).  There are costs either way, and the OPs friend will have to figure out if they want to do a K1 or spousal visa for their partner, re-establish US domicile, be able to support a household of 3, etc., but if the son is taken care of, to me, that would be less of a headache.

[NikLR 13,220]

8 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I don't know, if I had a pathway to get my child a US passport I would take that route (I hear there are some advantages to having both a US and Canadian passport).  There are costs either way, and the OPs friend will have to figure out if they want to do a K1 or spousal visa for their partner, re-establish US domicile, be able to support a household of 3, etc., but if the son is taken care of, to me, that would be less of a headache.

 It really depends on how easy it is to get that information about the parents

[ice-qube 648]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

I don't know, if I had a pathway to get my child a US passport I would take that route (I hear there are some advantages to having both a US and Canadian passport).  There are costs either way, and the OPs friend will have to figure out if they want to do a K1 or spousal visa for their partner, re-establish US domicile, be able to support a household of 3, etc., but if the son is taken care of, to me, that would be less of a headache.

In my understanding of the process, doing this N-600K now might just slow her entire process down (she will have to delay leaving Canada longer, because she has to be living abroad to do N-600K, and I have read it takes at least 5-7 months to get that), with slim actual benefits to the child in the short run (he can also get citizenship later when they have moved).