Newly naturalized citizen wants to bring GF and daughter here but I am not listed on daughters birth cert (yet) - what to do?

[Corp668 16]

I got my naturalization finalized a couple of weeks ago and now have my certificate of naturalization.  My fiancee is Russian and we had a kid this past December who is in Russia with her mom.  The kid was born in Korea (we went there for better medical facilities) but it was a problem trying to get the birth certificate made with both our names on it due to them saying they needed a translated letter from my embassy which we couldn't get in time.  So my daughter has a Russian birth certificate and no father is specified on it.

 

I want to send in my I-129 as soon as possible but I am not sure how to handle the birth certificate issue.  Is it better to get the birth certificate amended before I apply so I am listed as the father, or does that not make much/any difference?  

 

Also, if anyone knows... I know children of naturalized citizens can get citizenship automatically, but since I got my citizenship after she was born, I am not sure that applies.  I seem to remember reading somewhere that kids less than a year old when a parents gets naturalized can automatically get it, but her being a foreign citizen complicates things. 

 

Just wondering the best way forward....

 

Thanks!

[payxibka 10,044]

7 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

I got my naturalization finalized a couple of weeks ago and now have my certificate of naturalization.  My fiancee is Russian and we had a kid this past December who is in Russia with her mom.  The kid was born in Korea (we went there for better medical facilities) but it was a problem trying to get the birth certificate made with both our names on it due to them saying they needed a translated letter from my embassy which we couldn't get in time.  So my daughter has a Russian birth certificate and no father is specified on it.

 

I want to send in my I-129 as soon as possible but I am not sure how to handle the birth certificate issue.  Is it better to get the birth certificate amended before I apply so I am listed as the father, or does that not make much/any difference?  

 

Also, if anyone knows... I know children of naturalized citizens can get citizenship automatically, but since I got my citizenship after she was born, I am not sure that applies.  I seem to remember reading somewhere that kids less than a year old when a parents gets naturalized can automatically get it, but her being a foreign citizen complicates things. 

 

Just wondering the best way forward....

 

Thanks!

You read wrong.  Conveyance of citizenship to a child born abroad occurs only at the moment of birth, if eligible.  You were not yet a citizen at that time. 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by payxibka

[JFH 12,189]

Does your child not have a Korean birth certificate? 

[aaron2020 11,651]

11 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

I seem to remember reading somewhere that kids less than a year old when a parents gets naturalized can automatically get it.

No such thing.  

You will need to get your child's birth certificate fixed to list you as the father.

You can file an I-129f for your fiancee.  Your child will be eligible for a K-2.

 

[Corp668 16]

8 minutes ago, JFH said:

Does your child not have a Korean birth certificate? 

No.  Being born there doesn't qualify her for Korean citizenship so they asked what documentation we wanted/needed for the BC, and we took that to the Russian embassy to get a Russian BC.  They would not list me as the father unless they had a document from the British (my birth country) embassy refusing her citizenship.  The British embassy said they don't do such letters and the Russian embassy was wrong.  It was a maddening back-and-forth and I only had a few days after her birth before I had to fly back, so was not able to get it resolved with my name on the BC while we were in Korea.  

[Corp668 16]

8 minutes ago, aaron2020 said:

No such thing.  

You will need to get your child's birth certificate fixed to list you as the father.

You can file an I-129f for your fiancee.  Your child will be eligible for a K-2.

 

 

We can get it fixed however there seems to be some dispute from the Russian side, some have told her that my citizenship must be listed as "American" since at the time of filing I am an American citizen.  Others have told her I must be listed as British since that's what I was at the time of her birth.  Will it make a difference to the US side for the K-2?  I would think I should be listed on her BC as British but would be nice to have a better answer than competing clerks at the records office in Russia saying different things

[JFH 12,189]

A birth certificate doesn’t always guarantee citizenship. A baby born in the UK to people who are not “permanently settled” in the UK will not be British but there will still be a record of the birth.
 

I’m surprised the hospital did not document the birth, purely from a record-keeping perspective, just as they would record every death that took place there. 

[JFH 12,189]

3 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

 

We can get it fixed however there seems to be some dispute from the Russian side, some have told her that my citizenship must be listed as "American" since at the time of filing I am an American citizen.  Others have told her I must be listed as British since that's what I was at the time of her birth.  Will it make a difference to the US side for the K-2?  I would think I should be listed on her BC as British but would be nice to have a better answer than competing clerks at the records office in Russia saying different things

You are still British even if you have taken US citizenship. Unless you went through the long, expensive and laborious process of renouncing your British citizenship. 

[JFH 12,189]

And if you are the child’s birth father won’t you be filing an IR-2 instead of a K-2? A K-2 would be for her child that’s not your child. 

[aaron2020 11,651]

4 minutes ago, Corp668 said:

 

We can get it fixed however there seems to be some dispute from the Russian side, some have told her that my citizenship must be listed as "American" since at the time of filing I am an American citizen.  Others have told her I must be listed as British since that's what I was at the time of her birth.  Will it make a difference to the US side for the K-2?  I would think I should be listed on her BC as British but would be nice to have a better answer than competing clerks at the records office in Russia saying different things

You have dual citizenship.  Just show them the UK passport.  

The only way for them to know that you're a US citizen is if you tell them or show them a US passport.  

[aaron2020 11,651]

5 minutes ago, JFH said:

And if you are the child’s birth father won’t you be filing an IR-2 instead of a K-2? A K-2 would be for her child that’s not your child. 

From Nolo.  Seems like he can bring his biological child on a K-2.

 

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter2-7.html

 

If you receive a K-1 fiancé visa with which to enter the U.S. and get married, your unmarried children under the age of 21, whether or not they are the biological children of your U.S. citizen fiancé, might be eligible to accompany you to the United States. They will be given “K-2” visas.

[geowrian 22,335]

2 hours ago, aaron2020 said:

From Nolo.  Seems like he can bring his biological child on a K-2.

 

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/fiance-marriage-visa-book/chapter2-7.html

 

If you receive a K-1 fiancé visa with which to enter the U.S. and get married, your unmarried children under the age of 21, whether or not they are the biological children of your U.S. citizen fiancé, might be eligible to accompany you to the United States. They will be given “K-2” visas.

Correct. There was somebody a few (several now?) months ago that did exactly this.

Although there is little benefit to doing this IMHO...it's a lot more expensive, more paperwork, etc. The advantage is speed.