N-600K Complete Experience

[SirenDoll 14]

I wanted to provide an update, as it's partly cathartic, and partly I hope it will help someone else.

 

I applied for the ESTA for my two children and it was denied. The Visa Waiver Program denial does not tell you why it was denied. I sent them a message but there's been no response (2 months later).

 

I applied for a B2 Tourist visa (DS-160 form) for my children (It's April 2022). Unfortunately the visa interviews for B2 Tourist visa at the US consulate are 12 months or more in advance in all consulates in my country. As you can imagine that sent me into a panic, as my daughter would age out at end of September 2022.

I then spent the next month and a half obsessively checking the appointment dates to see if I could get an earlier one, and managed to get one in July 2022. Not for both my children, but just the one that would age out. Not ideal, but liveable.

 

I continued to check for better appointments for another month & half, and no better appointments came. Applying for emergency interview requests through the system were all denied. Can't get them for tourist visas unless someone has died in the US.

 

Day before the interview I received an email saying that they didn't have my DS-160. Which was quite terrifying as I had completed one. I called the Visa Service Desk and they said it was for the wrong consulate (as the nearest one to me was closed, and I only found that after I completed the DS-160). They said it's OK, just complete a new one call back and they will update the interview system with the new DS-160 application number.

 

Things I learned at this point:

DS-160

1. As soon as you start filling in the DS-160, get the application number.

It times out quickly and there's no way to get the application number if you are logged out.

2. Save after every page. Every page.

3. The DS-160 application cannot be updated, but you can create a new one and call the Visa Service Desk to put the new details in your interview application.

4. Different systems:
DS-160 is in CEAC

Payment is in another system

Interview application is in US Travel Docs.

You have to link them together with the various application IDs and receipt IDs. So printout everything.

5. I asked if I could get visa interviews through the Canadian consulates, as we could have gone to Canada without a visa. I was told that I would have to reapply and repay the interview fee.

6. US Visa Service Desk have no leeway.

7. They told me that the visa would be returned to me in 6 weeks (30 business days) (this turned out to be incorrect)

8. I should have come back to this forum and hunted for more information on visa interview process.

9. US Visa Service Desk can check other consulates in your country for you to see if there is a sooner interview date.

10. If you have to change your consulate, you have to do a whole new form

11. If you have to do a whole new form, then once it's submitted, you can call the Visa Service Desk and they can link the new form to the interview and payment. You don't have to pay again.

 

Day of the B2 tourist visa interview

The rules of the consulate say not to bring any other family members. So I did not bring my son. In hindsight, I would have brought him and made him wait in a nearby cafe.

The rules of the consulate say not to bring any electronic devices including mobile phones. In hindsight, I would have brought my phone.

We arrive, and we miss our tram stop (omg!) so we are late, but it's OK. The head security guard tells me that as my daughter is 17, she has to go up to the consulate by herself. I had checked the consulate rules about this, and it says if they are under 18 then a parent can attend with them
A parent accompanying a child under 18 will be admitted and must present ID to identify the relationship. Link In hindsight I should have printed this and taken it with me.

The Security guard called up and got permission for me to attend, and that may have been specifically because I was a US Citizen (take your passport!)

 

Visa Line 1

This is where you present the DS-160 and passport and do the biometrics. At this point I begged if they would consider doing my son's interview today as well, so that we didn't have to come back in 9 months. Making sure to explain that I was a US Citizen and the ESTAs were unexpectedly denied.

This person couldn't make that decision but found a consular official for me to speak to.

 

Visa Line 6

I spoke to a consular official and explained our entire story, including the ESTA denial, why I thought that the ESTA was denied. He was interested in why my children had not been registered as a birth abroad. I explained that I had not had the requisite number of years in the USA to be eligible for the birth abroad registration. But that we were applying for the N600K Citizenship Certificate through my father, their grandfather who has had the requisite number if years in the USA, and that the interview was in the USA.

 

He then began to tell me that as they were potential American citizens that they could not supply a visa to them‼️

 

Fortunately I was prepared for that.

I had printed the specific section of the legislation that is relevant to the N600K and Section 322 on the advice of my American lawyer. (See the pdf). (I am NOT a lawyer, but this was page was crucial for me, and I recommend having a printout of it with you).

I showed this to the consular official, who then very quickly said "yes, we can grant a B2 visa" and to get my son out here today, and they would sort him out too.

 

I will spare you the fun of getting my teenage son out of bed in a strange city, getting him to the US consulate, all on someone else's phone.....

 

My son arrives. By this time the security guards have all heard my story (love them 😍 ) and help get him into the consulate.

 

Visa Line 1

Biometrics done and DS-160s and passports handed over.

 

Visa Line 2

Now the actual interview.

As my children were over 16, the interviewer wanted to hear from them why they were going to the USA, not from me. So I let them explain. But my daughter asked me to explain about the N600K. So I again explained about the N600K and showed the printed section 322 to explain why we needed the B2 Tourist visa. The interviewer typed it all up and then said we would have the passport and visas back by courier within a week.

 

So this all happened 2 days ago, and I'm still a bit stunned.

 

It really helps to get in front of humans!

 

I wanted to share this, because the consular official said that he thought that the ESTAs were denied because of the N600K application in the system. I don't know if that's true or not, but just in case, if you are considering going down the N600K path, be prepared for the LONG wait for the B2 Tourist visa interview.

It came as a real shock to me, as we have always been able to get ESTAs within 24 hours. 

 

Things I learned from the B2 Tourist Visa interview

1. ESTAs may be denied due to N600K in the system

2. Children over 16 should have all the information so that they can explain it to the interviewer, in case they don't allow the parent in

3. Have the Section 322 printout with you (I'm also going to have it for Customs and Border Patrol when we enter the US, just in case)

4. Consular officials do not know Section 322 and N600K, it's an unusual process, so it may be worth having printouts of all of it.

5. Bring your mobile phone, as you don't know if you will need something from it.

6. Bring a printout of the rules around escorting under 18s in, as the security guards don't always know what's allowed.

7. In my country, at least, the passport/visa can get back to you in as a little as week. But it's advisable to be cautious. If you can plan out for 6 weeks.

8. The consulate will try to help US Citizens.

 

Throughout this process I have been quite stressed and frustrated. And I know that I haven't always been the most polite to the people I've been dealing with. I know I've been a real "Karen", and I'm terribly sorry about that. It's just that the systems are so clunky, and the rules are so rigid, and don't make sense and there is no sense of any compassion... until you get to the consulate in front of a person. Why the interview system wouldn't let me put my 2 kids in together astounds me. And when I spoke to a person at the Visa Service Desk they said I would have to lose my interview date to do that. But if I had done that, then I wouldn't have been able to get this appointment in time for the N600K age-out. And even when I explained all this via the emergency request system, it was denied. I had 5 Emergency requests denied, even though I explained all of this. Maybe I didn't explain it well enough.

And then even though my local consulate was closed, no one could just "transfer" the DS-160 to the other consulate. I had to complete it again. And call to get the DS-160 number attached to the interview. All on the day before the interview. I had a major panic attack. As the email has big red warning sentences, and no reassurance that you could do it on the day if you had to (which I think you can) or whether you had to pay again if you needed to do the DS-160 form again.

Considering my local consulate was closed, they could have explained that if you had done the DS-160 with this local consulate, that it needed to be redone, and no need to pay again. That would have prevented one of my panic attacks

I found that there was a LOT of stress that could have been avoided if I had been permitted to speak to a consular official early in the piece. But as it was "visa-related" I couldn't go in through US Citizen services either.

I had 2 panic attacks on the day itself, and then relief sobbing afterwards. My kids were totally freaked out.

 

 

Once at the consulate, be super polite, deferential. It's definitely not their fault that the systems are awful and that there's a horrendous backlog. I feel very fortunate that I was able to get the July appointment.

 

Thanks for letting me be cathartic here. I hope it helps someone. 

 

 

 

We have not yet had our N600K interview, but after that I will update here.

 

 

 

 

INA 322 USCIS N-600K - Google Docs.pdf

Edited July 20, 2022 by SirenDoll
spelling errors

[OmarStuck 24]

On 7/12/2022 at 2:32 AM, azkun4 said:

I got an email from the local field office with a request to schedule an email.

 

I responded within a few hours with some dates but its been 2 days and I have not heard back.

 

How long does it normally take for the field office person (real emails) to get back once I emailed them?

 

A week should be enough. If more than a week, send a reminder.

[OmarStuck 24]

On 7/13/2022 at 7:31 AM, KT20 said:

Hello Omar, thank you very much for this detailed summary.

 

In the interview, the interviewer does cross-checking the information, do you bring along with your parents' supporting?

It mentions about the 'original documents', I am not able to bring them along.

 

thank you

I did bring those along as that is what the instructions said. If you have any special circumstances, it would be best to let them know ahead of time before the interview.

[OmarStuck 24]

On 7/20/2022 at 4:02 AM, SirenDoll said:

I wanted to provide an update, as it's partly cathartic, and partly I hope it will help someone else.

 

I applied for the ESTA for my two children and it was denied. The Visa Waiver Program denial does not tell you why it was denied. I sent them a message but there's been no response (2 months later).

 

I applied for a B2 Tourist visa (DS-160 form) for my children (It's April 2022). Unfortunately the visa interviews for B2 Tourist visa at the US consulate are 12 months or more in advance in all consulates in my country. As you can imagine that sent me into a panic, as my daughter would age out at end of September 2022.

I then spent the next month and a half obsessively checking the appointment dates to see if I could get an earlier one, and managed to get one in July 2022. Not for both my children, but just the one that would age out. Not ideal, but liveable.

 

I continued to check for better appointments for another month & half, and no better appointments came. Applying for emergency interview requests through the system were all denied. Can't get them for tourist visas unless someone has died in the US.

 

Day before the interview I received an email saying that they didn't have my DS-160. Which was quite terrifying as I had completed one. I called the Visa Service Desk and they said it was for the wrong consulate (as the nearest one to me was closed, and I only found that after I completed the DS-160). They said it's OK, just complete a new one call back and they will update the interview system with the new DS-160 application number.

 

Things I learned at this point:

DS-160

1. As soon as you start filling in the DS-160, get the application number.

It times out quickly and there's no way to get the application number if you are logged out.

2. Save after every page. Every page.

3. The DS-160 application cannot be updated, but you can create a new one and call the Visa Service Desk to put the new details in your interview application.

4. Different systems:
DS-160 is in CEAC

Payment is in another system

Interview application is in US Travel Docs.

You have to link them together with the various application IDs and receipt IDs. So printout everything.

5. I asked if I could get visa interviews through the Canadian consulates, as we could have gone to Canada without a visa. I was told that I would have to reapply and repay the interview fee.

6. US Visa Service Desk have no leeway.

7. They told me that the visa would be returned to me in 6 weeks (30 business days) (this turned out to be incorrect)

8. I should have come back to this forum and hunted for more information on visa interview process.

9. US Visa Service Desk can check other consulates in your country for you to see if there is a sooner interview date.

10. If you have to change your consulate, you have to do a whole new form

11. If you have to do a whole new form, then once it's submitted, you can call the Visa Service Desk and they can link the new form to the interview and payment. You don't have to pay again.

 

Day of the B2 tourist visa interview

The rules of the consulate say not to bring any other family members. So I did not bring my son. In hindsight, I would have brought him and made him wait in a nearby cafe.

The rules of the consulate say not to bring any electronic devices including mobile phones. In hindsight, I would have brought my phone.

We arrive, and we miss our tram stop (omg!) so we are late, but it's OK. The head security guard tells me that as my daughter is 17, she has to go up to the consulate by herself. I had checked the consulate rules about this, and it says if they are under 18 then a parent can attend with them
A parent accompanying a child under 18 will be admitted and must present ID to identify the relationship. Link In hindsight I should have printed this and taken it with me.

The Security guard called up and got permission for me to attend, and that may have been specifically because I was a US Citizen (take your passport!)

 

Visa Line 1

This is where you present the DS-160 and passport and do the biometrics. At this point I begged if they would consider doing my son's interview today as well, so that we didn't have to come back in 9 months. Making sure to explain that I was a US Citizen and the ESTAs were unexpectedly denied.

This person couldn't make that decision but found a consular official for me to speak to.

 

Visa Line 6

I spoke to a consular official and explained our entire story, including the ESTA denial, why I thought that the ESTA was denied. He was interested in why my children had not been registered as a birth abroad. I explained that I had not had the requisite number of years in the USA to be eligible for the birth abroad registration. But that we were applying for the N600K Citizenship Certificate through my father, their grandfather who has had the requisite number if years in the USA, and that the interview was in the USA.

 

He then began to tell me that as they were potential American citizens that they could not supply a visa to them‼️

 

Fortunately I was prepared for that.

I had printed the specific section of the legislation that is relevant to the N600K and Section 322 on the advice of my American lawyer. (See the pdf). (I am NOT a lawyer, but this was page was crucial for me, and I recommend having a printout of it with you).

I showed this to the consular official, who then very quickly said "yes, we can grant a B2 visa" and to get my son out here today, and they would sort him out too.

 

I will spare you the fun of getting my teenage son out of bed in a strange city, getting him to the US consulate, all on someone else's phone.....

 

My son arrives. By this time the security guards have all heard my story (love them 😍 ) and help get him into the consulate.

 

Visa Line 1

Biometrics done and DS-160s and passports handed over.

 

Visa Line 2

Now the actual interview.

As my children were over 16, the interviewer wanted to hear from them why they were going to the USA, not from me. So I let them explain. But my daughter asked me to explain about the N600K. So I again explained about the N600K and showed the printed section 322 to explain why we needed the B2 Tourist visa. The interviewer typed it all up and then said we would have the passport and visas back by courier within a week.

 

So this all happened 2 days ago, and I'm still a bit stunned.

 

It really helps to get in front of humans!

 

I wanted to share this, because the consular official said that he thought that the ESTAs were denied because of the N600K application in the system. I don't know if that's true or not, but just in case, if you are considering going down the N600K path, be prepared for the LONG wait for the B2 Tourist visa interview.

It came as a real shock to me, as we have always been able to get ESTAs within 24 hours. 

 

Things I learned from the B2 Tourist Visa interview

1. ESTAs may be denied due to N600K in the system

2. Children over 16 should have all the information so that they can explain it to the interviewer, in case they don't allow the parent in

3. Have the Section 322 printout with you (I'm also going to have it for Customs and Border Patrol when we enter the US, just in case)

4. Consular officials do not know Section 322 and N600K, it's an unusual process, so it may be worth having printouts of all of it.

5. Bring your mobile phone, as you don't know if you will need something from it.

6. Bring a printout of the rules around escorting under 18s in, as the security guards don't always know what's allowed.

7. In my country, at least, the passport/visa can get back to you in as a little as week. But it's advisable to be cautious. If you can plan out for 6 weeks.

8. The consulate will try to help US Citizens.

 

Throughout this process I have been quite stressed and frustrated. And I know that I haven't always been the most polite to the people I've been dealing with. I know I've been a real "Karen", and I'm terribly sorry about that. It's just that the systems are so clunky, and the rules are so rigid, and don't make sense and there is no sense of any compassion... until you get to the consulate in front of a person. Why the interview system wouldn't let me put my 2 kids in together astounds me. And when I spoke to a person at the Visa Service Desk they said I would have to lose my interview date to do that. But if I had done that, then I wouldn't have been able to get this appointment in time for the N600K age-out. And even when I explained all this via the emergency request system, it was denied. I had 5 Emergency requests denied, even though I explained all of this. Maybe I didn't explain it well enough.

And then even though my local consulate was closed, no one could just "transfer" the DS-160 to the other consulate. I had to complete it again. And call to get the DS-160 number attached to the interview. All on the day before the interview. I had a major panic attack. As the email has big red warning sentences, and no reassurance that you could do it on the day if you had to (which I think you can) or whether you had to pay again if you needed to do the DS-160 form again.

Considering my local consulate was closed, they could have explained that if you had done the DS-160 with this local consulate, that it needed to be redone, and no need to pay again. That would have prevented one of my panic attacks

I found that there was a LOT of stress that could have been avoided if I had been permitted to speak to a consular official early in the piece. But as it was "visa-related" I couldn't go in through US Citizen services either.

I had 2 panic attacks on the day itself, and then relief sobbing afterwards. My kids were totally freaked out.

 

 

Once at the consulate, be super polite, deferential. It's definitely not their fault that the systems are awful and that there's a horrendous backlog. I feel very fortunate that I was able to get the July appointment.

 

Thanks for letting me be cathartic here. I hope it helps someone. 

 

 

 

We have not yet had our N600K interview, but after that I will update here.

 

 

 

 

INA 322 USCIS N-600K - Google Docs.pdf 48.12 kB · 0 downloads

Hi Siren,

 

Thanks for the additional information regarding not getting the ESTA approved.

I will include this in the main post to plan for a B1/B2 visa just in case and to plan ahead of time.

When is your N-600K interview?

[Beep 2]

Hello

I have applied for N600K. And now Iam starting B visa for my kid. In the question where its asked if anyone applied for immigration petition on your behalf, what did u write? Yes or No. 

[arken 4,197]

2 hours ago, Beep said:

Hello

I have applied for N600K. And now Iam starting B visa for my kid. In the question where its asked if anyone applied for immigration petition on your behalf, what did u write? Yes or No. 

No is the correct answer.

N600K is not a petition for immigration but merely an application for citizenship.

[Gila 0]

Really afraid of aging out...
We applied for 3 children last November (2021) when the oldest was 16 and a half, and he will be 18 in May 2023.

The last  (and daily- checked!) info on the Case Status online site (entering the receipt numbers) is:

Case Is Being Actively Reviewed By USCIS
As of February 16, 2022, we are actively reviewing your Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322, Receipt Number IOEXXXXX. Our records show nothing is outstanding at this time. We will let you know if we need anything from you.

Is there anything we can do to get more info/speed things up? At least for the eldest? (I tried calling but there is no one to talk to...)

 

[FS1907 2]

On 8/20/2021 at 8:24 PM, OmarStuck said:

I have recently complete the N-600K process for my children and would like to share the A to Z experience.

 

Why N-600K?

I am a US citizen father married to a non-US citizen mother. We are living overseas on a temporary basis due to employment. Our son and daughter were both born overseas.

 

When we applied for Citizen Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) for our first child, we were shocked to find out that my child was not born as a US citizen.

 

As per USCIS rules, the US citizen parent muse have lived in the US for 5 years with two years over the age of 14 for the children to be US citizens at birth.

 

I do not have the required residence time in the US so that was the reason the CRBA got rejected.

 

The N-600K allows your children to become US citizens if their grandparents meet the residency requirements mentioned above. However, you must be living overseas with your children!

 

The I-130 option was not suitable for us as we do not plan to live in the US in the near future. Additionally, the N-600K process takes much less time than the I-130 option.

 

Your children must be below 18 years old!

 

There are two steps to this process:

• Filing of N-600K form
• Interview

 

N-600K filing

 

The N-600K form can be submitted online and it is fairly straightforward to fill out.

 

First of all, you must submit proof of US citizenship for yourself (US citizen parent) and the US citizen grandparent.

 

You must have proof that the US citizen grandparent has met the residency requirements mentioned previously. This could include transcripts, proof of employment, etc. 

 

In addition, you must show proof that you and your children live overseas.

 

You will also be required to select a field office which will do your interview. I would recommend you to choose a Field Office which has a direct flight from your country (just to make life easier). However, please take note that each field office is run differently (more on that later).

 

There is also a filing fee. I will not place a number here since it could change in the future.

 

Interview

The interview is a mandatory part of the process and must be done in the US.

 

Prepare your (US citizen) parent and your children's passport. If you need a B1/B2 visa for your children, make sure to apply for it ahead of time.

 

There will be a note on the B1/B2 visa (once you receive it) stating "Issued for Naturalization Pursuant to 9 FAM 402.2-4(B)(7)". The consular office might not be aware of this so make sure you bring all information necessary for B1/B2 visa.

 

Once the N-600K form has been accepted, you will be contacted by the field office to setup an interview date. Some field offices are more flexible than others with this.

 

The US citizen parent and the children must be in attendance for the interview.

 

Once you pass the interview, you will be given the Certificate of Citizenship. Congratulations!

 

Our Experience

We applied for the N-600K in October 2020 based on my parent's US residence. My parent and I are both US Citizens, of course.

 

We received a RFE from the field office and replied promptly and they accepted our case in December 2020. They informed us that we could choose any date 1 year from the acceptance date. We originally had it in another field office that asked us to come that month (during COVID!) so we requested to be moved to a different field office that was also convenient for us.

 

We scheduled our interview for July 2021.

 

We required visas for our children and we had no issues with the embassy with this regards.

 

The interview was straightforward. They asked me for proof of entry for the children and they saw my children. The interviewer was just cross-checking the information with me during the interview. 

 

Within one hour of the interview, the Certificate of Citizenship was ready for us and we finished the process!

 

Please feel free to comment below and I will answer any questions that come up.

Hi, thanks for the info! 

I have the same situation, I'm about to file my daughters N-600K and I would like to know, does the qualifying grandparent have to attend the interview as well?

I am applying to be interviewed at the USCIS office in Puerto Rico, according to USCIS processing times it is only 4 week, is that the time they take to process the N-600K?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Samjay 0]

On 3/13/2022 at 12:52 AM, OmarStuck said:

 

Sorry for the late response. I just saw this.

 

Either is fine. However, when you apply for a B2 visa for the N-600K they put a special note in the visa.

Yes, we had no problem.

 

We have an N600K interview scheduled in the first week of september.  I am assuming that there will be no english or civics test during the interview. Apart from taking all the original documents, is there anything else that we as parents and the child need to be prepared for? Any information regarding this will be very helpful. Thank you for the help.

[KT20 0]

15 hours ago, Samjay said:

We have an N600K interview scheduled in the first week of september.  I am assuming that there will be no english or civics test during the interview. Apart from taking all the original documents, is there anything else that we as parents and the child need to be prepared for? Any information regarding this will be very helpful. Thank you for the help.

From our own experience, the officer was very nice and helpful, was trying in leading you for the processing. I think just take it easy and relax. 

[KT20 0]

On 8/12/2022 at 3:09 PM, FS1907 said:

Hi, thanks for the info! 

I have the same situation, I'm about to file my daughters N-600K and I would like to know, does the qualifying grandparent have to attend the interview as well?

I am applying to be interviewed at the USCIS office in Puerto Rico, according to USCIS processing times it is only 4 week, is that the time they take to process the N-600K?

 

Thanks in advance.

No, not necessary of grandparent to attend the interview.

[Samjay 0]

13 hours ago, KT20 said:

From our own experience, the officer was very nice and helpful, was trying in leading you for the processing. I think just take it easy and relax. 

Thank you very much

[Sami lami 0]

Hello! 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I submitted the application for my 2 years old son in May 30th of this year. I received a receipt notice on the same day and to this day no approval. We plan to visit the US to see our grandparents at the end of September. My son has a visa but I'm not sure if anything specific is written on it like you mentioned. I can't wait 8 or 9 or 10 months to go, my grandparents are getting older and we haven't visited in a few years due to covid. I am wondering if it would be OK for us to visit the US and return here without having an appointment, so just a regular visit. I tried asking my local US Consulate and wrote to the USCIS but only a robot responded. I don't know where to find the answer to this question! 

 

Another quotation is do you only have one year after approval date to go to the interview? Can it be extended a little? Or if we reach one year could we change the appointment to a different date? 

Because going in September then going a few months later won't be possible for us unfortunately. 

 

Thanks for any help!! 

[Chancy 6,233]

8 hours ago, Sami lami said:

I am wondering if it would be OK for us to visit the US and return here without having an appointment, so just a regular visit.

 

As long as your son has a valid US visitor visa, he is allowed to travel for visits.  As always, foreign national's entry into the US is at the discretion of CBP.  But USCIS appointment is not required if the purpose of travel is family visit.

 

[Naijamd 2]

Hi all. Me and my wife recently became citizens, and we are about to file the n600 for our daughter. Can we use either of our USCIS account to file or do we need to create an account for her? Thanks