N-600 or N-400 in this case

[Adujarric 67]

Hey quick question so my current girlfriend mother got my girl her visa while she was a minor and her mom was already a citizen. My girlfriend was 13 at the time her became a citizen but was living abroad. her brought her to the united states on a green card. Since her mother got naturalized when she was a minor does she still needs to submit for naturalization her self or is she a citizen because of her mom?. We were thinking of submitting a N-600 application but would it be a waste of money? Or Should she submit an N-400?. She has been a GC holder for over 12 years now.

[JeanneAdil 6,561]

does she still live with the parent that naturalized?

as 1 of the 4 

 

. You must be living in the United States in the legal and physical custody of your U.S. citizen parent.

[Adujarric 67]

1 minute ago, JeanneAdil said:

does she still live with the parent that naturalized?

as 1 of the 4 

 

. You must be living in the United States in the legal and physical custody of your U.S. citizen parent.

No she is 28 now but she did live with her from 14 till she turned 21.

[JeanneAdil 6,561]

Just now, Adujarric said:

No she is 28 now but she did live with her from 14 till she turned 21.

then N 400

[Adujarric 67]

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

then N 400

Ok thank you i was actually thinking she should submit for a us passport card since is the cheaper option just to see what would happen since i read a similar story here the only difference is that the kids were actually in the country when the naturalized parent became a citizen.

[JeanneAdil 6,561]

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/n-600instr.pdf

 

 You are requesting a Certificate of Citizenship because you automatically became a citizen of the United States after birth, but before you turned 18 years of age. (A parent or legal guardian can also file Form N-600 on behalf of a minor child.

 

These conditions must be met before you turn 18 years of age:

1. Your parent must be a U.S. citizen;

2. You must be the biological child of that U.S. citizen parent;

3. You must be lawfully admitted to the United States for lawful permanent residence; and

4. You must be living in the United States in the legal and physical custody of your U.S. citizen parent.

[HRQX 4,145]

12 hours ago, Adujarric said:

but she did live with her from 14 till she turned 21.

Your gf is a US citizen since the day she entered the US with the Immigrant Visa per INA 320. She should apply for her US passport.

13 hours ago, Adujarric said:

Or Should she submit an N-400?

No. Do NOT submit N-400. Your gf is already a US citizen.

Edited August 29, 2021 by HRQX

[Chancy 6,241]

15 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

then N 400

 

No -- if the biological mom was already a US citizen when the OP's girlfriend first entered the US with an immigrant visa, the gf is already a USC herself.

 

[Adujarric 67]

1 hour ago, Chancy said:

 

No -- if the biological mom was already a US citizen when the OP's girlfriend first entered the US with an immigrant visa, the gf is already a USC herself.

 

This is what i thought too so i told her the quickest way to find out is to submit for a passport. Also she has gotten stop a few times when she traveled internationally asking why she using a foreign passport. 

[JeanneAdil 6,561]

4 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

No -- if the biological mom was already a US citizen when the OP's girlfriend first entered the US with an immigrant visa, the gf is already a USC herself.

 

but she can not do N 600 as she no longer lives with the mother so what form does she do for her natualization papers  if not the N 600?

Does she have access to the mother's original naturalization certificate?

[Adujarric 67]

6 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

but she can not do N 600 as she no longer lives with the mother so what form does she do for her natualization papers  if not the N 600?

Does she have access to the mother's original naturalization certificate?

Yes she does have access to the certificate and any information needed from her mom. 

[Mike E 11,740]

1. Assuming she was in the legal and physical custody of her mother while she had a green card, her mother was a citizen, and she was under age 18, then she is a citizen. 
 

2. The challenge is showing legal and physical custody.  Legal custody is easy to prove  if the her parents were married at time of birth and stayed married.  Physical custody is probable with records showing mother and daughter resided at the same physical address.  The trail of evidence grows colder the longer a request for a document proving US citizenship is delayed. 
 

3. assuming the above evidence is available, then I recommend applying for a passport and passport card first (it’s just $35 more).   This is less money that an N-600 and can be considered a trial run. Failure to get a passport and passport card means the N-600 will also fail. Success means the N-600 will probably succeed.    This will require submitting the green card. If the passport agency accepts her evidence then it is likely she will not get her green care back.  Therefore make plenty of physical, electronic, and online copies of both sides of her green card now. Considering the magnitude of consequences if she loses all these copies, 2 or more  copies of each type is a reasonable number.  And all copies should be in difference places.  
 

4. When her passport and passport card come back along with the rest of the evidence it is likely she will get a document saying that her green card was confiscated.  Again make several copies of this document.  
 

5. Wait two weeks and then submit the passport card along with the SS-5 to ssa to get a new social security card.  
 

6. File n-600.  Include a copy of the green card and the statement from the passport agency that the green card was confiscated. Wait a year for the interview or decision. And yes she can file N-600 without living with her mother.  There might be confusion between N-600 and N-600K.  Despite the similarity in the names of those two forms they are radically different forms and the only relationship is that upon success they both result in a certificate of citizenship 

 

7. if the evidence of legal and physical custody is not available then she is between a rock and hard place.  Too much of the citizen to file N-400. Too little to file N-600.  It is tragic how parents don’t deal with this when the parents naturalize and the evidence is easily available.  Even parents who get the passport for their children later find their kids as adults have trouble getting security clearances or petitioning an alien spouse for immigration without a certificate of citizenship.  
 

8. make several copies of each type of the certificate of citizenship 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Mike E

[JeanneAdil 6,561]

23 minutes ago, Mike E said:

1. Assuming she was in the legal and physical custody of her mother while she had a green card, her mother was a citizen, and she was under age 18, then she is a citizen. 
 

2. The challenge is showing legal and physical custody.  Legal custody is easy to prove  if the her parents were married at time of birth and stayed married.  Physical custody is probable with records showing mother and daughter resided at the same physical address.  The trail of evidence grows colder the longer a request for a document proving US citizenship is delayed. 
 

3. assuming the above evidence is available, then I recommend applying for a passport and passport card first (it’s just $35 more).   This is less money that an N-600 and can be considered a trial run. Failure to get a passport and passport card means the N-600 will also fail. Success means the N-600 will probably succeed.    This will require submitting the green card. If the passport agency accepts her evidence then it is likely she will not get her green care back.  Therefore make plenty of physical, electronic, and online copies of both sides of her green card now. Considering the magnitude of consequences if she loses all these copies, 2 or more  copies of each type is a reasonable number.  And all copies should be in difference places.  
 

4. When her passport and passport card come back along with the rest of the evidence it is likely she will get a document saying that her green card was confiscated.  Again make several copies of this document.  
 

5. Wait two weeks and then submit the passport card along with the SS-5 to ssa to get a new social security card.  
 

6. File n-600.  Include a copy of the green card and the statement from the passport agency that the green card was confiscated. Wait a year for the interview or decision. And yes she can file N-600 without living with her mother.  There might be confusion between N-600 and N-600K.  Despite the similarity in the names of those two forms they are radically different forms and the only relationship is that upon success they both result in a certificate of citizenship 

 

7. if the evidence of legal and physical custody is not available then she is between a rock and hard place.  Too much of the citizen to file N-400. Too little to file N-600.  It is tragic how parents don’t deal with this when the parents naturalize and the evidence is easily available.  Even parents who get the passport for their children later find their kids as adults have trouble getting security clearances or petitioning an alien spouse for immigration without a certificate of citizenship.  
 

8. make several copies of each type of the certificate of citizenship 

that's what i thought N 600 because she was not in physical custody of mom when mom got citizenship.  she was living outside the USA

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

but she can not do N 600 as she no longer lives with the mother so what form does she do for her natualization papers  if not the N 600?

Does she have access to the mother's original naturalization certificate?

You can do N600 at any stage. She does not naturalize, she automatically acquired citizenship. If she tried to apply with a n400 it would be denied because she is already a citizen. 

[SusieQQQ 11,586]

2 minutes ago, JeanneAdil said:

that's what i thought N 600 because she was not in physical custody of mom when mom got citizenship.  she was living outside the USA

Doesn’t matter that mom got citizenship before she came, what matters is that all 4 factors of INA320 were met when she arrived on a green card to live with her citizen mom (assuming mom had legal custody too )and was still under 18.