N400-2011

When your wife naturalizes, your step daughter will automatically become a citizen, since she is in your legal and physical custody and is a permanent resident, and below the age of 18.

At that point, your step daughter can get a US passport. I decided to file the N600 for my son, even though we already have his passport, in order to close his file with immigration.

As for the faulty green card, do you have a copy of the conditional card? If you do, that would be the perfect evidence to show them that they messed up her birth date.

Arrgh...just realized that you said that they applied at a passport agency...this is making no sense to me. I never had to submit any school records or any additional evidence...

Go to a passport agency and apply for her passport there (need proof of travel within two weeks to make an appointment). I edited my comment because I realize they rejected her application. The agency will handle it better.

I have a pending N-600 for my son (to close his USCIS file) - in NYC, the processing timeline says 9.7 months. Thank god I already have his passport.

She assured me as his passport is valid and his greencard is for 10 years he will be fine as he is not naturalized but is still a permanent resident even without a passport.

Your son is NOT a permanent resident anymore. The minute you became a citizen, so did he. I really wouldn't trust that he can travel with his UK passport and greencard. He is a US citizen.

Thankfully, I had no issues getting my son his passport in 2011 (it was passport day so we could go directly to the passport agency without an appointment). Submitted everything that was required for my passport and card and for my son's. That was on a Saturday, and the agent told me not to bother paying for overnight or even to expedite it (wasn't travelling anyway) but we got everything back the following Wednesday (can only assume because it was passport day and the place was empty - nobody seemed to know).

Hopefully it will turn out alright for his holidays.

I recently went through a similar situation.

My wife had her naturalization on May 28th. Her daughter (my stepdaughter) fulfilled all the requirements of Section 320 of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. Both of them applied for their passports at the Seattle Passport Agency. My wife had no problems with her passport application. She submitted her Certificate of Naturalization. However, the agent denied her daughter a passport. We submitted 1) her mother's Certificate of Naturalization, 2) her foreign birth certificate and 3) proof of permanent residence...her green card. Still, the agent requested more evidence. School records, baptismal certificate. Of course, we didn't have those documents (as this was not specified in the DS-11 instructions). He stated that if we couldn't furnish any of those documents, we would need to have her own Certificate of Citizenship or have a maternal dna test performed.

Of course, I know that the agent is misinformed. I quoted Section 320 of the CCA of 2000. He still insisted on providing additional evidence. We did plan on have her own Certificate of Citizenship. However, we'll get our state representatives involved in expediting her N-600 application. Since there is no biometrics or civics exam (for minors), we hope to have her certificate issued ASAP. It really irritates me that one person's ignorance of the law will cause so much inconvenience to others.

Right! The date on the Certificate of Citizenship should be the date the parent naturalized.

Thank god the passport agency in New York knew what they were doing when my son and I went to apply for our passports (Passport day in Sept. 2011). For my son, I submitted exactly what you did - and we got the passports and cards with no further need to submit anything.

I also filed the N-600 for my son at the beginning of May, 2013 - just to close the USCIS file and have that very expensive scrap of paper in case he ever needs it. Unfortunately, NYC takes 9.7 months to process this application.

As long as she was under the age of 18, and in your legal and physical custody, and a permanent resident when you became a citizen, she became eligible to receive a US passport. Therefore it doesn't matter if the passport was applied for before or after her 18th birthday.

If you want additional proof of her citizenship status, she may file the N-600 application - she is now over 18 so she should be the one to fill it out. The date on the certificate should be the date when the parent became a citizen.

90 days (NOT three months) before the 3-year anniversary on the green card (through marriage to US citizen).

USCIS calculator

so, if she had a tourist visa for Columbia in her USA passport, all this silliness would have been avoided.

Got it.

Nope, once you are a citizen of Columbia, you must enter with a Columbian passport. They do not recognize any other citizenships that you may acquire. Since Nick's wife's US passport has Columbia as her place of birth, she has no choice but to maintain a Columbian passport.

Sound familiar? US citizens are required to enter the US using a US passport.

I wasn't given a choice of what to read. The IO gave me both sentences to read and write.

Thank you, so what am I then? A naturalized citizen or a natural born?

A citizen through acquisition. You derived citizenship. You didn't go through the naturalization process (where you would have had to file the N-400 form). And you weren't born in the USA.

The passport agencies can be found at this link: http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/agencies/agencies_913.html

If the following conditions are met, then the children will automatically acquire citizenship when their mom naturalizes.

1. The children are under the age of 18
2. The children are legal permanent residents
3. The children are in the mom's legal and physical custody and residing in the US

Your wife can apply for citizenship 3 years (less 90 days (note: NOT 3 months)) prior to her 3rd anniversary as a permanent resident (the resident since date on her conditional/10-year (should be the same date) card is the date to use to calculate the time frame).

Using her naturalization certificate after she takes the oath, she can file for US passports for herself and her two children (if they satisfy all the criteria). She would also need written permission from their father in order to apply for their passports.

Alternatively, she would be able to file the N-600, application for certificate of citizenship on their behalf (again, if they satisfy all the criteria) but this bit of paper costs $600. I obtained my son's passport and card prior to filing the N-600.

Since you a re under the age of 18, you didn't naturalize. You acquired citizenship through your parent(s) when they naturalized.

Once you have your passport, you can leave the US without penalty for any length of time. US citizens are required to file taxes no matter where in the world they reside.

According to the USCIS website, the processing time for the N-600 in Boston is 7.2 months. https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/Dashboard/ProcTimes.do

NO. There is no biometrics fee or any other fee for your children, associated with your filing of the N-400 for yourself. When you become a citizen, they automatically become citizens (if they are under the age of 18, if they are in your legal and physical custody, and if they are legal permanent residents). You will file form N-400 with all the required evidence and pictures plus the filing fee of $680 which includes your biometrics fee.

Congratulations

Thanks NickD, I just feel better about getting it for him now, and SLAMMING the door shut for him with USCIS. No loose ends and all that...

No question - just providing information. There are not many posts about the N-600 process on the forum.

Depends on the question - you have to read them properly. Some require one response, others more than one.

Example of question requiring one answer:

Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

Example of question requiring two answers:

What are two rights in the Declaration of Independence?
 life

And this question requires three answers:

My son already has his US Passport and Passport Card but I decided to completely close the door with USCIS for him before his 18th birthday. And, this way, if he ever needs this certificate, he will already have it in his possession.

Haven't gotten the receipt in the mail yet, but received the email notification yesterday with the receipt number.

All the previous threads that I have read say that the N-600 cannot be tracked online, i.e., no case status is ever available. However, when I put in the receipt number, I am able to track the status. For now (and who knows for long) it is in "Initial Review."

Initial Review

On May 6, 2013, we received this N600 APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP, and mailed you a notice describing how we will process your case. Please follow any instructions on this notice. You will be notified by mail when a decision is made, or if the office needs something from you. If you move while this case is pending, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or contact our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

Unfortunately, the processing time for this form in NYC is 9.6 months.

Now, I decided to file for this paper for my son. I am not advocating either way for it. It is just something I wanted to do for him (just in case). The US Passport and Card that he already has is proof of his US Citizenship already.

The following is the list of items that I included with the application:

1. Two identical passport photos (taken within 30 days)

• Pencil name and A-Number on back of each

2. Copy of child's birth certificate

3. Copy of my birth certificate

4. Copy of my marriage certificate

5. Copy of my divorce decree

6. Copy of my naturalization certificate, US passport (biographical page)

7. Copy of child's Permanent Resident Card

8. Copy of Child's US passport (biographical page)

9. Proof or required residence or physical presence

• School records
• Tax transcript

You, the stepfather could file for the child (I believe that would be quicker than your LPR wife filing for her). If the child arrives as an LPR (in your wife's legal and physical custody) before her 18th birthday (before or after your wife becomes a citizen), then the child would automatically become a citizen at that point (if your wife becomes a citizen before the child turns 18).

Thank you for posting N400-2011. It's very encouraging to hear from those who that undertaken this journey before us. I'm glad you posted the link to your post on changing your ssn. My ex has all that information so i will have to do that ASAP! One question though: How did changing your ssn affect your drivers license, taxes, bank accounts, etc? Was it a hassle to change all that?

Of course it was a total nightmare to change the number with every single account you have but it was so worth it when it all got done. Some places will ask you to mail a copy of the new card to them - I refused to do that. I would tell them to provide me with a fax number, and a phone number near the fax machine for me to call to verify that they had received the fax.\ (and record the names, ID's, dates, and times that you spoke with someone at the various institutions).

The first step is just sitting down and making a list of everywhere you have to update with the new number when you receive it. It took awhile for everything to be completed but it got done. My old social is still tied to my name and to my new number but it is totally inactive. However, your credit report information is transferred over to the new number so you don't have to start building credit from scratch again.

Good luck.

I want to add this, in case some of you don't know. Victims of domestic violence can apply for new social security numbers without needing to show identity theft. This is just something else to consider to keep safe. I found my old thread with all the information here: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/104039-fyi-new-ssn/?p=1475332

I haven't posted in the VAWA threads for a long time. Just wanted all of you to know that there is a light at the end of the long seemingly never-ending VAWA journey. Got my greencard through VAWA in 2008 and became a citizen in 2011. I read the last few pages, and I just have to say that it is good to see you guys supporting each other, and I agree that you just have to ignore the people who argue with you and disagree with everything you write. I know how that is - people on forums and even your friends will never understand what it is like, unless (God forbid) they go through it themselves. Keep the faith, be truthful with USCIS, and it will all work out in the end.

But, above all...be safe!

Good luck to you all!

Wow thanks I didn't realize about the 90 day thing that could make all the difference! Yay wiggle room!

Appreciate everyone's advice so much. It's exciting, I think we can make this work.

Great! Yes, 90 days before the three year anniversary on the green card. You can use the calculator on the USCIS website: http://www.uscis.gov/dateCalculator.html

I actually applied 3 days after my 90 days had started just to be on the safe side.