GOOD NEWS – CHILD CITIZENSHIP ACT OF 2000
By Robert A. Kravitz
On a lighter tone, we would like to briefly comment on another amendment already passed into law by Congress on February 27, 2001. It allows children of U.S. citizens to automatically become U.S. citizens themselves before reaching the age of 18. The requirements are as follows:
At least one parent of the child must be a U.S. citizen, either by birth or naturalization;
- The child must be under the age of 18;
- The child must be residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.C. citizen parent and must be a legal permanent resident.
- If the child has been adopted, the adoption must be final.
This law allows for automatic citizenship of such children, with no need to file for naturalization or a certificate of citizenship. The U.S. passport agency accepts applications for U.S. passports directly, without the need to certify the citizenship. To obtain a U.S. passport, the following documents must be presented:
- Evidence of the child’s relationship to a U.S. citizen parent (certified birth certificate, adoption decree);
- The child’s foreign passport with the permanent residence approval stamp or the child’s alien resident card, and the parent’s valid identification.
For cases in which the child did not become a permanent resident but still lives abroad, a certificate of citizenship can be obtained through a petition for naturalization, if the child resides abroad in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent and has been admitted to the U.S. under a nonimmigrant visa.
This is good news to children under 18 whose parents become U.S. citizens and who could not, under prior law, become U.S. citizens themselves until reaching the age of 18. This is especially important for children who wish to obtain certain grants and scholarships to attend college, some of which are only available to U.S. citizens, or to families relocating abroad after a long period of residence in the U.S.
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