Documenting the Acquired Citizenship Status

Claiming citizenship through US citizen parents

A child who is born abroad automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when both his/her parents are U.S. citizens and one of them has resided in the U.S.A. before the birth of the child. In case one of the child’s parents is only a U.S. citizen then that parent should have been in the U.S. for at least 5 years (not less than that) and two years should have been before the parent was 14 yrs of age.  

Any child who is born outside the U.S. and who has claims over U.S. citizenship through his/her parents can file form N-600 (Application for certificate of citizenship). In that aspect, any child born outside the U.S. to U.S. citizen parent/parents and who meet the other eligibility criteria before their 18th birthday can file in N-600 at any point of time in their life. In case the child is under 18years of age, then the N-600 has to file on behalf of them by the child’s U.S. citizenship parent.

Claiming U.S. citizenship through action of law

A person should satisfy the following conditions in order to get citizenship by action of law if they are born outside the U.S. to U.S. citizen parents.

• At least one parent should have been a U.S. Citizen either by birth or through naturalization
• The applying individual should be currently living in the U.S. with his/her U.S. citizen parents.  
• The applying individual should be the biological child and in the legal custody of the U.S. citizen before becoming a 16 yr. old
• The person should have been born out of wedlock that was not legitimated and whose mother has got naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

Citizenship Application Process

The applicant should file in Form N-600 with all the necessary documents for proof and submit it in a USCIS office that has jurisdiction over his/her area of residence.