Derived citizen who was deported?

[jimmy98]

Hi,

I have been deported for 7 years now, and being an only child to a mother who is alone and about to hit retirement the U.S., I am frantically hoping to have a chance to return home in light of a recent discovery. Please read the following to understand my situation. Thank you to anyone who is reading this, and especially to those with the intent of giving me some legal feedback and advice.


I immigrated to the U.S. with my parents in 1989 when I was 8 years old (we all had green cards soon as we arrived as we immigrated through my dad?s parents).
My parents divorced shortly after (within the first year of arriving in U.S.).
Divorce paper stated both parents with Joint Legal Custody, with Physical custody going to my father.
My father never naturalized to become a U.S. citizen.
My Mother naturalized soon as she qualified (around 94-95)
I was in deportation proceedings twice: first time around 2009, and I was allowed cancellation of removal. Second time I was deported back to China in December 2011
At the time of my deportation, my mother was questioned about whether she was awarded custody of me to confirm whether I was a derived citizen, she told them she didn?t have physical custody. She was telling the truth as that was what we always thought even thought I lived with my mother since I was 15-16.

Few days ago, my mother came upon an old court order. She sent it to me (she isn?t fluent in English), and I read it. It was a court order that changed 2 things in relation to the child custody and support payments.
1. Both parents gets Joint Legal Custody, Physical Custody changed to mother.
2. Father is unemployed and have stated the desire to leave the country. Child support will not be considered in the mean time unless the court finds he is somehow able to in the future.


Does this mean I am qualified to claim my U.S. citizenship based on derivative citizenship through my mother?
I was living with her since I was 15, and we can prove that with things such as my school records (I went to school in the city where I lived with her obviously) and my driver?s license. I was definitely living with her.

Please note: I am especially concerned about two things that might affect my claim.

1. Once I moved in with my mom and started high school in her city (10th grade), I was expelled for fighting. I was then forced to go to home school by the school district in a nearby city. I graduated home school and have the diploma. Does this in any way affect me getting my citizenship? Also,

2. I am concerned about whether ?Sole Legal Custody? is needed by my mother since the 1st court order stated ?Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody to my father? and second court order?amended in 1996--stated Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody being awarded to my father. I read on the web that the 5th and 9th (I think) circuit courts have required SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY? I also read somewhere on here that that "SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY" only applies to those turning 18 after 2001 (the new Child Citizenship Act).

Thank you for any feedback. My mom and I would appreciate any guidance as this is--from what we know--the only chance I have to get home.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Hi,

I have been deported for 7 years now, and being an only child to a mother who is alone and about to hit retirement the U.S., I am frantically hoping to have a chance to return home in light of a recent discovery. Please read the following to understand my situation. Thank you to anyone who is reading this, and especially to those with the intent of giving me some legal feedback and advice.


I immigrated to the U.S. with my parents in 1989 when I was 8 years old (we all had green cards soon as we arrived as we immigrated through my dad?s parents).
My parents divorced shortly after (within the first year of arriving in U.S.).
Divorce paper stated both parents with Joint Legal Custody, with Physical custody going to my father.
My father never naturalized to become a U.S. citizen.
My Mother naturalized soon as she qualified (around 94-95)
I was in deportation proceedings twice: first time around 2009, and I was allowed cancellation of removal. Second time I was deported back to China in December 2011
At the time of my deportation, my mother was questioned about whether she was awarded custody of me to confirm whether I was a derived citizen, she told them she didn?t have physical custody. She was telling the truth as that was what we always thought even thought I lived with my mother since I was 15-16.

Few days ago, my mother came upon an old court order. She sent it to me (she isn?t fluent in English), and I read it. It was a court order that changed 2 things in relation to the child custody and support payments.
1. Both parents gets Joint Legal Custody, Physical Custody changed to mother.
2. Father is unemployed and have stated the desire to leave the country. Child support will not be considered in the mean time unless the court finds he is somehow able to in the future.


Does this mean I am qualified to claim my U.S. citizenship based on derivative citizenship through my mother?
I was living with her since I was 15, and we can prove that with things such as my school records (I went to school in the city where I lived with her obviously) and my driver?s license. I was definitely living with her.

Please note: I am especially concerned about two things that might affect my claim.

1. Once I moved in with my mom and started high school in her city (10th grade), I was expelled for fighting. I was then forced to go to home school by the school district in a nearby city. I graduated home school and have the diploma. Does this in any way affect me getting my citizenship? Also,

2. I am concerned about whether ?Sole Legal Custody? is needed by my mother since the 1st court order stated ?Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody to my father? and second court order?amended in 1996--stated Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody being awarded to my father. I read on the web that the 5th and 9th (I think) circuit courts have required SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY? I also read somewhere on here that that "SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY" only applies to those turning 18 after 2001 (the new Child Citizenship Act).

Thank you for any feedback. My mom and I would appreciate any guidance as this is--from what we know--the only chance I have to get home.

I do not have an answer to your question. I think this might be of interest to you. https://thinkprogress.org/what-one-m...-5baef545e68a/ This article reports how several US citizens have been deported and later received over $100,000 and up to $350,000 after federal district court ruled in their favor.

You need to start by seeking a free consultation with an immigration attorney. You can even do that online or over Skype. Even the most expensive lawyer will give you a free consultation. If you don't know where to start, try this law firm. They seem to come up in a lot of my google searches. https://www.imwong.com/services/citi...e-citizenship/ If their answer does not suit you, keep trying until someone sees you have a case and a large award. If you have proof of custody, do not add layers of confusion by trying to have your case sorted through here. You have all the information you need to have a meaningful free consultation: You were not born out of wedlock. Your mother naturalized before you turned 18 and you have proof of legal custody. You were deported. Since you were deported, it becomes a federal matter. But let an immigration attorney tell you that.

All the best to you. I hope it works out for you.

[gar21233]

You case is kind of hard but from my perspective you apply for the new law since you were under 18 after 2001. please read the policy from USCIS.

https://www.uscis.gov/policymanual/HTML/PolicyManual-Volume12-PartH-Chapter4.html

You should have met the following condiitons before you were 18 years old.

A child born outside of the United States automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions have been met on or after February 27, 2001: [2]

?The child has at least one parent, including an adoptive parent [3] who is a U.S. citizen by birth or through naturalization;

?The child is under 18 years of age;

?The child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR); [4] and

?The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent. [5]


and for the new law the legal and physical custody means according to the same page.

USCIS considers a U.S. citizen parent who has been awarded ?joint custody? to have legal custody of a child. There may be other factual circumstances under which USCIS may find the U.S. citizen parent to have legal custody to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

and about your your concerns criminal cases or offenses are not considered here only for naturalization.

[newacct]

Hi,

I have been deported for 7 years now, and being an only child to a mother who is alone and about to hit retirement the U.S., I am frantically hoping to have a chance to return home in light of a recent discovery. Please read the following to understand my situation. Thank you to anyone who is reading this, and especially to those with the intent of giving me some legal feedback and advice.


I immigrated to the U.S. with my parents in 1989 when I was 8 years old (we all had green cards soon as we arrived as we immigrated through my dad?s parents).
My parents divorced shortly after (within the first year of arriving in U.S.).
Divorce paper stated both parents with Joint Legal Custody, with Physical custody going to my father.
My father never naturalized to become a U.S. citizen.
My Mother naturalized soon as she qualified (around 94-95)
I was in deportation proceedings twice: first time around 2009, and I was allowed cancellation of removal. Second time I was deported back to China in December 2011
At the time of my deportation, my mother was questioned about whether she was awarded custody of me to confirm whether I was a derived citizen, she told them she didn?t have physical custody. She was telling the truth as that was what we always thought even thought I lived with my mother since I was 15-16.

Few days ago, my mother came upon an old court order. She sent it to me (she isn?t fluent in English), and I read it. It was a court order that changed 2 things in relation to the child custody and support payments.
1. Both parents gets Joint Legal Custody, Physical Custody changed to mother.
2. Father is unemployed and have stated the desire to leave the country. Child support will not be considered in the mean time unless the court finds he is somehow able to in the future.


Does this mean I am qualified to claim my U.S. citizenship based on derivative citizenship through my mother?
I was living with her since I was 15, and we can prove that with things such as my school records (I went to school in the city where I lived with her obviously) and my driver?s license. I was definitely living with her.

Please note: I am especially concerned about two things that might affect my claim.

1. Once I moved in with my mom and started high school in her city (10th grade), I was expelled for fighting. I was then forced to go to home school by the school district in a nearby city. I graduated home school and have the diploma. Does this in any way affect me getting my citizenship? Also,

2. I am concerned about whether ?Sole Legal Custody? is needed by my mother since the 1st court order stated ?Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody to my father? and second court order?amended in 1996--stated Joint Legal Custody with Physical Custody being awarded to my father. I read on the web that the 5th and 9th (I think) circuit courts have required SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY? I also read somewhere on here that that "SOLE LEGAL CUSTODY" only applies to those turning 18 after 2001 (the new Child Citizenship Act).

Thank you for any feedback. My mom and I would appreciate any guidance as this is--from what we know--the only chance I have to get home.

If you were 8 in 1989, you turned 18 before 2001, before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 came into effect. The previous law required both parents to have naturalized (before you turned 18), or one parent died and the other parent naturalized, or the parents divorced and the parent having legal custody naturalized.

Although regulations define "legal custody" as including joint custody under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, no such regulations exist to define "legal custody" for the prior law, and a few appeals courts (the 9th Circuit and the 5th Circuit) have ruled that sole custody is required for pre-CCA cases.