daughter's citizenship

[noemi]

Me and my daughter came in USA on a visa waiver program, her father is American and we recently got married. Since she was born outside the marriage how do we proceed to get her citizenship ? She's still 10 months old and before leaving Italy we didn't ask for a birth certificate abroad at the US consulate. And if we need to hire a lawyer, does it have to be an immigration lawyer or a family lawyer ? We'Ve been asking the same question to different lawyers and they all have different answers ...

Thank you

[rayb]

Your message is somewhat confusing. Is this your daughter or your stepdaughter?

You need to obtain proof of her birth, connection to her father, and proof of her father's U.S. citizenship.

Is her father's name on her birth certificate?

She is technically eligible for derived U.S. citizenship, but not having her birth registered at the U.S. Consulate for her birth location was a big mistake.

The simplest next step, when you have the above (birth record showing her father's name, father's proof of U.S. citizenship), is to apply for a U.S. passport for her. At that point, you may be asked for DNA testing of her father and her before a passport will be issued, unless documents proving her relationship with father is very strong.

--Ray B

Me and my daughter came in USA on a visa waiver program, her father is American and we recently got married. Since she was born outside the marriage how do we proceed to get her citizenship ? She's still 10 months old and before leaving Italy we didn't ask for a birth certificate abroad at the US consulate. And if we need to hire a lawyer, does it have to be an immigration lawyer or a family lawyer ? We'Ve been asking the same question to different lawyers and they all have different answers ...

Thank you

[noemi]

Sorry, she's our daughter , I'm the mother and my husband is the father.

What's kind of documents are you talking about? It's not that I don't want to get a paternity test for her and my husband but it costs 500$

[rayb]

Noemi,

You don't need an attorney to make this work, but the different answers you received were probably for two reasons:

1. This is a somewhat unusual scenario and no attorneys do this kind of citizenship claiming every day;
2. There are different ways this can be accomplished.

Please answer the following, and I will recommend steps you may consider taking:

1. Is your husband's name on the birth certificate as father. Was there a requirement, when child was born, that the father claim paternity (this is standard in some countries).

2. How did your husband acquire his U.S. citizenship, by birth or by naturalization or derived from a parent? If the latter, not birth, when did he become a U.S. citizen?

--Ray B

Sorry, she's our daughter , I'm the mother and my husband is the father.

What's kind of documents are you talking about? It's not that I don't want to get a paternity test for her and my husband but it costs 500$

[noemi]

His name is on her Italian birth certificate and so is mine.
He was born in US by us citizen parents and he's been in US the whole time (beside when he was deployed in Afghanistan, Italy and Germany)

[rayb]

The fastest way to get this started is to apply for a U.S. passport for the child, based on her legally-derived citizenship from a U.S. citizen parent.

You will need to have certified copies of the child's birth cert and your husband's birth cert. A subsequent U.S. passport will be legal proof of the child's U.S. citizenship.

But the Passport Agency may question the paternity and might ask for DNA testing, which can run between $300 and $800. If that is what it takes, bite the bullet and use a recognized DNA lab on any government list, but shop for the best price.

You can also go the N-600 route, $600 fee, to apply for a Citizenship Certificate, but the birth certificate (or an additional legal document) must reflect the child being "Legitimatized" by the father if you were not married when the child was born. If you were married before the child was born, additional "legitimation" by the father should not be an issue.

--Ray B

[noemi]

Ok, so basically I bring his birth certificate(is a copy of it good enough) a certified translation of her birth certificate and a DNA test ?

[noemi]

So, I tried to apply for a passport for my daughter but I couldn't since I don't have a birth certificate born abroad therefore no proof of citizenship and I cannot file the form for the certificate of citizenship since she doesn't have a green card.

[rayb]

To apply for a U.S. passport for the child, the child must meet legal requirements to claim U.S. citizenship. With the circumstance you reported already, you have a couple of choices:

1. Get the child a Green Card first, by submitting both I-130 and I-485. This is the long way around and the most expensive way, but once she has a Green Card, you could then claim U.S. citizenship (U.S. passport or citizenship certificate) based on derivative eligibilty; or

2. Submit an N-600 to claim a Citizenship Certificate by providing proof of father's U.S. birth.

The problem you are facing is that to claim U.S. citizenship, when this was not done outside the U.S., the child must first have Permanent Resident status (Green Card) before making the claim while in the U.S. It is possible that proceeding with applying with the N-600 ($600 fee) might bypass the Green Card requirement, but you risk losing the $600.

--Ray B

So, I tried to apply for a passport for my daughter but I couldn't since I don't have a birth certificate born abroad therefore no proof of citizenship and I cannot file the form for the certificate of citizenship since she doesn't have a green card.

[noemi]

In the requirements for the form N-600 there's written "being a legal permanent resident" which she's not, therefore I will lose 600$

[rayb]

There would be that risk.

--Ray B

In the requirements for the form N-600 there's written "being a legal permanent resident" which she's not, therefore I will lose 600$