U.S. citizenship for my baby girl

[COSMOPOLITAN]

COSMOPOLITAN COSMOPOLITAN is online now
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Hi there,
I moved legally from France to Florida in October 1995, I lived and worked permanently there until April 2002. In august 2000 I became a U.S. citizen.

May 2011, My wife, my baby girl and I went to our U.S. Consulate to register our baby and also to apply for a SSN and a U.S passport.

2 local agents with the presence of our U.S consul verified:
My American passport, my U.S. voter identification, my citizenship certificate and several official documents proving that I have permanently lived in the U.S soil for almost 7 years.
Then they made me complete to forms and asked me to pay the appropriate fees.

After that our U.S. consulate administration kept calling me by phone and sending emails:
" WE NEED MORE PROVES THAT YOU HAVE LIVED PERMANENTLY in U.S. FOR 5 YEARS" .

These the list of the official documents I sent them:
--- Primary proves of evidences:
1 - Transcript of schedule of work from SSA; 1996,97,98,99 and 2000
2 - Copies of Tax return that I still had in my possession, 1999 and 2000
3 - Copy of my Florida Id issued in 1996
4 - Copy of my first work permit issued by the INS office in F.L. in 1996
5 - Copy of my F.L .driver license issued in 1997.

--- Secondary proves of evidences:
1 - A contract and schedule of payments under my name from a nationwide landlord company showing that I have lives in the same Apt during 4 years and 8 months
2 - Several banking and financial documents from 1996 to 2002.
3 - Several paid bills...
4 - My U.S passport showing that I was in the U.S. until April 2002.

After all that our Abroad administration sent an email asking
"WE NEED MORES PROVES of evidence and you need to pay the same fees again"

Would that be possible for anyone telling me what to do or giving some advices

[raysaikat]

Originally Posted by COSMOPOLITAN

COSMOPOLITAN COSMOPOLITAN is online now
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Hi there,
I moved legally from France to Florida in October 1995, I lived and worked permanently there until April 2002. In august 2000 I became a U.S. citizen.

May 2011, My wife, my baby girl and I went to our U.S. Consulate to register our baby and also to apply for a SSN and a U.S passport.

2 local agents with the presence of our U.S consul verified:
My American passport, my U.S. voter identification, my citizenship certificate and several official documents proving that I have permanently lived in the U.S soil for almost 7 years.
Then they made me complete to forms and asked me to pay the appropriate fees.

After that our U.S. consulate administration kept calling me by phone and sending emails:
" WE NEED MORE PROVES THAT YOU HAVE LIVED PERMANENTLY in U.S. FOR 5 YEARS" .

These the list of the official documents I sent them:
--- Primary proves of evidences:
1 - Transcript of schedule of work from SSA; 1996,97,98,99 and 2000
2 - Copies of Tax return that I still had in my possession, 1999 and 2000
3 - Copy of my Florida Id issued in 1996
4 - Copy of my first work permit issued by the INS office in F.L. in 1996
5 - Copy of my F.L .driver license issued in 1997.

--- Secondary proves of evidences:
1 - A contract and schedule of payments under my name from a nationwide landlord company showing that I have lives in the same Apt during 4 years and 8 months
2 - Several banking and financial documents from 1996 to 2002.
3 - Several paid bills...
4 - My U.S passport showing that I was in the U.S. until April 2002.

After all that our Abroad administration sent an email asking
"WE NEED MORES PROVES of evidence and you need to pay the same fees again"

Would that be possible for anyone telling me what to do or giving some advices

By the word "LIVED PERMANENTLY", US consulate would usually mean "lived as a permanent resident". In other words, "lived as a green-card holder". So they are asking you to provide them proof of when you received your green card. They expect you to prove that before getting US citizenship, you lived in US as a green card holder for 5 years (i.e., from around 1995). In the list you provided, I did not see a green card.

In order to get US citizenship, you need to live in US for 5 years as a green card holder (or 3 years, if you get the green card for being married to a US citizen). Seems like US consulate is trying to verify how you qualified for US citizenship in the first place.

[COSMOPOLITAN]

Hi there
It is whole "deal" to become an American citizen, the U.S. consulate kind of knew that I have to live in the U.S. soil for at least 5 years.

Please check the list out of what I sent them, a way beyond what they need...
Why would they have made us complete the forms and also made us pay the fees if my daughter case was doubtful from the first day...

The feeling that I have is that they consider me as a 2nd or 3thd class U.S. citizen, hopefully I am wrong

U.S. passport costs $ 120 for a kid born inside our country and it takes less than 2 weeks to get.

So far I have already spent $ 1400 and they are still asking me to pay $ 205 more for renewing my baby case.

GO FIGURE
Thank you for your concern

[raysaikat]

Originally Posted by COSMOPOLITAN

Hi there
It is whole "deal" to become an American citizen, the U.S. consulate kind of knew that I have to live in the U.S. soil for at least 5 years.

Just legally living on US soil for 5 years does not count. Most people on this forum, e.g., has been living legally (typically on H1-B or H4) on US soil for over 5 years, many close to or more than 10 years, waiting for green card. Those years do not count towards US citizenship.

The 5 year clock starts the day you received your green card. When did you receive your green card?

Originally Posted by COSMOPOLITAN

Please check the list out of what I sent them, a way beyond what they need...

But looks like you did not provide them the one thing (really, the only thing) they need -- your green card. Provide them your green card's copy -- you should be fine.

Originally Posted by COSMOPOLITAN

Why would they have made us complete the forms and also made us pay the fees if my daughter case was doubtful from the first day...

The feeling that I have is that they consider me as a 2nd or 3thd class U.S. citizen, hopefully I am wrong

U.S. passport costs $ 120 for a kid born inside our country and it takes less than 2 weeks to get.

So far I have already spent $ 1400 and they are still asking me to pay $ 205 more for renewing my baby case.

GO FIGURE
Thank you for your concern

[ds37]

Originally Posted by raysaikat

Just legally living on US soil for 5 years does not count. Most people on this forum, e.g., has been living legally (typically on H1-B or H4) on US soil for over 5 years, many close to or more than 10 years, waiting for green card. Those years do not count towards US citizenship.

The 5 year clock starts the day you received your green card. When did you receive your green card?


But looks like you did not provide them the one thing (really, the only thing) they need -- your green card. Provide them your green card's copy -- you should be fine.

please see he is a us citizen. why do you think he will have to have a copy of greencard. and as I understand for us citizen if they have their passport outside the US than it is up to the state dept. to find out if he is fraud or not.

ds

[kishore.salla]

Hey In First place to get SSN & US passport for your Kid why did you go to US consulate ???
why are you complicating a SIMPLE affair?

Any person born in US is US Citizen by Birth, NO matter their parents US citizens, Green card holders, Visa holder or EVEN illegal aliens.

If you presently live in USA.. follow below...
1) SSN is either applied by hospital while doing birth certificate (OR) you can walk in Local SSN office with Original birth certificate
2) US passport - Go to any USPS post office apply there..its simple process!!!

My suggestion is...You DONT need to go to US consulate directly UNLESS your child is born outside USA and she is claiming US citizenship based on your US citizenship as a kid.

[raysaikat]

Originally Posted by ds37

please see he is a us citizen. why do you think he will have to have a copy of greencard. and as I understand for us citizen if they have their passport outside the US than it is up to the state dept. to find out if he is fraud or not.

ds

Most likely this is how the dept. of state is trying to find whether everything is in order or not. First, DOS routinely checks for the validity of previous immigration statuses (if you recall the story of the doctor -- from Malaysia? -- who applied for citizenship after 25 years having green card and was ordered to be deported as he wasn't truthful about his marital status at the time s/he first immigrated). In this case, although the poster did not explicitly mention, most likely the baby was born outside of US. So the citizenship application of the baby is based on the citizenship of the poster.

Now, suppose the DOS checked their own database and did not find permanent resident status for the person in the 5 years previous to the citizenship date. This implies one of two possibilities: (i) the person actually did not have the permanent resident status, or (ii) the DOS database is in error (e.g., records were too old and wasn't kept electronically). Would you not want DOS to ask for more clarification from the petitioner instead of flat-out rejecting the petition? If the petitioner does provide proof of having a green card, then the consulate can do a better search (they will have the alien number), perhaps dig in their non-electronic database manually, etc.

If you yourself read the original post, it says:

"In august 2000 I became a U.S. citizen."
"Copy of my first work permit issued by the INS office in F.L. in 1996"

If the poster received citizenship in 2000 (based on employment based green card), s/he should have green card in 1995. Why would then s/he needs to receive a work permit from INS in 1996?

The basic idea that the "last" state alone is not sufficient is that if one receives some document based on clerical errors, that document does not grant the status that document is supposed to prove. Which is why you periodically hear that someone receives green card even though their PD is not current, and their lawyer would ask them to return it.

Even without any fraud (i.e., without having an explicit intention to defraud), someone can receive citizenship erroneously. For instance, suppose the poster entered US legally (but not as a green card holder) in 1995, and in 2000, he _thought_ that he has been living in US _permanently_ for 5 years, and so he is eligible for being a citizen. It is also particularly confusing since s/he would have been filing federal taxes as "resident". S/he applied for it, and due to clerical error, it was granted.

I am not saying this is the case with this poster. Maybe s/he did not understand what "permanently living" means, and hence provided other documents. Maybe all s/he needs is to provide a copy of his/her green card issued in 1995.

USCIS/DOS are inefficient, but in this case, I do not see anything wrong in their behavior. The proof of permanent residency may even be a initial requirement that the petitioner needed to submit at the time of application itself.

[laddu0]

The question is where your child born? In USA or outside USA? I assume your child was born in USA. In that case why you went to consulate?

As informed by other member kishore, first you have to apply for birth certificate which is done in the hospital itself. Second along with birth certificate hospital also apply for SSN.

Once you receive those two just you have to go to local post office to apply for passport. These are very very simple steps. If you do these correct, you will receive US passport for your child.

I dont know the steps if your child born outside USA or if you adopted a child.

[COSMOPOLITAN]

Thanks for your answers,
My daughter is born in Noth West Africa, I am her biological father and her mother is officialy my wife...

Any legal advice ?

[COSMOPOLITAN]

Hi Raysaykat,
Thank you for taking time and making a such clear analysis of my case.
I got in the U.S. soil in late semptember 1995 under an "indefinitelly" B.1 visa, in March 1996 I met my U.S. born and U.S. citizen ex-wife, in September 1996 We got maried, in November 1996 I got a temporary work permit from the I.N.S. and in the beginning of 1997 I got my first green card.

In march 2000 I went through out the process and in August 2000 I became a U.S. citizen.

In September 2001 things got worse with my ex wife, I lost my buisiness, after divorcing I went back where I grew up (France) in April 2002.

October 2009 I am married a West Noth African women, September 2010 we got our first kid, born outside the U.S. soil.

Any legal advice from anyone please ?

Sorry for my broken English

[raysaikat]

Originally Posted by COSMOPOLITAN

Hi Raysaykat,
Thank you for taking time and making a such clear analysis of my case.
I got in the U.S. soil in late semptember 1995 under an "indefinitelly" B.1 visa, in March 1996 I met my U.S. born and U.S. citizen ex-wife, in September 1996 We got maried, in November 1996 I got a temporary work permit from the I.N.S. and in the beginning of 1997 I got my first green card.

In march 2000 I went through out the process and in August 2000 I became a U.S. citizen.

In September 2001 things got worse with my ex wife, I lost my buisiness, after divorcing I went back where I grew up (France) in April 2002.

October 2009 I am married a West Noth African women, September 2010 we got our first kid, born outside the U.S. soil.

Any legal advice from anyone please ?

Sorry for my broken English

I think you should send this history to US consulate with the corresponding documents: (i) copy of your B1 visa, (ii) copy of the certificate of marriage to your US born wife, (iii) copy of your green card (if you received a conditional one at first, and then later received the unconditional one, then provide copies of both), (iv) copy of proof of divorce (something that shows that the divorce was finalized), (v) copy of the certificate of marriage to your current wife, (vi) copy of the birth certificate of your daughter that shows you are her father.

Also recheck your original application. US consulate seems to think that your green card was employment based, not marriage based. You probably filled-out something incorrectly.

And a general advice: you should not trust any "local agent". Read yourself every form and every document you are submitting.

[COSMOPOLITAN]

Hello,
When I went to "our" U.S. consulate, I was extremely clear about my situation,

I gave them my certificate of divorce, my first I.N.S. allien number,..
many evidences from my first arrival in the U.S. soil untill I left back to France in 2002.
After 8 of months of proceeding without getting my daughter right.

I contacted my American ex-wife, then she sent a positive detailed letter telling them about our story.

So far what "OUR" abroad admistration is asking for is "WE need more proves that you lived permanentely for 5 years in the U.S. soil"

And of course that I went beyond what they needed, please have a look at all the evidences I already sent them.

The way I think about now is they perhaps consider me as 2 nd ou 3 rd class U.S. citizen and I hope that I am wrong.

[raysaikat]

Originally Posted by Duran

Oh boy, I didn't know it is so difficult! I'm pregnant now and have no idea about how to deal with all those issues. I thought my baby will automatically be considered as an US citizen...

If your baby is born on the US soil, s/he will automatically become a US citizen.