Paths to Citizenship

The usual way to a foreign-born citizen to become a citizen of the United States is through the process known as naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets out the requirements for naturalization. These requirements include:

- being over the age of 18
- having been lawfully admitted as a permanent resident
- having been physically present in the United States for at least half that time
- having resided continuously in the United States from the date of application up to the citizenship ceremony
- having resided for at least three months in the district of the Immigration Office where the application is being filed
- being a person of good moral character
- having basic knowledge of the English language
- having basic knowledge of American civics and history
- taking an oath of allegiance to the United States

In addition to the usual procedure described above, there are also special procedures that permit certain special classes of people to obtain citizenship. These are streamlined citizenship procedures, some of which do not require permanent residency or physical presence in the United States. These streamlined procedures apply to the following classes of persons:

1. Spouses and ex-spouses of United States citizens who obtain lawful permanent residency because they were battered spouses. People in this category can apply for United States citizenship after three years of permanent resident status.
2. Spouses of U.S. citizens stationed abroad if the U.S. citizen-spouse is an employee of the U.S., government or certain other organizations. No residence in the U.S. and no physical presence are required.
3. Lawful permanent residents who have a total of three years’ honorable service at any time in the U.S. military. No residence in the U.S. and no physical presence are required, and the application may be filed with any Immigration office.
4. Persons serving on active duty in the U.S. military during war or in other periods of military hostilities. This special provision does not require permanent residency status or physical presence in the United States.

What about children who are born outside of the United States, but whose parents are U.S. citizens? There are some special, and somewhat complicated, rules that cover this situation.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the child in this case may apply for a Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-600) if he or she meets the following requirements:
- is under 18 years of age
- is residing outside the U.S. with one parent
- the other parent has been physically present in the U.S. for at least five years
- the parent who resides in the U.S. has spent at least two of the five years in the U.S. after the age of 14.

What if the parent who is in the U.S. does not have at least five years’ physical presence? Or what if two of those five years are not after the parent turned 14? The child may still apply for a Certificate of Citizenship if he or she can meet the following requirements:
- is under 18
- is lawfully present in the U.S
- has a grandparent in the United States
- the grandparent is a United States citizen
- the grandparent is the parent of the U.S. citizen parent that lives in the United States
- the grandparent has been present in the United States for five years. Two of those five years must be after the grandparent’s 14th birthday.

Another unusual path to citizenship is the special provision for children who fall under the provisions of the Child Citizen Act of 2001. Under this law, a child can derive citizenship if he or she:
- is under 18
- is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
- has one parent who is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization
- resides in the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent

Finally, there is the very special class of people who have the right to claim United States citizenship, but may not know it. These people have relatives or ancestors who have been United States citizens or who had been eligible for citizenship, but the relatives or ancestors made no application for citizenship when it was possible for them to apply for citizenship. The process through which this class of people obtains citizenship is called “acquired citizenship” and also “derived citizenship”. An immigration attorney may be able to determine whether an individual falls within this special class of people, and can help them on their way to obtaining citizenship.

In this era of limited rights for noncitizens, it is recommended that noncitizens apply for citizenship. As discussed above, there is a traditional path to citizenship. There are also more unusual paths for people in special and specific situations. Therefore, it is best to see an immigration lawyer for an evaluation of the citizenship possibilities for you and your family.

About the author: Kathleen Lord-Black is a U.S. immigration lawyer.  Her offices are located in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has served as Immigration Consultant for the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, 2005 Chair of the Immigration Section of the Barristers Club of the Bar Association of San Francisco, and former Congressional liaison for U.S. Representative Farr. Ms. Lord-Black is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. Her articles regularly appear in the Bay Area Arabic-language newspaper, Alra’i Alarabi. Ms. Lord-Black can be reached via email at kathleen@kathleenlord.com; and by telephone at (360) 329-2436 (U.S.) and (604) 352-2006 (Canada). www.immigration-etats-unis.com