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Naturalization
USCIS Albuquerque Field Office Updates
The USCIS Albuquerque Field Office provided the following updates during the Mar. 17, 2022, stakeholder meeting. Processing Times for Form I-485, Application to Adjust Status January: 11.01 average months, 185 cases adjudicated February: 9.7 average months, 203 cases adjudicated March: 11.67 average months, 55 cases adjudicated to date Some cases have experienced delays because the…
Form N-470, Application to Preserve Residence for Naturalization Purposes
Certain classes of naturalization applicants are eligible to count time residing abroad towards meeting the requirement of “continuous residence” in the United States. The table below serves as a quick reference guide on certain “continuous residence” and “physical presence” provisions for persons residing abroad under qualifying employment. Employer or VocationProvisionContinuous ResidencePhysical PresenceU.S. government or contractorINA…
Does a Short Stay Establish a “Residence” for Immigration Law Purposes?
The article addresses the question, does a short stay establish a “residence” for purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)? This may seem like a trivial question, but it comes up in many contexts for U.S. immigration cases. For example, the following forms all appear to ask about residence history: Also, whether an immigrant…
USCIS Rolls Back Trump-Era Civics Test Changes for Naturalization Applicants
On Feb. 22, USCIS announced it is rolling back Trump-era changes to the civics test for naturalization applicants. The purpose of the civics test is for a naturalization applicant to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States. As background, on…
USCIS Update: Biometrics Appointment Delays
In a December 29, 2020 Stakeholder Message, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) provided an update on biometrics appointment delays at Application Support Centers (ASCs) due to COVID-19. USCIS collects biometrics for certain kinds of applications, including but not limited to: Form I-485, Application to Adjust StatusForm I-131, Application for Travel Document (including reentry permit)Form N-400,…
USCIS Filing Fees Update: Gov’t Withdraws 9th Circuit Appeal
Dec. 29, 2020 Update Yesterday, the government filed a motion for voluntary dismissal of its appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Immigrant Legal Resource Center et al., v. Wolf, et al., a legal challenge to the USCIS final rule from Aug. 20, which increased filing fees and required new versions of…
Expeditious Naturalization on the Basis of
U.S. Citizen’s Spouse’s Employment Abroad
The spouse must be employed by one of the following entities:
- an American firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce of the United States, or a subsidiary thereof
- the U.S. Government
- an American institution of research “recognized as such by the Attorney General
- a public international organization “in which the U.S. participates by treaty or statute
- a religious denomination or an interdenominational mission organization having a bona fide organization within the U.S.
A U.S. Citizen Working Abroad Asks about Expeditious Naturalization for Her Husband
Juliana and her husband both work abroad at a U.S. Embassy. She writes to ask about her husband’s eligibility for “expeditious naturalization”: I am a U.S. citizen, and I would my husband to be one too. We both work at the U.S. Embassy in Brazil. We got married in the U.S. in 2007 and moved to…
Birthright Citizenship
Donald Trump Meet Wong Kim Ark, the father of “Birthright Citizenship”
In 1895, the U.S. government, egged on by a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment, brought a test case in an effort to undermine the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision. The Washington Post tells the story.
CNN on Jeb Bush’s “Anchor Baby” Comments (Quoting Gary Chodorow)
MJ Lee of CNN Politics has written “5 Things to Know about the Asian Anchor Baby Controversy,” quoting attorney Gary Chodorow. Jeb Bush was trying to dig himself out from a pile of criticism for using the term “anchor babies.” But his comments at a press conference Monday only brought heaps of new outrage. Defending…
Rolling Stone, “Welcome to Maternity Hotel California” (Quoting Gary Chodorow on Chinese Birth Tourism)
Writing for Rolling Stone, in this long read Benjamin Carlson describes the birth tourism odyssey of one Beijing couple, Peter and Ellie Yang.
Chinese Turning to American Surrogate Mothers
Chinese couples who are unable to have children are turning to a surprising place for help these days: America. By hiring American surrogates, Chinese couples get around a ban on surrogacy in China. Also, by having a child born abroad, parents skirt the one-child policy and get a U.S. passport for their child. These same…
Acquisition of Citizenship at Birth Abroad
Nothing found.
Child Citizenship Act of 2000
A child born abroad and currently residing in the U.S. as a permanent resident automatically becomes a U.S. citizen if at any time after Feb. 27, 2001 all of the following are true:
- The child has at least one U.S. citizen parent
- The child is under 18 years of age.
- The child is currently residing permanently in the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent.
Such a child may apply for a U.S. passport and/or file with USCIS a Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship.
A child born abroad and currently residing abroad may apply for naturalization if the child is temporarily in the U.S. and all of the following are true:
- The child has at least one U.S. citizen parent.
- The U.S. citizen parent has been physically present in the U.S. for at least 5 years, at least 2 of which were after the age of 14–or the U.S. citizen parent has a citizen parent who has been physically present in the U.S. for at least 5 years, at least 2 of which were after the age of 14.
- The child is under 18 years of age.
- The child is residing outside the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent.
- The child is temporarily present in the U.S., having entered the U.S. lawfully and maintaining lawful status in the U.S.
Such a child may file with USCIS a Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate under Section 322.
Children with Dual Nationality (U.S. and China)
Chinese Nationality Laws and Reconceptualizing Asian-American Identity
Here’s an abstract of a forthcoming article in the UCLA Asian Pacific American Law Journal by Norman P. Ho of the Peking University School of Transnational Law.
Non-Scandal? Dual Chinese-Canadian Nationals Denied Chinese Visas
Several media outlets reported this week on two teenagers who applied for mainland Chinese visas in Toronto but were denied. The Chinese Consulate did not explain the denials, but apparently the reason was that although the teenagers were born in Canada and hold Canadian passports, they had acquired Chinese nationality at birth through their parents born in Hong…
Immigration Issues for Dual Nationality Chinese Children
China’s Nationality Law “is causing big headaches for the growing number of mixed-nationality families in China,” as recounted in Visa Complexity Vexes Parents of Dual Nationality Chinese Children (Los Angeles Times, Apr. 19, 2015).
Enrolling Binational Children in Beijing International Schools: Immigration Law Issues
The school year has just begun in Beijing. But for children of binational couples, it’s not too early to start thinking about immigration-related requirements for enrolling in Beijing international schools next year. In some cases, a child may need to renounce Chinese citizenship in order to become eligible for enrollment. An “international school” [1] is…
Ministry of Public Security Encourages Whistleblowers to Report on Persons with Dual Nationality
China’s Ministry of Public Security posted this appeal on its website: members of the public with knowledge of family residence registration (hukou) violations should report their tips to the public security bureau. This includes persons who have acquired foreign nationality but failed to cancel their hukou.
Translation: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Press Release, “How Chinese Citizens Should Deal with Nationality Issues” (Apr. 14, 2008)
Source: China Web Due to global integration and the day-by-day increase of Sino-foreign contacts, nationality problems are arising for Chinese citizens living in Mainland China . Some Mainland Chinese citizens qualify under foreign law to apply for or automatically acquire foreign citizenship (even if they have never been abroad) due to a foreign adoption, foreign…