Is my foreign-born child a US citizen?

On August 28th, 2019 the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a new policy manual update on derived citizenship for children. Generally, US citizenship can be granted to children born on US soil or to at least one US citizen parent. However, with the release of the new rule, The granting of US citizenship to children born under these circumstances will be further screened.

What is the biggest change?

The three highlights of this policy update is the clarification between US residence and presence; to establish the difference between US presence and temporary visits to the US, and the update how children living abroad with US government or military are no longer considered as residing in the US.

How could this affect me?

If you are a US citizen working abroad on US territory, such an embassy, or stationed abroad for the US government, it means your child does not automatically acquire US “presence”. US presence is required for establishing residence, a requirement for US citizenship.

Alternatively, if you are a foreign person who gave birth to a child while on US soil, your child may be at risk. The N-600 certificate of US citizenship requires sufficient proof of US presence.

What is considered proof of US presence?

Even US citizens residing abroad must prove they have sufficient US presence in order to justify their underaged children deserving of derived US citizenship. This means if you haven’t returned to the US in a long time, never really lived here permanently, or simply treat the US as more of a vacation spot than home, it’s possible your foreign-born child won’t be granted US citizenship.

This could also apply to foreign-born children of US parents who fail to obtain a copy of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (FS-240) and thereby need to prove US citizenship by other means.

US citizens must show five years of US presence after the age of 14 in order to qualify.

US presence is best established with school records (transcripts), tax returns, and W2 income returns.