Immigration Corner | Can my US-born father help me with gaining US citizenship or a Green Card?

Dear Mrs. Walker-Huntington:

My dad was born in the United States of America, and I was born in Jamaica. I am 34 years old and I am living in Jamaica. It is printed on my birth certificate that my dad was born in America. However, I can’t find him. Can you help me to work on my green card with any of this little information. I have a US visa also.

– K.S.

Dear K.S.

Without knowing all the information about your father, e.g. did he live in the United States during certain times in his life – you could very likely be an American citizen. A child born outside of the United States to an American citizen is considered a Foreign-Born American citizen.

However, there are some parameters that the American citizen parent must meet in order to confer American citizenship to their foreign-born child. American citizenship is a coveted status and one that the United States does not grant lightly. Among the conditions that the American citizen parent must have is proof of US citizenship. This can take the form of a person’s birth certificate and photo identification, and or their US naturalization certificate and or US passport. Being listed on the foreign-born child’s birth certificate as an American without more proof is likely not to be enough for the US government.

Another key component of registering foreign birth, is that the American citizen parent must prove physical presence in America during certain periods of their life, e.g. school, employment etc. These level of proofs vary case by case and anyone choosing to gain US citizenship in this fashion should consult with an attorney and most certainly with the American citizen parent, or their family members in the case of a deceased parent.

If you locate your parent and he cannot meet the requirements to confer US citizenship on you, your father can petition for you for a Green Card. You will need to establish that he is your biological parent as well as that a parent-child relationship existed between the two of you prior to your 18th birthday. For some people that is difficult, but not impossible to establish.

Your situation will require your parent’s cooperation, and at a minimum in the event that he has passed, evidence that your parent was an American.

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practises immigration law in the United States; and family, criminal and international law in Florida. She is a mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com