Immigration Corner | What is my daughter’s US status?

Dear Mrs Walker-Huntington,

My husband is now a US citizen. Our daughter was born while he was a permanent resident. Does my husband have to file for her or does she already have automatic residency status at 10 years old?

Thank you.

– NB

Dear NB,

Derivative US citizenship – where a person acquires US citizenship as a matter of birthright – is a highly coveted process that is strictly scrutinised. One of the basic requirements to confer US citizenship on a child born outside of the United States is that one parent must be an American citizen at the time of the birth of the child. The US citizen parent must also show the biological relationship with the child.

Additionally, and somewhat harder, is that the US citizen parent was physically present in the United States during a specific period – if applicable. Yes, it is a complicated process to determine whether a child can acquire US citizenship from a parent, but it is one that should be addressed sooner rather than later.

However, in your situation, your daughter is not eligible to acquire citizenship from her father without first becoming a permanent resident – because your husband was a permanent resident when she was born. If she is under 18 years of age and her US citizen father files a petition for her to become a permanent resident and she moves to America to live with him, she can then acquire US citizenship from her father.

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 diversity and inclusion consultant, mediator and former special magistrate and hearing officer in Broward County, Florida. info@walkerhuntington.com