Expeditious Naturalization under INA 322, Children of U.S. Citizen Residing Outside the U.S.

If you are a U.S. citizen, your child was born outside the U.S., and you and your child regularly reside outside the U.S., your child may be eligible to apply for a U.S. citizenship by filing From N-600K.

The N-600k petition is a petition for children of U.S. citizens who regularly reside outside the U.S. would file to obtain a U.S. citizenship, if the following is met:

• Child has a U.S. citizen parent (the U.S. citizen parent could have acquired the U.S. citizenship by birth or naturalization),
• Child’s U.S. citizen parent (or potentially grand-parent) meets the U.S. physical presence requirement,

This means that the U.S. citizen parent must have been physically present in the U.S. (or its outlying possessions) for at least 5 years, and 2 years of the 5 years must have been after the parent reached 14 years of age.

It’s important to note that the physical presence is calculated in the aggregate and includes time accrued in the U.S. when the parent was not a U.S. citizen. For example, if your parent lived in the U.S. on an H1b visa, later got a green card, and then became a U.S. citizen, but left the U.S. 1 year after becoming a citizen, he could count the periods of time he lived in the U.S. on an H1b/green card status.

• Child is under 18 years of age & unmarried at the time of filing the N-600K form & at the time of the USCIS interview/Oath of Allegience,
• Child regularly resides outside the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent,
• S. citizen parent also regularly resides outside the U.S,
• Child is lawfully admitted, physically present, and maintaining a lawful status in the U.S. at the time the application is approved and at the time of naturalization.

One option how to be able to attend the interview in the U.S. is to apply for a B-2 visa. There is a special category under the B-2 visa for a foreign-born child of a U.S. citizen to facilitate the child’s expeditious naturalization under INA 322 in the U.S.

At the B-2 visa interview, the child should still present evidence that he/she plans to return abroad after naturalization to avoid denial based on INA 214(b). The child should bring evidence such as lease agreement/proof of property ownership of parents in the foreign country, evidence that the child is enrolled in a school in a foreign country, evidence that the parents work in a foreign country, etc. The visa applicant will have to present evidence that USCIS scheduled an appointment for the naturalization interview under INA 322.

However, it’s not mandatory that your child enters on a B2 visa if he/she has some other non-immigrant visa, or perhaps a green card/re-entry permit. USCIS focuses on whether the applicant is in the U.S. “temporarily” (and looks at both the length and nature of the child’s presence in the U.S., not just the immigration status).

You should speak with an experienced immigration attorney prior to applying for the B-2 visa for your child.

The U.S. citizen parent can file the N-600 petition on behalf of the minor child. USCIS will then review the application and schedule an interview in the U.S. (in the N600K application, you will indicate the preferred location & date for the interview. USCIS will take this into consideration, but may scheduled it for a different date).

You and your child will need to attend the interview in person & your child will also have to take the Oath of Allegiance. Your child would then obtain a Certificate of Citizenship after the interview and with this could apply for a U.S. passport. Please note that USCIS may waive the interview if the child is under the age of 14.

In some cases, it may be better to sponsor your child for a green card, please see our blog post on this topic here.

Please see our blog post about Citizenship for children born abroad to U.S. military parents here.