American citizenship through a naturalized U.S. citizen father?

Question

Hi.

I was born outside the United States. My father became a Naturalized US citizen in 1997. He claimed me and my family in order for us to receive Permanent Residence.

He was told at that moment that since I was under 18, I could become a US citizen automatically. However, my dad decided to put that off for later.

At that time I was 13, and the son of recently naturalized US citizen.

A year later my dad died.

So now I am 23. And I was wondering if I could still claim that automatic citizenship that my dad didn't claim at that time.

Some people have told me that I can't since I am over 18. Yet other people tell me that I can, since I was eligible way before I was 18. That it is not a matter of how old I am right now, but how old I was when I became eligible for this automatic citizenship... and that there is some law that guarantees that for people who were under 18 on or before 2001.

I am quite confused, so do you think I can still claim automatic citizenship?

Answer 1

did you have a green card at the time your father became a citizen? were you in the US? If so, you may well have a claim, but if not, you probably don't. However, since you are here now, you can certainly go to USCIS and ask, or if you prefer, you could always hire an immigration attorney, explain everything to him and if he thinks you do have a claim to citizenship, have him present it for you. Or, you can always naturalize on your own if you have 5 years of residency as a legal permanent resident.

Answer 2

Why did you wait this long to apply for permanent residency?  Is your mother a US citizen by virtue of marriage to a US citizen?  If she is then I think she can still petition you but it could take a while - I think.

Edit: My suggestion is to go through the normal channel and apply for naturalization that way - i.e. wait 5 years and then file your N-400.  It doesn't take that long to process, mine took about 9 months, assuming you're application don't have any complications.  Good luck!