Child Citizenship Act of 2000

Question

I'm American citizen living now in the Philippines and would like

to get US citizenship for my three boys. I tried to get Consular

Report of Birth Abroad but my physical presence was below 5

years before the child birth, so couldn't continue this. Now

since they are all still under 18 yrs old and I'm thinking it's

probably easiest quicker if we do this by using Child Citizenship

Act of 2000.

My boys carry Japan passport also because of my dual

citizenship and can go to US any time and we did go to US

together already. How and where can I get I-551 stamp on

their passport? Our destination is Sacramento, CA and what

will be the requirements for getting I-551 stamp and how long

do we have to stay in US to get US passport for my kids?

I thank all of you so much if you can help us out about this

matter.

Answer 1

What you are proposing will not qualify them for citizenship under the 2000 Act.  To qualify they MUST;

1. Have at least one American citizen parent by birth or naturalization;

2. Be under 18 years of age;

3. Live in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent; and

4. Be admitted as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence.

Note #4.  As visitors under the Visa Waiver Program, with Japanese passports, they are not qualified.

To qualify you are going to have to bring them to the USA as immigrants.  You can file an I-130, I-864 and G-325A for each of them with the US embassy in Manila (since you live in the Philippines you can do this).  You'll get IR-1 visas for them which will allow them to enter as immigrants and get an I-551 stamp in their passports at the port of entry.

However, to sponsor them you are going to need to show the embassy that you can support them.  For a family of 4 (you + 3 kids) you'll need to be able to show US income of $26,500 per year.  If you have family in the USA they can act as co-sponsors to help meet the income requirement.

When you get them to the USA, as immigrants, they'll get the stamp at the port of entry.  

I would recommend you go directly to one of the regional passport offices rather than mail the applications.  I have used the one on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles.

You'll take;

1. Evidence that you have legal custody of the children (if not in English you'll need a certified true translation).

2. their Japanese passports with the I-551's

3. their birth certificates showing you as the mother (if not in English you'll need a certified true translation)

4. your US passport

5. passport pictures for each of them

6. completed applications (download from on-line)

7. cash, plenty of $$$

If you arrive early (try to make an apointment) you can generally process in the morning and pick-up the completed passports after lunch the same day.

Of course, you know that at age 22 the Japanese government will require them to pick one citizenship.... Japanese or American.  Japan does not recognize dual citizenship.

Answer 2

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/...

You still have to meet the 5 year residency requirement (or your parents do).  

This is not automatic citizenship - your children must go through the naturalization process.