Automatically Acquiring Citizenship at Birth Abroad

A child is a United States citizen at birth when born abroad to a United States citizen parent who meet the requirements of passing citizenship to the child. It is important that the United States citizen parent register the child’s birth at the closest U.S. Consulate as soon after the birth as possible. Every effort should be made to register the birth at least with in twelve (12) months. The child’s U.S. Passport may be applied for at most consulates.

Automatically Acquiring Citizenship after Birth

A child born outside of the United States automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following conditions have been met on or after February 27, 2001:

*The child has at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen by birth or through naturalization (including an adoptive parent);

*The child is under 18 years of age;

*The child is a lawful permanent resident (LPR); and

*The child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent.

Legal and Physical Custody of U.S. Citizen Parent

Legal custody refers to the responsibility for and authority over a child. For purposes of this provision, USCIS presumes that a U.S. citizen parent has legal custody of a child and recognizes that the parent has lawful authority over the child, absent evidence to the contrary, in all of the following scenarios

USCIS considers a U.S. citizen parent who has been awarded “joint custody” to have legal custody of a child. There may be other factual circumstances under which USCIS may find the U.S. citizen parent to have legal custody to be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Children of Armed Forces Members or U.S. Government Employees or their Spouses

On March 26, 2020, the Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act was enacted into law. This Act provides that, under certain conditions, children of U.S. armed forces members or U.S. government employees (or their spouses)who are residing outside the United States acquire citizenship under INA 320. This applies to such children who were under the age of 18 on that date.

A child born outside of the United States acquires automatic citizenship under INA 320 in cases where the child is an LPR and is in the legal and physical custody of his or her U.S. citizen parent who is:

• Stationed and residing outside of the United States as a member of the U.S. armed forces;

• Stationed and residing outside of the United States as an employee of the U.S. government; or

• The spouse residing outside the United States in marital union with a U.S. armed forces member or U.S. government employee who is stationed outside of the United States.

In cases involving the child of a U.S. armed forces member residing outside the United States, the child must be authorized to accompany and reside with the U.S. armed forces member as provided by the member’s official orders. If the spouse of the U.S. armed forces member is the qualifying U.S. citizen parent, the spouse must be authorized to accompany and reside with the U.S. armed forces member as provided by the member’s official orders.

The official orders that authorize a child and, if applicable, his or her U.S. citizen parent, to accompany and reside with the member of the U.S. armed forces outside of the United States are a statutory requirement for that child to acquire citizenship under INA 320. If the child (and, if applicable, U.S. citizen parent) being added to the orders is the last action for the child to qualify for acquisition, then the date of the order becomes the date of acquisition. There is no statutory requirement for children of U.S. government employees or their spouses to be included on the employee’s official orders. 

The child of a U.S. armed forces member or a U.S. government employee (or his or her spouse) must meet the general requirements under INA 320(a)(1)-(2) in addition to being an LPR residing in the legal and physical custody of his or her U.S. citizen parent. All statutory requirements must be met before the child reaches the age of 18, including, if applicable, the issuance of the official orders for the child (and, if applicable, the U.S. citizen parent) to accompany and reside with the U.S. armed forces member who is stationed outside the United States.

 Acquiring Citizenship Before the Child Citizenship Act of 2000

The Child Citizenship Act (CCA) applies only to those children born on or after February 27, 2001, or those who were under 18 years of age as of that date. Persons who were 18 years of age or older on February 27, 2001, do not qualify for citizenship under INA 320. For such persons, the law in effect at the time the last condition was met before reaching 18 years of age is the relevant law to determine whether they acquired citizenship.

In general, former INA 321 applies to children who were already 18 years of age on February 27, 2001, but who were under 18 years of age in 1952, when the current Immigration and Nationality Act became effective.

In general, a child born outside of the United States to two noncitizen parents, or one noncitizen parent and one U.S. citizen parent who subsequently lost U.S. citizenship, acquires citizenship under former INA 321 if:

• The child’s parent(s) meet one of the following conditions:​

  • Both parents naturalize;​

  • One surviving parent naturalizes if the other parent is deceased;​

  • One parent naturalizes who has legal custody of the child if there is a legal separation of the parents; or​

  • The child’s mother naturalizes if the child was born out of wedlock and paternity has not been established by legitimation.

• The child is under 18 years of age when his or her parent(s) naturalize; and

• The child is residing in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the time the parent(s) naturalized or thereafter begins to reside permanently in the United States.

As originally enacted in 1952, this section did not apply to adopted children of naturalized citizens.[23] Beginning on October 5, 1978, however, INA 321 became generally applicable to an adopted child if the child was residing in the United States at the time the adoptive parent or parents naturalized and the child was in the custody of his or her adoptive parents pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence.[24]

Application for Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-600)

A person who automatically obtains citizenship is not required to file an Application for Certificate of Citizenship. A person who seeks documentation of such status, however, must submit an application to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship from USCIS. A person may also apply for a U.S. passport with the Department of State to serve as evidence of his or her U.S. citizenship.

USCIS will issue proof of U.S. citizenship in the form of a Certificate of Citizenship if the Application for Certificate of Citizenship is approved and the person takes the Oath of Allegiance, if required to do so.

The US Government may require a person provide a Certificate of Citizenship as evidence of citizenship before a U.S. Passport is granted. This is becoming more common. There are reasons for getting a Certificate of Citizenship even when a U.S. Passport is granted; A person who acquires citizenship by birth in the United States will have two pieces of evidence to indicate citizenship: A Birth Certificate and a U.S. Passport. A person who acquires citizenship after birth abroad may only have one document to prove U.S. Citizenship unless the birth was registered abroad with the U.S. Consulate. This can be a problem later in life as an example: When the child applies to colleges and for financial aide.