According to immigration law, any child born on U.S. territory immediately acquires U.S. citizenship. If a father or mother is a U.S. citizen but the child is born outside the United States, certain conditions must be met to acquire U.S. citizenship. The following three scenarios are listed:
1. If a father or mother was born in the United States, their children, even if born outside the United States, acquire U.S. citizenship directly from the date of their birth.
2. If a father or mother naturalizes as a citizen and subsequently has children outside the United States, those children also acquire U.S. citizenship directly from the date of their birth.
According to Section 301 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the two scenarios above are referred to as Acquired Citizenship.
3. If a father or mother naturalizes as a citizen after having children outside the United States, their children under the age of 18 must first possess permanent resident status before they can actively acquire U.S. citizenship.
According to Section 320 of the INA, the above scenario is referred to as Derivative Citizenship. This provision is based on the Child Citizenship Act, which took effect in February 2001. It stipulates that children under the age of 18 must hold permanent resident status (a Green Card) and reside in the United States with their citizen parent(s) to acquire citizenship directly through their parent's citizenship status, with the effective date being the date of the parent's naturalization. If the child (under 18) is still residing abroad, they must first apply for an immigrant visa, enter the United States with immigrant status, and after obtaining a Green Card, submit Form N-600 to apply for U.S. citizenship.
All three scenarios above require the use of Form N-600 for application; however, the conditions and procedures for each differ, so it is essential to distinguish clearly between these concepts to avoid confusion.
Another scenario involves a parent who naturalizes as a citizen after having children outside the United States, but the family resides abroad long-term. In this case, parents may complete Form N-600K and submit it to the USCIS office with jurisdiction over their last place of residence before leaving the United States. Upon receipt, the USCIS will issue an interview appointment notice. With this notice, the parent may apply for a visa for the child at the U.S. consulate in their current country of residence, bring the child to the United States, and apply to the USCIS for naturalization procedures. Once the child acquires citizenship, they may return to the overseas country to reside. This type of application is based on Section 322 and requires coordination between the consulate, the USCIS, and the citizen parent(s) to be completed.
Regarding children born out of wedlock or adopted children of citizens, the conditions and procedures for acquiring U.S. citizenship differ significantly from the processes described above.
