The Child Citizenship Act was enacted on October 17, 2000 and became effective on February 27, 2001. Under the new law, children of a U.S. citizen parent, whether natural or adopted, automatically become U.S. citizens if they qualify. This represents a significant change in the law because prior to the act, these children had to go through the naturalization process to become citizens. These children no longer have to go through a relatively lengthy naturalization process to become citizens, and are given the status of U.S. citizenship automatically merely by qualifying is the child as a U.S. citizen.
In order to qualify for citizenship under this act, all of the following requirements must be met:
- One parent, natural or adoptive, must be a U.S. citizen. The parent can either be a citizen by birth or by naturalization.
- The child must be under eighteen years old.
- The child must have permanent resident status.
- The child must be living permanently in the U.S. and must be present in the U.S.
- The U.S. citizen parent must have legal and physical custody of the child.
- If the child is adopted, then the adoption must be full and final according to the adoption laws that apply.
As noted above, if all of the foregoing qualifications are met, then the child is automatically considered a U.S. citizen and nothing further has to be done for the child to attain U.S. citizenship. One may, however, want to obtain official documentation showing the child to be a citizen, as the child's foreign birth certificate will not reflect he is a citizen, nor will he be issued a Certificate of Citizenship as in the naturalization process. This can be done by filing a Form N-600 for a Certificate of Citizenship or a Form N-643 for adopted children.
For more information on citizenship, please click one of the links below:
Description
Citizenship by Birth
Child Citizenship Act of 2000
Frequently Asked Questions about Citizenship
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