Q If I naturalize, will my children get U.S. citizenship? If so, how do they get proof? My wife and I have two permanent resident children, 5 and 10.
Tenzin Sonam, Queens
A Your children will become U.S. citizenship automatically when you naturalize. They can then get U.S. passports, Certificates of Citizenship or both. Passports are less expensive and you can get them quicker. Some people like to get Certificates of Citizenship because unlike passports, they never expire. Under current law, permanent resident children “derive” U.S. citizenship if: At least one parent is a U.S. citizen by birth or naturalization; the child is unmarried and not yet age 18; the child is residing in the U.S. in the custody of the citizen parent, and the child is a permanent resident.
Q I am a naturalized U.S. citizen. If I petition for my over-21-year-old children, can they interview here for green cards? If they must return home, can they apply while here for a waiver for having been here illegally for more than a year?
Name withheld, by email
A Your children must apply for their immigrant visas at a U.S. consulate abroad. However, if they can prove that you will suffer extreme hardship if the family is separated, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will “waive” or forgive them for having been “unlawfully present” here. They can apply for the waiver while in the United States.
The “provisional stateside waiver” process allows a person to apply for the waiver before leaving for the interview abroad. Your children need the waiver because the law bars issuance of a visa to applicants who leave the U.S. after having been here unlawfully for more than 180 days. The waiver process is available to all applicants for permanent residence, provided they can prove that a U.S. citizen or permanent resident spouse will suffer extreme hardship if the family is separated. The waiver is provisional because even with the waiver, a consul can deny the visa for grounds other unlawful presence, for example, because of an applicant’s criminal record.
Allan Wernick is an attorney and director of the City University of New York’s Citizenship Now project. Send questions and comments to Allan Wernick, Daily News, 4 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004 or email to questions@allanwernick.com.
