Cnweeklynews.com - Immigration News and information

Do I have to apply separately for my citizenship?

Question: Hi, I have a question about citizenship. My husband and I and our children have all had Green Cards and lived here in the U.S. for over 10 years. We have decided to apply for our U.S. Citizenship now before the Immigration filing fees go up soon. My question is, once my husband applies for his citizenship, as long as he lists me and our two children on the application, do we automatically become naturalized U.S. Citizens along with him?

Answer: Unfortunately, every U.S. Resident (Green Card holder) must apply separately for Naturalization in order to obtain U.S. Citizenship. The exception is that of minor children under age 18, who are resident and reside with the parent, automatically become U.S. Citizens when a parent is naturalized. However, children who obtain citizenship automatically do not receive citizenship certificates; so obtaining a U.S. passport is the usual way to show a child’s status as a U.S. Citizen. Therefore, if your children are under age 18 on the day you or your husband are sworn in as a U.S. Citizen, they will automatically become U.S. Citizens on that day.

I didn’t take my husband’s name, is that a problem?

Question: I have my passport in my maiden name, so when I married my husband, who is American, I did not change my last name to my husband’s last name. Now we want to file for my Green Card. Do I have to change my last name before the papers are filed with immigration in order to qualify or not? Thanks.

Answer: No, there is no immigration law which requires a foreign spouse to change her last name to that of her U.S. Citizen spouse. Taking a husband’s last name is an option, never a requirement. However, marriage immigration cases are often much more challenging than couples realize and there are many other crucial steps which should be taken as soon as possible after marriage to ensure the foreign spouses Green Card approval, including maintaining joint bank accounts (no separate accounts), filing taxes together, having Driver’s Licenses at the same address, joint auto insurance, joint names on a lease or deed to a home, joint utility bills, etc and having lots of photos in a photo album to name a few.

For consultation call our office: Law Firm of Caroly Pedersen P.A. 954.382.5378 or send an email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Our address is 2771 Executive Park Dr. Suite 4 Weston, FL 33331

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Immigration “robbed” us twice!

Question: I have a question about my husband’s case that we have been struggling with for almost a year now! I’m an American and we filed my husband’s green card case and got a letter asking for our tax return. We had filed an extension of our taxes for 2008 and explained that to Immigration in a letter, so we could only provide the extension – which we did. After that, we got a letter from immigration denying my husband’s entire case and lost the whole $1,365 filing fee!

We wrote back explaining again and even called the 800#, and were told that the decision was final, but we could appeal the case. So we went and spent $585 to request a review of the case from Immigration, hopefully so they would see that it was impossible to provide what they were asking for and the case should not have been denied.

But last week we got another denial from Immigration saying that because we only sent in the 2008 IRS extension and not the actual tax return, the case was denied again. Now we are robbed of even more money! I am at my wits end and my friend that I go to church with said I should ask you about it before we go through even more headaches. Can you please tell me how I can get my husband’s case reopened again because of their mistake in denying it or get a refund of all the filing fees we paid to immigration?

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Written by Attorney Caroly Pedersen

As anticipated, the USCIS finally announced its plans to increase Immigration application Filing Fees this year. Once the proposed increase is approved and the regulations are released, the fees will go into effect. The proposed increase for some of the most common application filing fees increases are below:

IMMIGRATION Q&A

Question: I just became a Naturalized U.S. Citizen after having lived in the U.S. for the past six years. I have a 12-year-old daughter who lives in Jamaica with her mother. We are still married, but separated. My question is, now that I am a U.S. Citizen will my daughter automatically become a U.S. Citizen or not?

Answer: Thanks for your question. This can sometimes be a confusing area. Under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, some eligible children under age 18 of U.S. Citizens automatically become U.S. Citizens. Acquiring citizenship automatically means citizenship acquired by law without the need to apply for citizenship. This can happen when a parent is a natural born U.S. citizen or once a U.S. Permanent Resident parent Naturalizes. To qualify, the child must meet all of the requirements below:

1) Inside the U.S.: For children currently residing permanently inside the U.S. to be eligible, a child must: a) Have at least one U.S. citizen parent (by birth or naturalization); b) Be under 18 years of age; c) Be currently residing permanently in the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent; and d) Be a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder);

2) Outside the U.S.: For children currently residing outside the U.S., the U. S. citizen parent must apply for naturalization on behalf of the child and the child needs to be in the U.S. to complete naturalization processing and take the oath of allegiance, since the naturalization process cannot take place overseas.

To be eligible, a child must: a) have at least one U.S. citizen parent (by birth or naturalization) who has been physically present in the U.S. for at least five years and at least two of which were after the age of 14 (or a U.S. citizen grandparent who has been physically present in the U.S. for at least five years, at least two of which were after the age of 14) b) Be under 18 years of age; c) Be residing outside the U.S. in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent; d) Be “temporarily” present inside the U.S.—having legally entered and continued to maintain legal immigration status.

In cases where a minor child under the age of 18 resides abroad and is not living in the physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent, in order to legalize a child’s status, the U.S. Citizen parent must file a family petition for the child. Once the child receives his or her immigrant visa at the U.S. Consulate abroad and enters the U.S. as a legal U.S. Resident, as long as the child is under age 18, he or she also automatically becomes a U.S. Citizen.

If the child has a tourist visa and is visiting the parent in the U.S., the U.S. Citizen parent may also file a family petition for the child and an application to adjust the child’s status to a U.S. Resident while inside the U.S. Once the child receives his or her Green Card, as long as the child is under age 18, he or she also automatically becomes a U.S. Citizen.

The USCIS does not automatically provide Citizenship certificates, therefore, the parent can apply for the child’s U.S. Passport to use as proof the child’s U.S. Citizenship.

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