US Citizen Father never lived in USA, has a kid 19 years and two sons under 18.

[monablus]

I am a US citizen who was born in Oregon and never lived in the US after that. Married to a non-US wife. Currently, I have a daughter who is 19 and two sons under 18 years old. When I look at the Department of State website, it says under "Child born abroad in wedlock to a US citizen and an alien" that parent must be presented at least 5 years prior to the person's birth. At the same time, when I checked the Family-based, all I need to do is to submit I-30, and it does not mention the 5 years.

Any advice about the difference

Thank you!

[newacct]

So, as you already found, in order to pass on US citizenship to your children at birth, since you are a US citizen and the other parent is a non-US-national, you needed to have been physically present in the US before their birth for a cumulative total of 5 years, including 2 years after you turned 14. It sounds like you didn't meet that, so they do not have US citizenship at birth.

What is your question? Do you guys wish to move to the US? If you guys wish to move to the US, you can petition your children to immigrate (i.e. to become a US permanent resident, also know as "green card holder") by filing I-130. Unmarried under-21 children of US citizens are in the Immediate Relative category which has no wait for visa numbers. They can get their immigrant visas in a year or so. When they enter the US with their immigrant visa, they immediately become a US permanent resident, and, if that happens while they are under 18, and at that time is living with you (their US citizen parent) in the US, they also immediately become US citizens under INA 320. The daughter who is over 18 (and the sons, if they do not enter the US before turning 18) will not become a citizen in this way, and will just have a green card in the US; she can naturalize after living in the US for 5 years if she wants to. For the daughter who will not become a US citizen immediately, you (the petitioner) need to file an I-864 Affidavit of Support as part of her process of getting an immigrant visa, and for that, you will need to be domiciled in the US, or plan to re-establish domicile in the US no later than when she immigrates. That's why this route is only if you guys are moving to the US.

If you guys are not moving to the US, there is a way to get US citizenship for the sons who are under 18, through the INA 322 naturalization process. To qualify for this, your US citizen parent (the child's grandparent) needs to have had 5 years of physical presence in the US, or you need to have had 5 years of physical presence in the US up to now. You would file N-600K, and later in the process the child would be called to the US for an interview and oath. The child will need to enter the US as a nonimmigrant, usually on B2 visitor visa or VWP, to attend the interview and oath. The child will need to convince the officer they have no immigrant intent in order to get the visitor visa; that's why this route is only for if you guys do not intend to move to the US. The entire process, including the oath, must be completed before the child turns 18. The daughter who is over 18 is out of luck.