citizenship for children of US mother born abroad

[nic2]

My wife and I would like to obtain US citizenship for our 3 children under 6 years of age who were born in Canada.
The application for citizenship will be made from Canada.

My wife is a US citizen since birth, and I am a Canadian resident.
Should my wife, since she is American, be the one to make the application?

Any suggestions regarding the process, including forms and waivers for application fees, would be appreciated.

[newacct]

Assuming that the conditions are met at the time of the child's birth (which in the case of a child born abroad to one US citizen parent and one alien parent, requires that the US citizen parent (your wife) have been physically present in the US, any time in her life before the child's birth, for a cumulative total of 5 years, including 2 years after she turned 14), the child is automatically a US citizen at birth, and you do not need to "apply for citizenship" for the child. What you can do is obtain documentation of the US citizenship that the child already has, in the form of a CRBA and/or US passport. A CRBA can be applied for by either parent, though since it requires evidence of the US citizen parent's physical presence, would be easiest to do with the US citizen parent's cooperation. A US passport for a young child would require consent from both parents.

[nic2]

Assuming that the conditions are met at the time of the child's birth (which in the case of a child born abroad to one US citizen parent and one alien parent, requires that the US citizen parent (your wife) have been physically present in the US, any time in her life before the child's birth, for a cumulative total of 5 years, including 2 years after she turned 14), the child is automatically a US citizen at birth, and you do not need to "apply for citizenship" for the child. What you can do is obtain documentation of the US citizenship that the child already has, in the form of a CRBA and/or US passport. A CRBA can be applied for by either parent, though since it requires evidence of the US citizen parent's physical presence, would be easiest to do with the US citizen parent's cooperation. A US passport for a young child would require consent from both parents.

Newacct, if I am interpreting this correctly, this is wonderful news!
I can't thank you enough for the information.

Could you perhaps let me know from the following information if I am, in fact, interpreting this correctly, and that our children are indeed automatically US citizens?

My wife is a US citizen born in the US to US parents. She lived her entire life in the US till the age of 19.

In 2014, at 19, she travelled to Canada where she got married.
After a period of one year, she returned to the US.
After being back in the States for one year, she returned to Canada in 2015, where she gave birth to our first child in 2017.
She has been in Canada since 2015.

Newacct, based on this information, are our children, who are all under 6 years of age, in your opinion, automatically US citizens?

(I found information regarding the CRBA fee if applying from some African countries ($100) but I can't find a link for fees when applying from Canada. Do you have a link for this information?)

[newacct]

Yes, your children are already US citizens. Your wife needs to find evidence of her physical presence for at least 5 years, including 2 years after she turned 14. She can use school records, medical records, passport stamps, etc. Preferably much more than 5 years to be safe, since school can only prove her presence during the non-break periods.

I believe from here that the CRBA fee is $100. Passport cost is $135.

[nic2]

Yes, your children are already US citizens. Your wife needs to find evidence of her physical presence for at least 5 years, including 2 years after she turned 14. She can use school records, medical records, passport stamps, etc. Preferably much more than 5 years to be safe, since school can only prove her presence during the non-break periods.

I believe from here that the CRBA fee is $100. Passport cost is $135.

Thank you, newacct, our family really appreciate your help!

[nic2]

..... the child is automatically a US citizen at birth, and you do not need to "apply for citizenship" for the child.

While our children automatically qualify for US citizenship because their mother is a US citizen, the only documents indicating they are born of a US citizen are their Canadian birth certificates.

Am I correct in concluding that a Canadian birth certificate is not acceptable documentation for a passport, and that they would require CRBAs to obtain a US passport?

[newacct]

While our children automatically qualify for US citizenship because their mother is a US citizen, the only documents indicating they are born of a US citizen are their Canadian birth certificates.

Am I correct in concluding that a Canadian birth certificate is not acceptable documentation for a passport, and that they would require CRBAs to obtain a US passport?

Your children are US citizens. Not "qualify for", as that might imply that they can choose to be a US citizen or not, which is not true.

Their birth certificate is not sufficient evidence of US citizenship for a US passport. They would also need evidence of their mother's US citizenship, and evidence their mother has sufficient physical presence in the US before their birth at the appropriate ages. For a passport they would also need consent from both parents. It's not necessary to have a CRBA to apply for a US passport, but I believe that if the child is under 18, as the case here, they would usually apply for a CRBA at the same time as a US passport, since the evidence of citizenship is the same for both, so they might as well get a CRBA too since it might be useful later. CRBA cannot be issued to someone over 18 so in that case they would just apply for a US passport.

[nic2]

Your children are US citizens. Not "qualify for", as that might imply that they can choose to be a US citizen or not, which is not true.
Their birth certificate is not sufficient evidence of US citizenship for a US passport. They would also need evidence of their mother's US citizenship, and evidence their mother has sufficient physical presence in the US before their birth at the appropriate ages. For a passport they would also need consent from both parents. It's not necessary to have a CRBA to apply for a US passport, but I believe that if the child is under 18, as the case here, they would usually apply for a CRBA at the same time as a US passport, since the evidence of citizenship is the same for both, so they might as well get a CRBA too since it might be useful later. CRBA cannot be issued to someone over 18 so in that case they would just apply for a US passport.

Thank you.

Is it accurate to conclude then that a Canadian birth certificate with the US mother's name on it, proof of the mother's US citizenship, proof of the required physical presence of the mother in the US, and the consent of both parents are sufficient for a obtaining a US passport?

EDIT: After some searching, the DS-11 form confirms what you said regarding Canadian (foreign) passport being acceptable if it's accompanied with the other proofs mentioned.

[newacct]

Thank you.

Is it accurate to conclude then that a Canadian birth certificate with the US mother's name on it, proof of the mother's US citizenship, proof of the required physical presence of the mother in the US, and the consent of both parents are sufficient for a obtaining a US passport?

Yes.

If born before 2012 there were different rules regarding born in-wedlock and born out-of-wedlock to an American mother, so in that case a marriage certificate may be necessary.

Also, the proof of the mother's US citizenship needs to prove her citizenship before the child's birth (e.g. a birth certificate showing birth in the US, a Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, CRBA, or US passport issued before the child's birth).

[nic2]

..... so they might as well get a CRBA too since it might be useful later.....

Newacct, my wife and I fully agree with your recommendation to apply for a CRBA for the children at the same time as the passport applications; however, there is a hurdle for this:

The CRBA requires official divorce documents if a parent has been previously married.

My US wife, who is applying for the CRBA, on behalf of our children, has never been previously married.
I, on the other hand, have been divorced ... emm... twice.

I am in the process of obtaining documents for both divorces.
My most recent divorce, which occurred in a third world country, will take a significant time to receive.

Because the divorce of my other marriage occurred more than 20 years ago, the court that issued the divorce no longer have records of it.
To obtain a divorce certificate, I have to get information from the Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings, give that info to the provincial archives, then take the info from the provincial archives to the court who will then make a new divorce certificate.

Newacct, on a side note, I am having some difficulty understanding the relevancy of the divorce certificate requirement for the non US parent, who is not applying for the CRBA, regarding a CRBA for the child.
Could you give me some idea why the divorce certificate of the non US citizen who is not applying for the CRBA on behalf of the child is important? Would the government outrightly reject a CRBA for the child if this is not provided?

[newacct]

The proof of citizenship needed for a US passport should be the same as for a CRBA, so anything required for one should be required for the other. I am not sure why they want the proof of divorce. Perhaps it affects the validity of the current marriage and therefore affects whether the child is born in wedlock or out of wedlock. However, in this case, it shouldn't matter, because for a child born after 2012, there is no difference in the rules for US citizenship between a child born in wedlock to an American mother, and a child born out of wedlock to an American mother. But if you immigrate to the US in the future on the basis of your marriage, you will need to prove termination of your previous marriages also, so it might be a good idea to collect evidence of that.

[nic2]

The proof of citizenship needed for a US passport should be the same as for a CRBA, so anything required for one should be required for the other. I am not sure why they want the proof of divorce. Perhaps it affects the validity of the current marriage and therefore affects whether the child is born in wedlock or out of wedlock. However, in this case, it shouldn't matter, because for a child born after 2012, there is no difference in the rules for US citizenship between a child born in wedlock to an American mother, and a child born out of wedlock to an American mother. But if you immigrate to the US in the future on the basis of your marriage, you will need to prove termination of your previous marriages also, so it might be a good idea to collect evidence of that.

Newacct
I can't thank you enough for taking the time to provide invaluable help and information to myself and others.

[nic2]

....

I believe from here that the CRBA fee is $100. Passport cost is $135.

We will be applying for CRBAs and passports. I understand an in-person interview will be scheduled. Will there be two separate meeting for the CRBAs and passports or just one consular staff member conducting the interview for both?

There is a charge for the CRBA and passport. Are there any other chargers eg application fees?
And if (hopefully not) the CRBA application is rejected, do you forfeit the $100 CRBA fee?

If we bring the passport photos of the children to the interview and the passport applications are accepted, can we get the passports right away or is there a waiting period to process it?