By: Jennifer Fabian-Verzosa, Esq.

A POPULAR MISCONCEPTION IS THAT YOU HAVE TO BE BORN IN THE UNITED STATES TO BE A “U.S. CITIZEN.” THAT SIMPLY IS NOT TRUE.

The Immigration and Nationality Act allows persons born outside of the United States to acquire or derive citizenship through one or both of their parents.

A good place to start your research is the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA), signed into law on February 27, 2001. If the CCA does not apply to you, the law in effect at the time of your birth should be your next stop.

Under the CCA, if you were born outside of the United States , and one or both of your parents were married U.S. Citizens at the time of your birth, you might already be a U.S. Citizen! This would be considered U.S. Citizenship acquired from birth .

If your parents were not married to each other at the time of your birth , but one of them was in the United States prior to your birth, you also might already be a U.S. Citizen! This too would be considered U.S. Citizenship acquired from birth.

There are more requirements, so please consult with an immigration attorney to determine whether you qualify.

You may also derive U.S. Citizenship from your parents after birth , but that really depends on whether you were under 18 on February 27, 2001. If you were born outside of the United States and already over 18 years old on February 27, 2001, or an adopted child , you might be a U.S. Citizen. However, that requires a trickier analysis. You should consult an immigration attorney to determine your eligibility once and for all.

If you qualify for U.S. Citizenship through one or more of your parents, you should apply for the Certificate of Citizenship (N-600) rather than Naturalization (N-400). Besides not having to go through the U.S. History/Civics and English tests (hooray!) , you risk denial of your Naturalization application if you incorrectly apply for Naturalization while already a U.S. Citizen through your parents . You’ve probably heard those stories, and unfortunately it is happening everyday at Naturalization interviews throughout the United States. You do not get your naturalization filing fees returned if you in fact qualified for U.S. Citizenship through your parents. So the moral of the story is…. make sure you do not already derive citizenship from your parents BEFORE you submit that N-400 form. Of course, the best way to assess your eligibility and the nuances in derived citizenship case law is to consult with a knowledgeable immigration attorney.

Last but not least, the fee to apply for the N-600 Certificate of Citizenship dramatically increases on December 23 2016: from $600 to $1,17 0 (Read more here ). That is a 95% increase !!! While the Naturalization filing fee is increasing as well, the N-600 filing fee has the sharpest fee hike between the two. If you want to learn about some of the Benefits of U.S. Citizenship , read my article here .

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DISCLAIMER : This blog provides general information and is not intended to be legal advice. Use of the information does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Any cases mentioned do not guarantee or predict outcomes in future cases. Some of this information may now be outdated. Please consult an attorney before acting on any material. Please do not submit any time-sensitive or confidential information in the comments below. Any information you send may be publicly-visible and is not protected from disclosure. Jennifer Fabian-Verzosa is the attorney responsible for the content and material on this blog. She is licensed in D.C. and HI, and exclusively practices immigration law in federal jurisdictions.

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