Our 2nd son was born in Lombok. My wife is Indonesian and I am American. It wasn't that easy to qualify him for U.S. citizenship. I had to prove I kived in the U.S. X # of years; X # of those after I was 14. Also We had to prove my wife and I were in the same location during a 3 month window around the time of conception. All of which we did and all was granted including passport. It just seemed the gov. makes it much easier for an illegal to cross the border, next day have a child and wallah! That child is automatically a U.S. citizen. Note, I am not faulting the illegal so much as I am the U.S. gov. for not doing their job.
Our 1st son was born in the U.S. and the process for him to receive passports from both countries was relatively simple. Much easier dealing with the Indo. consulate in the U.S. than immigration in Indo. It's not hard to understand why.
Bitch, bitch, bitch. There is a lot to criticize about the bureaucracy in any country, including that of the United States, but, as a US citizen father (or mother), getting your children recognized as US citizens, it couldn't be simpler. How can you complain about these logical, minimum requirements?
The laws on acquisition of U.S. citizenship through a parent have always contemplated the existence of a blood relationship between the child and the parent(s) through whom citizenship is claimed. It is not enough that the child is presumed to be the issue of the parents. The burden of proving a claim to U.S. citizenship, including blood relationship and legal relationship is on the person making such claim.
Two of my four children were born outside the US. Each time, my wife, a US citizen, went to the US Embassy to register their births, which conferred on them their US citizenships. The basic laws haven't change since their inception, several centuries ago, except for some small details. For children, born before 1986, it required
- One of the person's parents was a U.S. citizen when the person in question was born
- The citizen parent lived at least 10 years in the United States before the child's birth;
- A minimum of 5 of these 10 years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.
After 1986, the only changes in these simple requirements were further loosen.
- The citizen parent lived at least 5 years in the United States before the child's birth
- A minimum of 2 of these 5 years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.
Children born in wedlock are generally presumed to be the issue of that marriage. This presumption is not determinative in citizenship cases, however, because an actual blood relationship to a U.S. citizen parent is required. If doubt arises that the citizen "parent" is related by blood to the child, the consular officer is expected to investigate carefully. In your case, the Consular Agent wanted to make sure that your child was conceived at a time when you had "access" to your wife. It may sound "bureaucratic" to you, but it was perfectly logical, and LEGAL, for the Consular Agent to do so.:icon_biggrin:
The acquiring of the US citizenship by being physically born in the US, on a US territories, or many other jurisdictions or circumstance, such as a US vessel, in the US airspace, etc, is based on a totally other set of laws.
The Australian one was always VERY helpful to me!
