Naturalization and Citizenship
A foreigner may acquire the right to live and work in the USA by acquiring permanent residence in the USA. This will usually be a result of employment or family ties. This is known as the green card status (permanent residence status).
The acquisition of USA citizenship is often a product of permanent resident status. The duration for acquiring citizenship is dependent on the source that provided the residence.
Employment based green card holders and most other permanent residents will acquire citizenship after five years of permanent residence in the USA and at least half that time one is physically present inside the USA with no periods of absence over six months. Permanent residence based on marriage would curtail the durational requirements to three years to gain US citizenship.
Any child born in the USA automatically acquires US citizenship even if the child’s mother was in the US illegally.
Even though a child is born outside the USA, the child will automatically acquire US citizenship if at least one parent was a US citizen at the time of the child’s birth and that parent previously resided in the USA for at least 5 years, with at least 2 of the 5 years, being after the age of 14.
In 1995, the Expeditious Naturalization Law was passed that enables children born outside the USA to one American parent and who are under the age of 18 to obtain citizenship directly based on their grandparent’s presence in the US. For a child to be eligible, the US citizen grandparent must have lived in the US for at least five years, at least two of which were over when he/she was over the age of 14. The application as well as evidence of the grandparent’s presence in the USA must be filed in one of the offices of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
CONTACT US
You may be eligible for a number of different visa categories. Each visa category has different requirements and obligations so that it is best to seek professional advice in order to select the visa most beneficial and suitable to your circumstances.
Kangaroo Migration Services is a company that has for many years dealt with and continues to deal with immigration and citizenship issues to the USA.
Please feel free to contact us to discuss with our representative the options available to you and/or to complete our questionnaire and send it to us.