American Birth Abroad

[sounion]

Hey gang!

So I spent a LOT of time in the family sponsorship forum, now I am a happy Canadian PR! I really have no idea where to post this so I thought I would start here.

I am an American Citizen, and I was wondering how I go about getting my daughter American citizenship. She was born in Winnipeg and obviously has her Canadian citizenship. The trouble I am having is the Winnipeg American Consulate doesn't actually serve the public and thus the closest consulate I can contact is in Calgary. However, they are quite reluctant to accept phone calls asking questions about processes such as these. I have two forms downloaded, the "Affidavit of Physical Presence or Residence, Parentage and Support" and the "Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America". I am quasi-sure (if that exists) that I fill these out and send them in and get my daughter citizenship. Though the lack of cooperation from the Calgary office has left me lacking confidence in what I should do. I thought I would check here and see if others have gone through this process. IF so, any guidance would be extremely helpful!

cheers

 

[Leon]

There are some instructions here: http://canada.usembassy.gov/consular_services/birth-abroad.html on the US embassy website. I hope that helps a bit.

 

[on-hold]

The Consular Record of Birth Abroad is equivalent to an American birth certificate -- if your daughter is issued one of those, she is an American citizen. I think it's common to receive an American passport at the same time. I can't remember the exact details, but you have to prove you're an American citizen, that you're the father, and that you lived in America for a certain number of years after the age of 16 (or something like that).

By the way, the American Consulate in Calgary is staffed by morons. I downloaded a form for applying for my son's social security number, filled it out, confirmed all the details with them by email, including their mailing address, and sent it to them along with his and my passport, his Consular Record of Birth Abroad, etc. -- two days later my wife got an immensely rude call from some jerk there yelling at her for mailing them my documents, according to him they were supposed to go straight to Maryland and be xerox copies. He grudgingly accepted that they would mail them on themselves. When I got home I looked at the form -- it said, roughly "Do NOT send these forms to Maryland, mail them to your local consulate who will certify them and pass them on. All documents submitted must be originals or copies notarized by the issuing agency."

 

[sounion]

that blows! i'm more than annoyed that it looks like i actually need to show up in Calgary with my daughter and paperwork. 10 hour drive from where I live. Is the Consular Record of Birth Abroad the same thing?

 

[on-hold]

Yeah, applying for citizenship you have to show up in person, with the newborn -- and what that'll give you is the Consular Report of Birth Abroad, which has the legal weight of a birth certificate conferring American citizenship. If you're unlucky, you'll also have to pick it up in person.

 

[sounion]

dang it. really was hoping to avoid the trip to Calgary.

 

[sounion]

anyone know if there is a time-frame for getting my daughter American citizenship?

 

[on-hold]

No -- you shouldn't wait too long, like until she's 14 or 18 or so, but no rush now. Wait a few years until you have a reason to come to Calgary. However, if she's going to visit the United States, she's supposed to use an American passport -- and technically, a border guard might (I don't know), determine that she is a U.S. citizen since she was born to you, and turn her back. I don't know what the chances of that really happening are.

 

[rhcohen2014]

do infants and newborns really need passports to cross the border? how often do they need to be updated since babies change so quickly?

 

[sounion]

thanks for the help!

and yes, they do need passports. we just got ours through the regular passport canada service.

 

[margobear96]

do infants and newborns really need passports to cross the border? how often do they need to be updated since babies change so quickly?

I believe you can get away with just a birth certificate if you're crossing by land. https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/724/kw/infant%20crossing/session/L3RpbWUvMTM5ODY0Mjk4OS9zaWQvRVVvY3FUU2w%3D/suggested/1/p/0/c/0
By air, you need a passport.

Canadian child passport is good for 3 years (versus 5 for an adult).

American child passport is good for 5 years (versus 10 for an adult).

 

[on-hold]

Children can use birth certificates, but I'm not sure what the situation would be for a putative American-citizen child who only has a Canadian birth certificate; since the father would be using his American passport. I'm sure that it's probably OK, but every one can imagine meeting that border guard who raises their eyebrows and inquires if the child is an American citizen, etc. etc.

 

[Bargeld]

thanks for the help!

and yes, they do need passports. we just got ours through the regular passport canada service.

This is wrong.

We've driven across the border a handful of times with our daughter having only her long form birth certificate. It may not be allowed in flying, but on the ground, without a doubt a young child does not need their Canadian passport to go to the US.

As for the OP's situation, if you're American and you want to get them citizenship, don't drive to Calgary, drive to Toronto.

I considered doing the same for my daughter (since she may actually want dual citizenship at one point and I'd rather not decide that for her -- she'd be capable of renouncing her US citizenship if she didn't want it), getting her US citizenship since for now she has the right to attain it, but it may affect my ability to renounce my US citizenship so we likely won't bother unless I get confirmation from the consulate itself that her attaining citizenship would not affect my renunciation (upon getting Canadian citizenship).

 

[Leon]

One point to consider when making the decision about registering your child for citizenship right away vs. letting them do it later themselves is that something may happen to you and by the time your child is an adult and wants to get that citizenship, you are not around and your child has a problem getting access to your documents to prove that they have the right to get that citizenship. Another point is that the law could change in the meantime and your child may end up losing the right to citizenship because they weren't registered before a certain age.

 

[sounion]

why would you renounce your US citizenship upon gaining Canadian citizenship? That's not a requirement.