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Overview. A child may come to hold United States citizenship by one of three routes, and the route matters because each carries different requirements and different proof. A child born in the United States is a citizen from birth. A child born abroad may be a citizen from birth if a citizen parent meets the transmission requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act. A child who is not a citizen at birth may become one afterwards, either automatically once the statutory conditions are satisfied or on an application made by a citizen parent. A child who fits none of these routes may still become a permanent resident and naturalize in due course.
Who counts as a child. For citizenship purposes the governing definition is INA 101(c), 8 U.S.C. 1101(c), and it is narrower than the definition used for visa petitions at 8 U.S.C. 1101(b). It reaches a genetic or gestational child recognized as such by the relevant jurisdiction and, subject to conditions, an adopted child, including an orphan or a Hague Convention adoptee. It does not reach a stepchild: a stepparent's citizenship reaches a stepchild only if the stepparent adopts the child and the adoption satisfies the statutory requirements. A child must generally be under the age of eighteen and unmarried to acquire citizenship after birth.
Birth in the United States. A child born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction is a citizen at birth under the Fourteenth Amendment and 8 U.S.C. 1401(a), neither of which has been amended.
Birth abroad to two citizen parents. Under 8 U.S.C. 1401(c), a child born outside the United States to two United States citizen parents is a citizen at birth provided that one of those parents had a residence in the United States or an outlying possession at some point before the birth. The statute sets no minimum length for that residence.
Birth abroad to one citizen parent. Under 8 U.S.C. 1401(g), a child born outside the United States to one citizen parent and one parent--who is not a citizen--is a citizen at birth only if the citizen parent was physically present in the United States or an outlying possession for periods totaling at least five years before the birth, at least two of them after the age of fourteen. The same provision allows honorable service in the armed forces, employment with the federal government or a qualifying international organization, and certain periods spent abroad as the dependent of such a person to count toward that total. A separate and shorter rule at 8 U.S.C. 1401(d) applies where the other parent is a national but not a citizen of the United States.
Children born out of wedlock. 8 U.S.C. 1409 supplies separate conditions. Where the claim runs through the father, there must be clear and convincing evidence of the blood relationship, the father must have been a United States national at the time of the birth, the father must have agreed in writing to provide financial support until the child reaches eighteen, and before that age the child must be legitimated, or paternity must be acknowledged in writing under oath or established by a competent court. Where the claim runs through the mother, the text of 8 U.S.C. 1409(c) still sets a single continuous year of prior physical presence, but the Supreme Court held that gender distinction unconstitutional in Sessions v. Morales-Santana, and USCIS applies the five-year requirement to children born on or after that decision, leaving the one-year rule in force only for children born before it. A child counts as born in wedlock where the parents were married to each other at the time of the birth or the child was born within three hundred days of the end of the marriage.
Documentation is not status. A child who acquires citizenship at birth is a citizen from the moment of birth by operation of law, whether or not any document has been issued. The documents record the status; they do not create it. For a birth abroad, a consular officer may issue a Consular Report of Birth Abroad under 22 C.F.R. 50.7 when the birth is reported, and a United States passport may be applied for. A Certificate of Citizenship may be sought from USCIS under 8 U.S.C. 1452 on Form N-600, and no age limit applies to that request, which matters for adults who discover a claim late in life.
Automatic acquisition after birth. Under INA 320, 8 U.S.C. 1431, a child born outside the United States becomes a citizen automatically once three conditions are all satisfied: at least one parent is a United States citizen by birth or naturalization, the child is under the age of eighteen, and the child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of that citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence. The provision extends to an adopted child who meets the statutory requirements, and 8 U.S.C. 1431(c) treats the residence condition as satisfied for certain children living abroad in the custody of a citizen parent who is serving in the armed forces or employed by the federal government. Acquisition is automatic, so no application creates it, although Form N-600 may be filed to obtain a certificate recording it. The current provision comes from the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which consolidated the earlier rules; a person who had already turned eighteen when that Act took effect is governed by the law in force before it.
Children living abroad. Where a child lives outside the United States and so cannot satisfy INA 320, a citizen parent may apply under INA 322, 8 U.S.C. 1433, on Form N-600K. The statute requires that at least one parent be a United States citizen; that the citizen parent, or that parent's own citizen parent, have been physically present in the United States for periods totaling at least five years, two of them after the age of fourteen; that the child be under eighteen; that the child reside outside the United States in the legal and physical custody of the applicant; and that the child be temporarily present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission and be maintaining that lawful status. Where the citizen parent has died within the preceding five years, a citizen grandparent or citizen legal guardian may apply instead. Unlike INA 320, this route is not automatic: citizenship follows approval of the application, and the oath of allegiance may be waived under 8 U.S.C. 1448(a) where a young child is unable to understand it.
Adopted children. An adopted child may acquire citizenship by the same routes, provided the adoption meets the statutory conditions and the child qualifies as a child for citizenship purposes. Orphan and Hague Convention adoptions each have their own procedural framework, and the form of the adoption together with the immigrant classification obtained can determine whether citizenship follows on admission to the United States or only once an adoption is completed there. The subject is treated separately in the handbook.
Children who do not qualify. A child who acquires citizenship by none of these routes is not shut out permanently. The ordinary course is to obtain lawful permanent residence and then to naturalize on reaching the age of eighteen, subject to the usual requirements as to residence, physical presence, good moral character, English and civics.
A child may hold another nationality as well. A child who is a United States citizen frequently also holds the nationality of a parent's country or of the country of birth. United States law permits this and requires no choice to be made at any age. Whether the other nationality continues, and on what terms, is determined solely by the law of the country concerned, and that country's own authorities should be consulted.
Obligations that follow. Citizenship acquired in childhood carries the same duties as any other. United States citizens are subject to federal income tax on worldwide income, together with associated reporting obligations, regardless of where they live, and male citizens between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six must register with the Selective Service System under 50 U.S.C. 3802(a), including those residing abroad. These consequences are better weighed at the outset than discovered later.
Timing and evidence. Claims that depend on a parent's physical presence in the United States are proved with records, and those records are far easier to assemble early than decades afterwards. School, employment, tax, medical and travel records are the usual proof. Where a claim is uncertain it is better resolved before the child turns eighteen, because several of the routes described above close on that birthday.
Related pages. U.S. Citizenship introduces this part of the handbook; Adopted Children and Citizenship covers adoption in detail; and Naturalization Requirements sets out the rules for a person who must naturalize in their own right. Questions about a particular family's circumstances may be raised through the contact page.