Adquiring birth right citizenship after the fact

Kyougu

Here's the situation:

My mom is a natural born citizen, by dad was born in Mexico and later became a citizen. They met and married in Mexico, where I was born.

For some reason I haven't been able to comprehend they never went the route of getting me U.S Citizenship. Instead I was declared a mexican citizen and when we later moved to the U.S I adquired a green card.

Now I want to become a citizen for various reasons and I'm confused as what to do. I THINK I just need to file a N-6000 form since I seem to meet the stated requirements, but I'm not sure how much me already having a green card complicates matters.

Or should I just get an immigration lawyer? Not sure how common this situation is.

I was born in 1983, if that matters.

Hevach

An immigration lawyer might help, but I do have this link still in my history from the father-married-sister thread:

Assuming you were born after the marriage:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=32dffe9dd4aa3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextoid=32dffe9dd4aa3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD

One parent is a U.S. citizen at the time of birth and the birthdate is before November 14, 1986 but after October 10, 1952

The parents are married at the time of birth and the U.S. citizen parent was physically present in the U.S. or its territories for a period of at least ten years at some time in his or her life prior to the birth, at least five of which were after his or her 14th birthday.

If the U.S. citizen parent spent time abroad in any of the following three capacities, this can also be counted towards the physical presence requirement:

Serving honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces;
Employed with the U.S. Government; or
Employed with certain international organizations.

Additionally, time spent abroad by the U.S. citizen parent while the U.S. citizen parent was the unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person who meets any of the three conditions listed above can also be counted.

If the child was born out of wedlock, see N-600: FAQ.

Sounds like form N-600 is all you need, but you are, what, 29-30 now? In the FAQ some stuff sounds like it needs to be done before you turn 21, and I can't tell if that's something that's only for children born out of wedlock with one citizen parent. The filing isn't cheap, it's definitely in your best interest to at least consult an immigration lawyer first.

kaliyama

This is partly a legal question but also one that requires a working knowledge of what the USCIS bureaucracy will do. So you are best off getting an immigration lawyer.

iRevert

kaliyama wrote: »

This is partly a legal question but also one that requires a working knowledge of what the USCIS bureaucracy will do. So you are best off getting an immigration lawyer.

This
This
And This

Get a decent lawyer because the last thing you need is some surprise issue showing up after you apply and biting you in the ass.

kaliyama

iRevert wrote: »

kaliyama wrote: »

This is partly a legal question but also one that requires a working knowledge of what the USCIS bureaucracy will do. So you are best off getting an immigration lawyer.

This
This
And This

Get a decent lawyer because the last thing you need is some surprise issue showing up after you apply and biting you in the ass.

To ramble at length - I do pro bono asylum and immigration work and dealing with the back office stuff is harder than any of the purely legal aspects. If you want a good referral you should figure out what orgs do public interest immigration work locally and call them for a referral, because they will know the local legal community the best.

Other lawyer-selecting tips. Bc it's all federal agency work, you don't technically have to be barred in the state in which you practice. So people sometimes move states to stay one step ahead of disciplinary issues. Look up their bar info on the TX bar website to see if there's any history of atty discipline and to confirm they are a TX bar member.

grendle

If you've had a greencard for five years the worst case is you'll have to file for citizenship on that basis - it's pretty simple, and you don't need a lawyer to do it. Worth seeing one to check whether there is a simpler route though.