By C.J. Lyford, Esq.
December 12, 2003
In a press notice dated November 20, 2003, the USCIS announced that under its "CCA Program," Certificates of Citizenship will be issued to children who enter the U.S. on IR3 visas within 45 days of entry, free of charge. The backlog of applications that have been submitted for Certificates will also be reduced. Certificates will not be provided for children who enter on IR4 visas. In addition, from what is written it does not appear that Certificates for children already in the U.S., will be provided under this program. Hopefully this will be clarified shortly. You can read the USCIS announcement at http://uscis.gov/graphics/publicaffairs/newsrels/CCA_Release.pdf Stay tuned for updates.
My comment: Getting documentation of your child's U.S. citizenship is
very important and I continue to encourage parents to make sure that their
child has written proof of citizenship. If your child is already in the
U.S. and you decide to wait to see how the USCIS handles the Certificates
for children already in the U.S., in the interim, try to get your child a
U.S. Passport, if the Passport office will issue it without a Certificate.
If in a few months, the USCIS does not address the issue of Certificates
for children already in the U.S., go ahead an apply for the Certificate. I
know that the $145 fee for applying for a Certificate is not an
insignificant amount of money, however, compared to the potential risk of
your child's citizenship being questioned at some point, I think it is
well worth it.
C.J. Lyford, Esq.
lyfordesq@aol.com
215-247-3888
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