:::ADDRESS::

Re:   N-600, Application for Certificate of CitizenshipDoris Guadalupe CHAVEZA# 036-699-813

Dear Officer:

Pursuant to section INA Doris Guadalupe CHAVEZ (hereinafter “Applicant”) submits the following documents and brief in support of her N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship.

FORMS

Form G-28 Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Representative; and Form N-600 Application for Certificate of Citizenship.

EXHIBITS DESCRIPTION

1. Applicant’s Birth Certificate with Certified Translation; 2. Applicant’s Application for a Green Card;3. Applicant’s Parent’s Marriage Certificate;4. Applicant’s Mother’s Certificate of Naturalization;

Applicant’s Mother’s United States Passport5. Applicant’s Mother’s Birth Certificate with Certified Translation6. Applicant’s Father’s Birth Certificate7. Applicant’s Father’s Death Certificate;8. Applicant’s Report Card from St. Anthony of Padua in Gardena, California for the 1981-1982 School Year9. Applicant’s Father’s Affidavit of Support Dated April 4, 1976

          10. Applicant’s Father’s Letter to United States Consulate General dated December 4,  1976

          11. Applicant’s Mother’s Department of State Offer of Employment to Alien dated March 8, 1976

IINTRODUCTION

Applicant, through counsel, submits the following brief in support of her application for a United States passport. Applicant qualifies for United States citizenship through her mother Dory Enriqueta Chavez and father Fred Aragon Chavez, pursuant to former Immigration and Nationality Act (hereinafter “INA”) § 321(a).

IISUMMARY OF FACTS

1. Applicant was born on October 21, 1973 to Federico Chavez, a United States citizen from birth, and Dory Enriqueta Chavez, a naturalized United States citizen. Exhibit 1.

2. Applicant’s mother and father were married on August 3, 1974, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Exhibit 3.

3. Applicant’s father was born and raised in Polvadera, New Mexico,

4. Applicant entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1977 and has been living here ever since.  Exhibit 2.  

5. Applicant initially lived with her mother in Ecuador while her father was working in the United States. Applicant then moved to the United States and lived with her mother and father from 1977 onwards, including in 1985 when her mother became a naturalized U.S. citizen.  Exhibits 8-9.

6. Applicant’s mother became a naturalized United States Citizen on November 14, 1985, when Applicant was only 12 years old.  Exhibit 4.

7. Applicant’s father lived continuously in the United States until his death on October 31, 1989.  Exhibit 6.

8. Applicant’s Green Card was stolen when she was 13-years-old

IIIIMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION ACT (INA) § 321(a)

PROVIDES FOR DERIVATIVE CITIZENSHIP AS A RESULT OF TWO NATURALIZED PARENTS

The United States Constitution authorizes Congress to “establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization.” U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 4.  Congress enacted several laws

that give the Attorney General the authority to grant naturalization upon the fulfillment of certain conditions.

In determining the applicable law, the Agency must look at the law that was in effect at the moment the last qualifying event occurred.  In the present case, the last qualifying event occurred on November 14, 1985, when the Applicant’s mother was naturalized. Exhibit 4. In relevant part, former INA § 321(a) provided:

“A child born outside of the United States of alien parents ··· becomes a citizen of the United States upon fulfillment of the following conditions:(1) The naturalization of both parents; or(2) The naturalization of the surviving parent if one of the parents is deceased; or(3) The naturalization of the parent having legal custody of the child when there has been a legal separation of the parents or the naturalization of the mother if the child was born out of wedlock and the paternity of the child has not been established by legitimation; and if(4) Such naturalization takes place while such child is under the age of eighteen years; and(5) Such child is residing in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the time of the naturalization of the parent last naturalized under clause (1) of this subsection, or the parent naturalized under clause (2) or (3) of this subsection, or thereafter begins to reside permanently in the United States while under the age of eighteen years.”

The Board of Immigration Appeals has further held that a child born outside of the United States of an alien parent who has been naturalized may derive citizenship “by operation of and not by adjudication.” 21 I. & N. Dec. 893 (BIA), at 896.  Moreover, “[t]he actual determination of derivative citizenship under section 321(a) of the Act may occur long after the fact, in the context of a passport application.”  Id.

IVAPPLICANT IS A UNITED STATES CITIZEN PURSUANT TO FORMER

INA § 321(a)

Pursuant to derivative citizenship principles enacted by Congress and current on November 14, 1985, any person who acquired citizenship after birth may confer their new citizenship onto their children, so long as the person is not exempt from

the laws of this country.  INA § 321(a), 8 USCA § 1432.  Applicant’s mother is not otherwise exempt from the laws of this country, and therefore, may confer their U.S. citizenship onto their children.  Thus, as a child of  Dory Enriqueta Chavez, Applicant qualifies for U.S. citizenship on the basis of her mother’s nationality.    

According to INA § 321(a), a child born outside of the United States of alien parent may derive citizenship upon the naturalization of one parent upon fulfillment of certain statutory conditions including “[2] The naturalization of the surviving parent if one of the parents is deceased;... [4] while such child is under the age of eighteen years; and... [5] residing in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the time of the naturalization of the parent last naturalized.  Applicant’s mother was naturalized while applicant was still a minor. Applicant was living in the United States as a lawful permanent resident at the time Applicant’s mother naturalized. The Applicant’s mother was the surviving parent who was a naturalized citizen when Applicant’s father died on October 31, 1989. Exhibit 7. Accordingly, Applicant is not required to fulfill condition one or three of former INA § 321(a).  

Applicant meets all three of these statutory requirements and therefore has derived United States citizenship from her mother.  Applicant’s mother naturalized prior to Applicant’s eighteenth birthday.  On November 14, 1985, Applicant’s mother became a naturalized United States Citizen.  Exhibit 4.  

Applicant also satisfies condition (4) of former INA § 321(a), which states that his father’s “naturalization takes place while such child is under the age of eighteen years.”  Applicant’s mother was naturalized on November 14, 1985, when Applicant was twelve (12) years-old.  Applicant’s father was a US citizen from birth and resided in the United States before Applicant’s birth. (Exhibits 1, 5). Thus, the final qualifying event – Applicant’s mother’s  naturalization- occurred well before her eighteenth birthday.  

Finally, Applicant meets condition (5) of former INA § 321(a), which states that applicant shall be “residing in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission for permanent residence at the time of the naturalization of the parent last naturalized.  Applicant entered the United States as a lawful permanent resident when she was merely four (4) years old.  Exhibit 2.  She permanently resided in the United States since this time. Exhibits 2, 8-10.  As her school records indicate, Applicant received her education in the United States.  Exhibits 8-9. Accordingly, Applicant met the residence requirement.

VCONCLUSION

Based on the foregoing, Applicant meets the statutory requirements of clauses (2), (4), and (5) of former INA § 321(a) to obtain his United States passport based on the citizenship of his parents.  Therefore, Applicant respectfully requests that his application for derivative United States citizenship based on his parent’s naturalization be approved.

Sincerely,

Brian D. LernerAttorney at Law