Читать книгу U.S. Citizenship For Dummies - Jennifer Gagliardi - Страница 20

If you were actually born in the United States — including, in most cases, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — you’re considered a U.S. citizen at birth. Your birth certificate serves as proof of your citizenship. The one exception to this rule is if one or more of your parents was a foreign diplomat at the time of your birth (you would be considered a permanent resident in that case).

Are there ways to be born abroad and still be a U.S. citizen? Yes, under certain specific conditions. If you were born abroad but both your parents were U.S. citizens, and at least one of those two parents lived in the United States at some point prior to your birth, then you are considered a U.S. citizen in most cases.

If you were born abroad but only one of your parents was a U.S. citizen and the other parent was an alien, you will be considered a citizen in most cases if, before you were born, your citizen parent lived in the United States for at least five years. In order to qualify, at least two of those five years had to have taken place after your citizen parent’s 14th birthday.

Notice how we keep saying “in most cases”? The previous explanation is current law, and it’s a generalization. Whether you acquired U.S. citizenship at birth depends on the law that was in effect at the time of your birth. This is one of the toughest areas of immigration law, filled with loopholes and exceptions, so getting expert help in these cases is always a good idea. Be sure to seek and get competent legal help before you need it. (You can get more information on finding legal help in Chapter 7.)

Entering the visa lottery is easy. You can file online at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/diversity-visa-program-entry/diversity-visa-submit-entry1.html. Submitting more than one application disqualifies you from the lottery.

If you receive a visa through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program, you’ll be authorized to live and work permanently in the United States, as well as bring your husband or wife and any children under the age of 21 along with you.

Each year 50,000 immigrant visas become available to people who come from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. The Department of State randomly selects about 100,000 applicants from among the qualified entries. Why do they pick 100,000 when only 50,000 visas are available? Because they know that not all the applicants will be able to successfully complete the visa process. When 50,000 applicants have qualified and completed the immigration process, no further Diversity Lottery visas are issued for that year.