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Children & Citizenship
Children & Citizenship
US-born kids, and the automatic citizenship many green-card children already have.
A child born in the US — citizen at birth, whatever your status
Under the Fourteenth Amendment, a child born on US soil is a US citizen at birth in virtually all cases, regardless of the parents' immigration status. The paperwork trio to do early: birth certificate, SSN, passport.
When you naturalize, your green-card child may already be a citizen
A quiet, powerful rule: a child under 18 who holds a green card and lives in the custody of a parent who naturalizes generally becomes a US citizen AUTOMATICALLY that day. No application, no test — but you should get the proof.