Safe Havens

(C)  Derivative Citizenship.  The person may have become a United States citizen automatically, without applying for this status or even being aware of it, if s/he was born outside the United States, but obtained “derivative” U.S. citizenship during childhood through naturalization of parent(s) as United States citizens when the noncitizen was an unmarried Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States before the client reached the age of 16, 18, or 21, depending on the law in effect at the time of the parent(s)’ naturalization. [3]

[3] See INA § § 320-321, 8 U.S.C. § § 1430-1431.  The formula for determining the citizenship of an unmarried lawful permanent resident minor whose parents both naturalized prior to his or her 18th birthday is described in I. Kurzban, Kurzban’s Immigration Law Sourcebook 775 (2004); Swanson, Challenging Alienage – Is Your Client a U.S. Citizen, Appendix 9-A, in K. Brady, california criminal law and immigration (2004).