What is a certificate of citizenship and who needs one?

Immigrating to a new country can happen for a variety of reasons. In order to remain in the destination country for a short period of time people generally apply for visas. This document can ensure one’s presence in the country for months or, in some cases, years, however it does not provide a citizenship status. What it does is offer a temporary status one. In order to be considered a citizen of a country or state a certificate of citizenship is required. Each application for this certificate comes with specific requirements.

What is a certificate of citizenship?

A certificate of citizenship is a document that proves that your or your child are US citizens, despite being born overseas and thus immigrating to the States. It is an optional form that is useful in order to provide evidence of your nationality. Although it is not mandatory to have one, it is required in order to prove your citizenship in the following instances: applying for a passport, obtaining any state issued documents or receiving social security benefits. The state is supposed to offer protection to its citizens after all.

Who needs to have one?

The two most common reasons for applying for this document are:

- being born outside of the US to parents that are US citizens

- being born abroad but becoming a US national by operation of law before you turned 18.

For parents of minors, to make sure that you can apply for this certificate on behalf of your children please make sure that all the requirements are met. The certificate is not limited to people under 18 as, five years ago, Patrick Stewart was looking into getting US citizenship.

In theory only people born outside of the US soil have to apply for this certificate, however, there have been numerous cases in which Native Americans had to go through the same processes in order to be recognized as citizens.

How to get a certificate of citizenship?

As stated before, the certificate is a form that has to be filled in and then processed and verified. These criteria is issued by USCIS. These requirements might have changed over the years and there is a high chance that the information may vary, especially according to the date of birth of the applicant. Always look at what the official USCIS website has to say.

File online: faster and easier application

We live in the modern era, in the era of computers and digital paperwork. So, now, instead of getting buried in documents and signatures you can apply online. Who does not want to skip hours long ques and the persistent worry of “Have I got everything? Have I made all of the copies? Did I take all of them from home?”. By having everything digitized you can reduce your stress levels and fill in the forms from the coziness of your home. Check out how handy FileRIght form N-600 is!

Birth, naturalization, and citizenship certificates

These are the three papers that prove you are a US citizen, and they show how you became one. By birth, by naturalization, or by obtaining citizenship. In short, the differences between these certificates are:

- Birth certificate – a vital record document that attests one’s birth and belonging to a nation. It can refer to either a first issued state paper that elaborates on the circumstances surrounding the baby’s birth or to a certified copy of said document. Since birth certificates are issued by the town-hall or city-hall of the city, or town, in which the child has been born it cannot, on its own, provide the baby with a US citizenship if the baby is born abroad.

- Naturalization certificate – as opposed to birth and citizenship certificate, a naturalization certificate is more dynamic. The rules on nationalization vary from country to country and it can either be done automatically, by obtaining a statute or it might require an application. In the US a Naturalization certificate requires the person to have resided in the country for at least five years or three years if the applicant has an US spouse. The person becomes ineligible if absentee for six continuous months.

- Citizenship certificate – similar to the naturalization one, the citizenship certificate is required for proof of citizenship of non-US born people. It is useful to obtain other documentation, but it is not mandatory, and it is most commonly used by parents in order to extend their citizenship to their children if they are under 18.

Bottom line

Although not mandatory, a Citizenship certificate is a useful tool to have.