are my children elegible for American citizenship? I have dual American/Canadian citizenship.?

Question

i have always lived in Canada but was born in the U.S. to an American mother.

Answer 1

I don't think that they are. If you had lived in America for so many years then I would change my answer to yes. But, since you have resided in Canada for your whole life then I would have to say no.
I think a child is only eligible for citizenship if that parent resided in that country or of course if the actual child was born there.
I have two dual-citizenship daughters myself (Austrian/American). They were only allowed to have the American citizenship because I full-filled the requirements of living in America and being a citizen of that country for so many years.
You could always contact the American Embassy in Canada and they would be able to tell you definitely.
Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Edited to add: I found this for you: http://www.richw.org/dualcit/law.html
"Under certain conditions, children born outside the US may have US citizenship by birth. This depends on whether one or both parents have US citizenship, how long (if at all) the American parent(s) lived in the US prior to the child's birth, and whether the parents were married to each other or not.
If one parent is a US citizen, and the other is not, and the parents are married, then the current law says the child is a US citizen if the American parent was physically present in the US for one or more periods of time totalling at least five years, at some time or times in his or her life prior to (but not necessarily immediately prior to) the child's birth."

Answer 2

Since you don't give details on your spouse, you'll have to look at the follwing five cases and identify which best applies to your specifics. Reading between the lines of your question - if the spouse is not a US citizen, your best bet to give your child US citizenship is to have them born on US soil.

According to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 301. [8 U.S.C. 1401] there are 8 ways that someone can achieve US citizenship at birth.

Of these, only the following five apply to your case.

1. The child must be born within the US and be subject to the jurisdiction thereof.

2. If you (the US citizen) happen to also be aboriginal by descent, and the child is born in the US, they can become US citizens provided doing so does not impede their tribal rights.

3. A person born outside the US and its outlying possessions, BOTH of whose parents are US citizens AND one of them has had a residence in the US prior to the birth.

4. A person born outside the US and its outlying possessions, ONE of whose parents is a US citizen AND that the parent has been physically present in the US for a continuous period of one year (at any time) prior to the birth.

5. A person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years (exception to the five year and two year criteria may be made for members of the military and/or an international organization as that term is defined in section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act).

Answer 3

YES you are a dual but your mom had to register you with the US embassy in Ottawa so that you cna be regsitered as a US citizen - you will have a certirficate of overseas birth and you use that to get a US passport. your mother also has to prove that she lived in the USA for 5 years before she was 18 years old for her to pass her US citizenship down to you.

Answer 4

I think you would have had to live in the US for at least 5 years, 2 of them after the age of 14, to pass your citizenship to your children.

Answer 5

They are. My sister and her husband were in the same situation. Her husband is an American that lived most of his life in Mexico. They had a daughter this year and they registered her as an American citizen in the embassy of the US in Mexico, they went through some paperwork but it was possible. She is now a dual citizen of Mexico and the US.

Answer 6

If you are a US Citizen (and you are, if you haven't renounced your citizenship or done something to compromise it, like serve as an elected official in Canada), then your children are US Citizens no matter where they are born.

Answer 7

The US does NOT recognize dual citizenship.

Answer 8

No