Citizenship of child born in Argentina from US Citizen Parents?

[BAJoe]

I was at the Embassy this month, and the requirements for giving US citizenship to your child born abroad, are very simple. I thought they would have been more difficult. The only requirement is that at least one of the parents be a US citizen, and that this American would have resided a minimum of 5 years in the USA, and a full 2 years of those 5, after their 14th birthday. (Not necessarily all together but your time in the US is all added up, so every visit counts and can be added to the total).

That is the only requirement, I was told. The paperwork, fees, etc., are another matter, but that´s just a formality.
Anyone born in Argentina NEVER loses their Argentine citizenship, so your child would then have dual nationalty. (Having 2 passports is optional. You can travel with only one, but people historically have taken as many passports as they have nationalities, I guess to feel more protected.)

 

[nikad]

Go to US Citizen Services at the US embassy. Call them and ask when the hours for a consultation at the embassy. I still think if the US is as bad as almost everyone here says, it's best to make the kids Argentine nationals and then apply for Argentine citizenship yourself(ves) and then renounce US citizenship.

that is a joke right?

 

[enjoyingmylife]

Hi,

Definitely go to/have a conversation with someone at the US Consulate and ask. It may be VERY helpful if you get something like a "Proof of Birth Abroad" from the consulate to ease your child's US citizenship claim. I'm a US citizen, born in Montreal to US parents, and while living in the US, that document is more valuable to me than my actual birth certificate.

Jonny

 

[jtwells]

My daughter was born in Argentina a few years ago. All we had to do was fill out one form and pay a fee. It was very easy. Just go to the embassy.

Living in the US is not so bad. Truth be told, I feel safer in the US than Argentina.

 

[Grazie]

jtwells, thank you for saying that.
As always it is best to avail of the dual citizenship, when applicable. Let your child decide, when they come of age, what citizenship they want.

Good luck.

 

[Napoleon]

Living in the US is not so bad. Truth be told, I feel safer in the US than Argentina.

Really?

Um, no sh!t sherlock.

But yeah, you kind of need to keep your head up a little more in Argentina. At least in Buenos Aires.

suerte a todos

 

[jp]

My sister is dual british/US citizen. AFAIK the deal is that the US does not recognize her citizenship in England since she was born in the US. But the UK is more relaxed about it and is happy to accept that she is dual nationality. So she gets two passports, but has to enter US on her US passport. They will not let her in on a british passport.

I'm pretty sure if you had a kid here you would qualify for both, although when your child entered the US it would have to do so on a US passport. Probably a question for the embassies though.

 

[mini]

Right, I meant the child.

So to clarify:

My wife and I are both U.S. Citizens, we go to Argentina and have baby. Baby is now U.S. Citizen and Argentina Citizen - is this correct?

Yes. This is correct.

EDIT: I originally wrote the above, but please ignore this!! Having researched a bit more this might not actually be correct. Please talk to your consulate/embassy to find out. From what I've read Argentina does not recognize dual citizenship, so they may lose the Argentine citizenship at 18. It's looking like a very complicated issue.

Here is a .pdf with country citizenship requirements if anyone is interested.
http://www.opm.gov/extra/investigate/is-01.pdf

 

[mini]

Anyone born in Argentina NEVER loses their Argentine citizenship, so your child would then have dual nationalty. (Having 2 passports is optional. You can travel with only one, but people historically have taken as many passports as they have nationalities, I guess to feel more protected.)

This seems a bit odd. Why would you never lose your citizenship? What if you are or become a citizen of a country that doesn't allow dual citizenship? I've read (and currently can't find where I read this) that Argentina only has dual citizen agreements with a certain number of countries. I'd be curious to know more about this.

 

[igor]

What if you are or become a citizen of a country that doesn't allow dual citizenship?

You don't loose original citizenship automatically if you are granted another one even if neither of contries involved allows dual citizenship. Surrendering citizenship is an active process. If you want to initiate it, you need to write a petition to a consul, pay hefty processing fees etc etc.