July 18, 2024, USCIS published a Policy Alert (PA-2024-21), with information about changes made to the USCIS Policy Manual in regards to the agency’s interpretation of Acquired Citizenship provisions for children.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Affirms that applicants who already filed an application for a Certificate of Citizenship and were denied, but became eligible following a change in USCIS policy, may file a motion to reopen the prior USCIS denial of their application.
• Clarifies that a U.S. citizen parent may meet the requirement of physical presence in the United States (or outlying possession) before the child’s birth regardless of immigration status.
• Clarifies that in cases where a child is born out of wedlock to two U.S. citizen parents and cannot acquire U.S. citizenship from the father, the mother meets the requirement by demonstrating 1 year of continuous physical presence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions before the child’s birth.
• Affirms that, for purposes of acquiring citizenship at birth, USCIS requires that a parent must be recognized as a legal parent of the child by the relevant jurisdiction at the time of the child’s birth.
• Clarifies that a child acquires citizenship under statutes requiring all conditions to be met while the child is under 18 years of age if the last condition was satisfied on the day of the child’s 18th birthday. Similarly, a child is eligible to obtain citizenship under INA 322 if USCIS approves the application and the child takes the oath (if required) on the day of the child’s 18th birthday.
• Confirms that USCIS accepts a valid and unexpired U.S. passport or a Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA) as evidence of U.S. citizenship. However, USCIS also determines whether the applicant properly acquired U.S. citizenship and if necessary, may request that DOS revoke the U.S. passport or cancel the CRBA before USCIS adjudicates an application for a Certificate of Citizenship.
• Clarifies processes when USCIS, in addition to applicant’s claim of U.S. citizenship, adjudicates claims to U.S. citizenship for applicant’s parents or grandparents (sometimes called “nested claims of U.S. citizenship”). When adjudicating applications for a Certificate of Citizenship, if an applicant’s parent or parents’ U.S. citizenship is unknown or unclear, the officer must determine the applicant’s parents’ (and, if necessary, grandparents’) U.S. citizenship status before adjudicating the applicant’s citizenship claim.
• Clarifies that for purposes of an application for naturalization filed under the provision for
  children of a U.S. citizen who subjected them to battery or extreme cruelty, a stepchild’s
  relationship with the U.S. citizen stepparent does not need to continue to exist at the time of the application for naturalization.
• Adds new guidance on how to calculate physical presence in U.S. territorial waters and
  provides several updates to Nationality Charts 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Summary of Changes

Affected Section: Volume 12 > Part H > Chapter 1, Purpose and Background

• Revises footnotes 6 in Section B (Background) and 7 in Section C (Table of General
  Provisions).
• Revises table in Section C (General Provisions for Acquisition of Citizenship for Children
  Born Abroad) in various areas, including adding a new row and footnotes in rows “320” and
  “321.”
• 
  Affected Section: Volume 12 > Part H > Chapter 2, Definition of Child and Residence for Citizenship and Naturalization

• Adds footnotes in Section A (Definition of Child) to clarify applicability of policy and legal
  parentage and revises existing footnote on legitimation.
• Revises third paragraph in Section B (Legitimated Child) to clarify relevant laws for
  legitimation.
• Revises the title of Section E from “Definition of U.S. Residence” to “Definitions of U.S.
  Residence and Physical Presence” and makes other various revisions throughout the section.
  Affected Section: Volume 12 > Part H > Chapter 3, U.S. Citizens at Birth (INA 301 and 309)
• Adds content in Section A (General Requirements for Acquisition of Citizenship at Birth) and
  makes various revisions throughout Sections B, C, and D.
  Affected Section: Volume 12 > Part H > Chapter 4, Automatic Acquisition of Citizenship after
  Birth (INA 320)
• Adds a footnote in Section A (General Requirements: Child Automatically Acquiring
  Citizenship after Birth) to the second bullet of the list.
• Revises Section E (Application for Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-600)) significantly, to
  include adding two new subsections (“U.S. Passport or Consular Report of Birth Abroad as
  Evidence of Citizenship” and “Request to Revoke U.S. Passport or Cancel Consular Report of
  Birth Abroad”) and redesignates existing subsection 2 (Photographs and Signature) to 4.
  Affected Section: Volume 12 > Part H > Chapter 5, Child Residing Outside of the United States
  (INA 322)
• Revises title chapter to now read “Child Residing Outside the United States (INA 322).”
• Moved the footnote from the header to the body of the text in Section A (General Requirements:
  Child Residing Outside the United States)
• Adds a footnote reference in the third bullet of the list in the second paragraph.
• Reorganizes Section F (Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate under Section 322
  (Form N-600K)) in its entirety, to include creating three subsections.

SOURCE: Volume 12: Citizenship and Naturalization, Part H, Children of U.S. Citizens [12 USCIS-PM H] (Chapters 1-6).