Opinion ID: 204100
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Petitioner's Application for Certificate of Citizenship

Text: The same day that the IJ found Petitioner removable as charged, May 1, 2007, Petitioner filed an application, dated April 24, 2007 (the same day that Petitioner filed a brief in support of his Petition to Review the removal proceedings pending against him and requested a Stay of Deportation), for a Certificate of Citizenship, or Form N-600, with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the DHS. On the form, Petitioner claimed U.S. citizenship through a U.S. citizen parent (naming Wynter as his U.S. citizen mother) and that he had not been adopted. On May 31, 2007, the USCIS denied Petitioner's application because, under the nationality laws, a child, under the age of eighteen on February 27, 2001, may not automatically derive U.S. Citizenship through his biological mother who naturalized, where the child's maternity, viability of his lawful permanent resident status, and legal and physical custody have not been definitively established. The USCIS observed that the Walkers officially and under oath listed you as their child when they immigrated to the United States. The USCIS further noted that, contrary to claims found in the rest of the USCIS records that antedate Petitioner's 2004 indictment and 2005 conviction, only one such record  Wynter's 2001 naturalization application  listed Wynter as Petitioner's mother. Moreover, the USCIS observed: It is only now that we receive a concerted effort and explanation to establish that your listed parents were really your grandparents and your real mother is a naturalized citizen. You now argue that your grandparents effected an illegal (informal) adoption to which your mother acquiesced, despite the fact that no court or governmental requirements of any kind were complied with in Jamaica, Massachusetts, or any other jurisdiction . . . . Knowing a mid-wife in Jamaica, they conspired to falsely register themselves as your biological parents, despite the fact that your grandmother was then 53 years of age and had already had her ovaries and/or uterus removed in Jamaica for medical reasons shortly after the birth of her last actual child in 1963 . . . . Despite the efforts of your mother, and now of your counsel, [the Walkers] still explicitly maintain in an affidavit dated February 23, 2007, that they are your natural parents and only granted custody of you to your mother in 1998. The USCIS found that Petitioner had failed to meet his burden of proof concerning section 320(a) of the INA, considering [t]he pattern of deceit surrounding what you now assert was a false birth certificate and the complicated and intertwined residence/custody issues with your mother and grandparents. The USCIS concluded that, because Petitioner did not possess a viable, lawful permanent residence, we believe that you lack the fundamental statutory prerequisite for automatic derivative citizenship. On July 2, 2007, Petitioner filed a notice of appeal with the USCIS's Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) challenging the USCIS's decision to deny Petitioner's application for Certificate of Citizenship. The AAO dismissed Petitioner's appeal.