Information for an acquaintance

[CJane]

What is the name of your state? MO

A friend just emailed me about a friend of hers... this person was born in Germany in 1976 to a German citizen mother and American citizen father. The parents were not married, the father was born and raised in the US.

Father is on birth certificate. Mother was only 14 at time of conception.

'Child' was raised by maternal grandmother in Germany until the age of 18 at which point her grandmother told her that she (GMa) had renounced the child's dual citizenship for her and she was a German citizen only.

Fast forward to now...

'Child' (now obviously an adult) lives in US. She's married, has 4 children, and her husband has developed a new hobby of beating the crap out of her on a regular basis.

I've told her to call a local shelter, as well as the German Embassy.

This girl believes that she's an illegal resident... I think she has dual citizenship.

Is there anything else she should be doing (other than calling the Embassy) to figure out what her actual citizenship status is?

 

[evcalyptos]

What is the name of your state? MO

A friend just emailed me about a friend of hers... this person was born in Germany in 1976 to a German citizen mother and American citizen father. The parents were not married, the father was born and raised in the US.

Father is on birth certificate. Mother was only 14 at time of conception.

'Child' was raised by maternal grandmother in Germany until the age of 18 at which point her grandmother told her that she (GMa) had renounced the child's dual citizenship for her and she was a German citizen only.

Fast forward to now...

'Child' (now obviously an adult) lives in US. She's married, has 4 children, and her husband has developed a new hobby of beating the crap out of her on a regular basis.

I've told her to call a local shelter, as well as the German Embassy.

This girl believes that she's an illegal resident... I think she has dual citizenship.

Is there anything else she should be doing (other than calling the Embassy) to figure out what her actual citizenship status is?

It's very likely that she is a US citizen. The way this is normally established is by simply applying for a US passport or filing form N-600 (see uscis.gov). Applying for a passport is the least expensive and fastest method.

However, Germany does have a peculiar rule about dual citizenship. While Grandma couldn't 'renounce' the US citizenship, if 'Child' wants to claim her dual status, she may need to file something with Germany first. I am not certain how this works for children who acquire both citizenships at birth. Since there were a lot of immigration laws changed in many countries around that time, she may want to do some more digging before she files anything. This probably isn't the best time for her to do that, since she has more urgent matters on hand.

So, about that, absolutely encourage her to get to a DV shelter. There are resources for her there including helping her sort out her status.
Why does she think she is an illegal resident? Do you know what status she has been living here with? Did she get a Green Card? How did she enter the US originally? Has she ever filed any paperwork with the old INS? If she has lived here long enough to have 4 kids, it's unlikely (not impossible) that she has been a Permanent Resident (although had she gone through that process, the American father & her citizenship should've come to light at that time). If she has been a Permanent Resident (Green Card) for more than 5 years, she can apply for US citizenship from that basis, but again, she needs to check with Germany first.

She needs to establish some goals.. does she want to stay in the US etc, but first she's got to get herself to safety. It sounds like she has a good friend in you; I hope she can get some help.
If I find anymore specific info on the dual-at-birth issue or the specific permission she needs from Germany, I'll post back.

 

[CJane]

It's very likely that she is a US citizen. The way this is normally established is by simply applying for a US passport or filing form N-600 (see uscis.gov). Applying for a passport is the least expensive and fastest method.

However, Germany does have a peculiar rule about dual citizenship. While Grandma couldn't 'renounce' the US citizenship, if 'Child' wants to claim her dual status, she may need to file something with Germany first. I am not certain how this works for children who acquire both citizenships at birth. Since there were a lot of immigration laws changed in many countries around that time, she may want to do some more digging before she files anything. This probably isn't the best time for her to do that, since she has more urgent matters on hand.

It's her status that's stopping her from doing much of anything though... her husband has told her numerous times that if she tries to leave, he'll get her deported and she'll never see her kids again. She believes this to be true.

Why does she think she is an illegal resident? Do you know what status she has been living here with? Did she get a Green Card? How did she enter the US originally?

It's my understanding that she (thinking she was a German-only citizen due to Gramma's claims of renouncing the US citizenship) entered the US under a travel visa and just stayed.

Has she ever filed any paperwork with the old INS? If she has lived here long enough to have 4 kids, it's unlikely (not impossible) that she has been a Permanent Resident (although had she gone through that process, the American father & her citizenship should've come to light at that time). If she has been a Permanent Resident (Green Card) for more than 5 years, she can apply for US citizenship from that basis, but again, she needs to check with Germany first.

Hopefully she'll call the embassy today and we'll know more.

She needs to establish some goals.. does she want to stay in the US etc, but first she's got to get herself to safety. It sounds like she has a good friend in you; I hope she can get some help.
If I find anymore specific info on the dual-at-birth issue or the specific permission she needs from Germany, I'll post back.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

I'm starting research on this issue for you CJane. I'll post back too.

ETA (1): US Angle. From http://www.richw.org/dualcit/faq.html#possible

However, most of the laws forbidding dual citizenship were struck down by the US Supreme Court in two cases: a 1967 decision, Afroyim v. Rusk, as well as a second ruling in 1980, Vance v. Terrazas.

Source also includes general information about the necessity to formally renounce your United States citizenship before consular officials when you have come of age. Did you friend do this or was it just the grandmother?

...still looking. Think I'll have to try from the German end.

Just thought of something. I have a high school friend, now a lawyer, who was born to a German father and American mother. I don't know if his dad gave up his German citizenship before my friend was born. It will take awhile to get in touch with him; in the meantime, I'll keep looking.

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

Special rules exist for those born before 1 July 1993 if only the father is German and is not married to the mother. The father must acknowledge paternity before the child is 23, or acknowledge paternity and marry the mother and the child must declare himself or herself to be a German citizen.

Sure the source is Wiki, , but it helps, right?

 

[CJane]

Sure the source is Wiki, , but it helps, right?

It does... except in this case, the MOTHER is German. FATHER was born and raised in the US. Is still here, in fact and the daughter has attempted to contact him on multiple occasions. He refuses all contact with her.

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

It does... except in this case, the MOTHER is German. FATHER was born and raised in the US. Is still here, in fact and the daughter has attempted to contact him on multiple occasions. He refuses all contact with her.

Ok, helps to read my own writing (scrawled specifics on a post it note for the screen). I'll try again.

ETA: http://www.germany.info/relaunch/info/archives/background/citizenship.html

 

[Ozark_Sophist]

Did your acquaintance ever renounce citizenship, either German or US?

 

[CJane]

Did your acquaintance ever renounce citizenship, either German or US?

Not to my knowledge, no.

According to the conversation I had yesterday w/out mutual friend, she was just told by her Maternal grandmother that the GRANDMOTHER had renounced it FOR her and that she was a citizen of Germany ONLY.

 

[evcalyptos]

It's her status that's stopping her from doing much of anything though... her husband has told her numerous times that if she tries to leave, he'll get her deported and she'll never see her kids again. She believes this to be true.

It's my understanding that she (thinking she was a German-only citizen due to Gramma's claims of renouncing the US citizenship) entered the US under a travel visa and just stayed.

Wow, husband sounds like a right *******. That is extreme emotional abuse--actions like that have been used to prove abuse in VAWA self-petitions (the Violence Against Women Act).

How long has this woman lived in the US? Has she never had a need for a DL, or to renew one in the past 5 years? It's difficult (but not impossible, obviously) to live here undocumented for so long. Try to find out as many specifics about when they moved here as you can (the normal course of things may have been for her to get a visa in Germany before coming, but she would remember that).

From the German Embassy Link (thanks for getting it!)

A child born to a German mother and foreign father before 1975 became German only if the mother requested German citizenship for the child before December 31, 1977. A child born out of wedlock to a German mother is German.

The US Embassy site clarifies things even further:
http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany/services/dual_nationality.html
III. American-German Dual Nationality

1. Both the United States and Germany recognize the concept of multiple nationality.

2. A child born to an American parent and a German parent acquires both American and German citizenship at birth, regardless of place of birth, if the parents satisfy the jus soli or jus sanguinis requirements of their respective countries. See the sections above entitled, "Basic Primer on American Citizenship Law," and "Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law." Neither country requires a person born under these circumstances to choose between American and German citizenship, i.e., he/she may keep both citizenships his/her entire life.

3. A child born in Germany to two American parents may also become a dual national at birth under the circumstances described in paragraph 4 in the section above entitled, "Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law." Under German law, he/she would have to choose between American and German citizenship before turning 23.

4. Under German law, a person may not have more than one citizenship unless he/she was born with both, as described in paragraphs 2 and 3 above. Thus, German law requires an American who becomes a German citizen through the Einbürgerung process (see paragraph 5 in the section entitled, "Basic Primer on German Citizenship Law") to formally renounce his/her American citizenship, and a German who becomes an American citizen (see paragraph 5 in the section entitled, "Basic Primer on American Citizenship Law") to give up his/her German citizenship.

5. While Germany recognizes the concept of dual nationality, for most purposes it considers a dual national in Germany a German citizen only. Thus, the ability of the U.S. Embassy and consulates to provide assistance to an American-German dual national in Germany may be limited. The reverse is true in the U.S., where such a person is considered only American for most purposes, and where the German Embassy or consulates may be able to offer only limited assistance. For more information, please contact the Embassy or your nearest consulate.


This makes it clear cut, IMO. This woman is a US citizen (birth certificate is her primary evidence). I don't know if getting the proof of that will require her father's cooperation or not at this point.
.


WhatEVER comes out of the citizenship discussion, if you can, please assure this woman that her husband can not 'deport' her. He can report her until he is blue in the face; the enforcement arm of Immigration does NOT come after individuals.
His tactic is a common one, but it is without merit. She should be calling the cops on HIM.