Hello, i'm new, please help me get better understanding

Hello

as said above im new and have virtually no knowledge on immigration.

Im a full UK citizen as is my girlfriend - however her father and his side of the family are american - i believe at one point or another she was offered a dual passport but opted for british one. (She was born here in UK)

Her father is now living here in the Uk with no view to go back to US.

My girlfriends Aunt and cousins are still state side.New york and Florida - however contact with them is virtually non existant at the moment

Is there any chance we could both apply and be succesful to get into the states - ive visited four times and love the place as does she.

would it be a case of my partner applying for a dual nationality passport again? would we then need to marry or become engaged?

unfortunatly neither of us are highly educated - have any special trade skills etc.

so we have virtually zero chance of being able to make the move so ive been told

any advise would be great.

Thank you

axlandslash44x wrote:Hello

as said above im new and have virtually no knowledge on immigration.

Im a full UK citizen as is my girlfriend - however her father and his side of the family are american - i believe at one point or another she was offered a dual passport but opted for british one. (She was born here in UK)

Her father is now living here in the Uk with no view to go back to US.

My girlfriends Aunt and cousins are still state side.New york and Florida - however contact with them is virtually non existant at the moment

Is there any chance we could both apply and be succesful to get into the states - ive visited four times and love the place as does she.

would it be a case of my partner applying for a dual nationality passport again? would we then need to marry or become engaged?

unfortunatly neither of us are highly educated - have any special trade skills etc.

so we have virtually zero chance of being able to make the move so ive been told

any advise would be great.

Thank you

There is no such thing as dual passports. Was her father born in the USA? How long did he live in the US? If she is indeed a US citizen, she can simply apply for a US passport. Through this, she doesn't need to meet any other requirement to live in the US - she is fully entitled to do more or less whatever she likes there. She is probably already a dual British and US citizen, so when she 'opted' for a British passport it doesn't mean she ceased to be a US citizen - she didn't renounce her citizenship just because she didn't apply for a US passport. Being a dual UK/US citizen is fine.

As for you - there is no chance of you being able to join her unless you are married. If you get married, she can petition for you to join her as her spouse. Are there any plans to get married? If you don't marry, then you need to qualify on your own, such as a work sponsorship visa.

her father was born in USa and lived there for 25 years - he was in forces and got based here in UK

she was born here

she is not sure if she is classed as an american citizen?

she was told by her dad she is dual nationality but she only holds british passport

what can she do? call us embassy to find out? or

If she did get an american passport, would she have to give her british one up?

therefor becoming a usa citizen unable to live here unless she swaps the yank pass for a uk one?

also - is the family thing important - i.e her family over there

or is the fact she is dual nationality and hopefully will have an american passport enough for her to go and work there

if we were to marry here in UK, would it be easy once she has her passport for me to go? or would she have to go there and i would be stuck here for years waiting for them to let me in?

axlandslash44x: I am sorry but your story doesn't make any sense. Either your girlfriend is a US citizen, or she is not. There is no such thing as "at one point or another she was offered a dual passport but opted for british one".

From what you write, it sounds like your girlfriend is a US citizen. The fact that she doesn't have a passport is irrelevant.

Just to add that the US and UK both recognize dual citizenship so your partner will not have to surrender her British one if she applies for a US passport.

My "story" is correct - im no good with immigration so i dont know how to word thigns correctly

she was born in Uk to an american father and british mum

her dad told her once that she is dual nationality but we are not sure of this - is there anyway we could find out?

thanks for your help

I already answered most of your questions in my first post. Marco and yankeegirl have more knowledge about US visas, but I am thinking that she would probably need to go to the US and sort out accommodation and finances before bringing you over as a spouse. I doubt you can fly there with her immediately, if you don't even have a home or job.

For prove of her nationality, she needs, I think, her father's (parents')birth certificate and her own birth certificate. I think that should be enough to confirm it. The point is that she has ALWAYS been a US and UK citizen. A passport is a travel document that provides proof of citizenship, but it is not sole measure of citizenship. She could have actually had a US passport from day 1.

How old are the two of you?

sorry but none of my questions have been answered.

This is probably due to the way im wording my questions.

i will contact an immigration specialist

I really dont understand how you can not get what im asking?

she was born in the UK to a father from USA and mother from UK.

does this make her British or Yank?

She is clearly british citizen but could she be american also?

her father does have an american birth certificate

but her birth was probably never registered in teh states - why would it be?

axlandslash44x wrote:I really dont understand how you can not get what im asking?

she was born in the UK to a father from USA and mother from UK.

does this make her British or Yank?

She is clearly british citizen but could she be american also?

her father does have an american birth certificate

but her birth was probably never registered in teh states - why would it be?

Your questions HAVE been answered, but you don't seem to understand.

She IS a DUAL citizen. She is a US citizen AND a British citizen. She is a US citizen because of her father. She is a British citizen because of her mother.

Contact an immigration specialist, if you have the money, but they'll tel you the same thing.

Her birth should have been registered with the US embassy - her father should have known - or at least thought - that she is a US citizen, thus he should have gone to the relevant authorities. If her birth has NOT been registered and she does not have a US birth certificate from the US embassy in London, she simply needs to register herself, in order to get her US passport.

http://london.usembassy.gov/cons_new/ac ... s/fta.html

As mentioned before - I don't think it would be possible for you to travel with her immediately, once you marry - she needs to have accommodation and finances sorted, but this is another stage anyway.

Sakura

I really appreciate your help.

I did not mean to come across rude i simply struggled to understand what was being said - sorry.

I think this forum is a good idea as when reading docuemtns from the web or viewing the embassy pages, it can be tough to understand.

Thanks for clearing things up

in answer to your question she is 23 and i am 21.

So once she has her passport, and we are married. We have to arrange for her to get a bank account - find a place to rent and a job.

only at that point could we take further action to get myself out there?

what would be the next step?

at that point is it advisable to pay an expert to help - or is it something you can do on your own with enough time spent learning
thank you

axlandslash44x wrote:sorry but none of my questions have been answered.

axlandslash44x wrote: I really dont understand how you can not get what im asking?

Dude, reading this I really don't understand how you cannot get what the good people here are telling you, time and time again.

Your girlfriend appears to be a UK citizen and also a US citizen. She is a citizen of both countries. She is hold dual citizenship. She has always been a dual citizen of both the UK and the USA, since the day she was born.

However, your girlfriend has only ever held a British passport. This does not remove, withdraw, renounce, or take away the fact that she is also a US citizen. She can, and should, register her birth with the US embassy in London (assuming this has not yet been done already), and obtain a US passport. She will still be a British citizen, and can continue to have her British passport. As a US citizen, your girlfriend must enter the US on her US passport. Once there, she is free to live and work where she pleases, just as in the UK.

As for your own future immigration to the US, as a spouse of a US citizen, I cannot advise you on it. However, I'm sure that the advice already given to you on this thread is accurate.

You don't need to hire an immigration specialist dude, you just need to listen a bit.

Also mate, whatever you do don't get married just for the sake of moving overseas. You might be making a big mistake. Marriage is a big step. Think carefully and wisely.

Once you are married, and your partner get's her US passport, check out www.diveintoamerica.com It's a forum for moving to the US and there are a lot of knowledgable people on there. It can be a fairly long process for an American to bring a spouse over and does require quite a bit of paperwork. You won't be able to just fly over there with her and stay.

To apply for the US passport, have your partner check out the US embassy website to see what documentation she'll need.

There are indeed people that hold two, and sometimes more, valid passports from different countries.

My younger sister has both Canadian and US passports, as she is a citizen of both countries. I will soon be in the same status, thanks to Canada's new bill C-37.

First of all, there are situations where a person born abroad to one American parent must acquire us citizenship, it is not automatic.
Please see
http://travel.state.gov/law/info/info_609.html
and then they must go through certain conditions to qualify
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption ... o_457.html

I presume this is to what the OP is referring.

republique wrote:First of all, there are situations where a person born abroad to one American parent must acquire us citizenship, it is not automatic.
Please see
http://travel.state.gov/law/info/info_609.html
and then they must go through certain conditions to qualify
http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption ... o_457.html

I presume this is to what the OP is referring.

Even so, why has he/she not gone to the US embassy to verify what is needed, or what status she has? If they'd gone to talk to the embassy, they would be given all the information they need about registration.

According to the State Department web page that was cited above, the girl would in fact be an American citizen.

Her father lived in the US more than enough years to qualify.

She will need his birth record, and a few other documents, to prove her citizenship. Then, she get a passport through the U.S. Embassy, and she has no problem moving to the States at all.

Her boyfriend on the other hand ?????