Acquisition is when United States citizenship is conferred upon a child born abroad at the time of their birth to a U.S. citizen parent(s).  If either of your parents were a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, or one or more of your grandparents were U.S. citizens, you may have acquired U.S. citizenship at the time of your birth without even being aware of it.  There are several ways of applying for actual evidence of your U.S. citizenship.

Basic Requirements

This is an extremely complex area within the immigration regulations.  Acquired citizenship is dependent on an individual’s date of birth, whether or not the birth was legitimate, and if the U.S. citizen parent(s) or grandparent(s) resided in the U.S. for a certain period of time to meet various retention requirements in order to transmit U.S. citizenship to their offspring.  We recommend you contact our office so that we can make a determination based on the particulars of your situation as to whether or not you may have acquired U.S. citizenship at the time of your birth.

Page Summary: Individuals meeting certain conditions and criteria may have U.S. citizenship conferred upon them at birth.