Getting First American Passport for Kid
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Getting First American Passport for Kid
I thought that the American process was a bit of a pain in the arse, but at least it’s easier than the British.
To obtain citizenship by birth (and a passport) for U.S. children abroad, you need to do the following:
In Cambodia you are required to email your full application to the American Citizen Services email address ([email protected]), at which point they will reply and offer you a time to come in. If that date doesn’t work for you they seem a little flexible. Your appointment will most likely be at 2 PM on a certain day, and there may be another couple or two scheduled at the same time. It will then be first come first served on that date. You will be allowed to bring only your accompanying paperwork inside with you, and you may have to wait a few hours. I would recommend adding a magazine in your folder to help pass the time. Both parents need to be present.
The requirement of emailing everything to the embassy is new as of June 1st. Although annoying, it is much better than in Thailand, where you have to mail the whole package in, with a certified bank check for the fee.
There are different requirements if the child was born in or out of wedlock. I will only speak of being born in wedlock, with one parent as an American and one as a non-American.
- Completed form DS-2029, which is the Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
Supporting Documents (as listed by the embassy):
1) Parents’ passports
2) Marriage certificate and/or Divorce Certificate or Parent’s Death Certificate with English translation. If not married, the U.S. citizen father must complete an Affidavit of physical presence and financial support (Form DS-5507)
3) The child’s original Birth Certificate issued by Cambodian Government with English translation (This is what the website states, but it doesn’t have to be issued by the Cambodian Government – our son was born in Bangkok and they were still able to process it here)
4) The child’s original Hospital Birth Certificate with English translation (This seems repetitive from the requirement above)
5) Evidence of five years of physical presence in the United States from the U.S. citizen parent prior to the child’s birth such as school transcripts, W-2 forms, military form DD-214, Social Security statements …etc. (It's actually ten years if you were born before or on November 13, 1986, and five years if born after.)
6) Family photos or other evidence of relationship; otherwise, DNA testing will be requested. (I printed out several years of pictures together, from when we met, to the marriage, honeymoon, and present. I printed on regular paper, and wrote the date and location.)
It should be noted that the embassy will make an assessment of when the child was conceived based on the birthday, and they will check both parents’ passports to make sure that they were in the same country at the same time. If your child was born premature and the 9 month calculation will place you not in the same country at the same time, you will need to provide evidence from the hospital/a Dr’s note to confirm this.
In addition to the above, you will want to submit Form DS-11, which is the passport application.
After waiting over two hours we had the interview. It was quick and painless, which I believe was solely because I am a white American. The couple before us were Americans, but ethnically Khmer. They had over an hour long interview, and left needing to return at a later date with more paperwork. It was also clear that the sooner you do it to birth the easier it will be, and the more you wait the more questions you will receive and documentary evidence you will have to produce. The CRBA and passport will arrive in a few weeks and you'll have to come in to collect.
To obtain citizenship by birth (and a passport) for U.S. children abroad, you need to do the following:
In Cambodia you are required to email your full application to the American Citizen Services email address ([email protected]), at which point they will reply and offer you a time to come in. If that date doesn’t work for you they seem a little flexible. Your appointment will most likely be at 2 PM on a certain day, and there may be another couple or two scheduled at the same time. It will then be first come first served on that date. You will be allowed to bring only your accompanying paperwork inside with you, and you may have to wait a few hours. I would recommend adding a magazine in your folder to help pass the time. Both parents need to be present.
The requirement of emailing everything to the embassy is new as of June 1st. Although annoying, it is much better than in Thailand, where you have to mail the whole package in, with a certified bank check for the fee.
There are different requirements if the child was born in or out of wedlock. I will only speak of being born in wedlock, with one parent as an American and one as a non-American.
- Completed form DS-2029, which is the Application for Consular Report of Birth Abroad (CRBA)
Supporting Documents (as listed by the embassy):
1) Parents’ passports
2) Marriage certificate and/or Divorce Certificate or Parent’s Death Certificate with English translation. If not married, the U.S. citizen father must complete an Affidavit of physical presence and financial support (Form DS-5507)
3) The child’s original Birth Certificate issued by Cambodian Government with English translation (This is what the website states, but it doesn’t have to be issued by the Cambodian Government – our son was born in Bangkok and they were still able to process it here)
4) The child’s original Hospital Birth Certificate with English translation (This seems repetitive from the requirement above)
5) Evidence of five years of physical presence in the United States from the U.S. citizen parent prior to the child’s birth such as school transcripts, W-2 forms, military form DD-214, Social Security statements …etc. (It's actually ten years if you were born before or on November 13, 1986, and five years if born after.)
6) Family photos or other evidence of relationship; otherwise, DNA testing will be requested. (I printed out several years of pictures together, from when we met, to the marriage, honeymoon, and present. I printed on regular paper, and wrote the date and location.)
It should be noted that the embassy will make an assessment of when the child was conceived based on the birthday, and they will check both parents’ passports to make sure that they were in the same country at the same time. If your child was born premature and the 9 month calculation will place you not in the same country at the same time, you will need to provide evidence from the hospital/a Dr’s note to confirm this.
In addition to the above, you will want to submit Form DS-11, which is the passport application.
After waiting over two hours we had the interview. It was quick and painless, which I believe was solely because I am a white American. The couple before us were Americans, but ethnically Khmer. They had over an hour long interview, and left needing to return at a later date with more paperwork. It was also clear that the sooner you do it to birth the easier it will be, and the more you wait the more questions you will receive and documentary evidence you will have to produce. The CRBA and passport will arrive in a few weeks and you'll have to come in to collect.
A higher proportion of Khmer Americans as opposed to native born Americans are involved with shady immigration stuff.
2 separate documents, the certificate of birth issued by the hospital is not an official Govt. document, but it is technically needed to obtain the official Cambodian birth certificate.FatherTime wrote:3) The child’s original Birth Certificate issued by Cambodian Government with English translation (This is what the website states, but it doesn’t have to be issued by the Cambodian Government – our son was born in Bangkok and they were still able to process it here)
4) The child’s original Hospital Birth Certificate with English translation (This seems repetitive from the requirement above)
I'm not a negative person, I encourage people all the time...it's usually to f**k off! But, whatever.
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Thanks for posting. What are they doing about SS #'s? When we had our first child they refused to process the application and said we had to contact the SS office in Manila directly. We I did, Manila said we had to send original documents (including passports). I'm not willing to do that so as a result he doesn't yet have his SS #. I wasn't willing both because we shouldn't have a several week period of time with no documents here in Cambodia - but also we shouldn't be restricted for a several week period from travelling somewhere due to a medical emergency.
Just wondering if they have changed their process by any chance?
Just wondering if they have changed their process by any chance?
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We were just serviced by the US Embassy here with my childrens CRBAs, and i can say that the staff was professional, courteous and helpful. Be sure to have plenty of photographic evidence, is what I gathered to be of most importance from this process, and of course proper birth certificates. Now comes the hard part, getting ready for those SATs :-O
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There is a form to request a ssn. When I did it about a couple years ago he handed me the form and said bring it back in a few days but then looked at me took the form back and said never mind. He said he'll take care of it since all my kids info was already in their system. I said great. About 3 months later my PO box had a new SS card sittin in it.twiceayear wrote:Thanks for posting. What are they doing about SS #'s? When we had our first child they refused to process the application and said we had to contact the SS office in Manila directly. We I did, Manila said we had to send original documents (including passports). I'm not willing to do that so as a result he doesn't yet have his SS #. I wasn't willing both because we shouldn't have a several week period of time with no documents here in Cambodia - but also we shouldn't be restricted for a several week period from travelling somewhere due to a medical emergency.
Just wondering if they have changed their process by any chance?
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I didn't have to do that. Mine was in 08 so I suppose things have changed but man that looks to be barely worth it.
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Yeah, cause with a Cambodian passport, you can travel freely to almost anywhere in the world, as long as it is inside of Cambodia.
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Update: They have indeed changed the process. The US Embassy in Cambodia (or Thailand, Vietnam, etc) cannot help process a new Social Security Number. Instead, you have to go to the embassy to get certified copies of your and you kid's passports and his CRBA (normally the embassy charges a fee for this, but in this circumstance they will do it gratis), and then mail the whole shebang to Manila. It's quite annoying that they didn't tell me this when I applied, or when I picked up the packet, and that it requires yet another trip to the world's most unfriendly waiting room. Here's the process in full, which for some reason they can't post on their own website (I got it in an email from Manila):lostjeremy wrote:There is a form to request a ssn. When I did it about a couple years ago he handed me the form and said bring it back in a few days but then looked at me took the form back and said never mind. He said he'll take care of it since all my kids info was already in their system. I said great. About 3 months later my PO box had a new SS card sittin in it.twiceayear wrote:Thanks for posting. What are they doing about SS #'s? When we had our first child they refused to process the application and said we had to contact the SS office in Manila directly. We I did, Manila said we had to send original documents (including passports). I'm not willing to do that so as a result he doesn't yet have his SS #. I wasn't willing both because we shouldn't have a several week period of time with no documents here in Cambodia - but also we shouldn't be restricted for a several week period from travelling somewhere due to a medical emergency.
Just wondering if they have changed their process by any chance?
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To apply for a Social Security Number (SSN), please follow the instructions below:
Step 1: Download, complete, and sign the Application for a Social Security Card, Form SS-5-FS. All questions must be answered legibly.
Step 2: Send the completed Form SS-5-FS and the following required documents to our office for processing. We will only accept original documents or copies certified by a U.S. Embassy/Consulate. Uncertified photocopies are not acceptable.
- Consular Report of Birth Abroad or Birth Certificate of the child
- Valid/Unexpired U.S. Passport of the child
- Valid/Unexpired U.S. Passport or U.S. Government-Issued ID (such as U.S. Driver’s License or State Identity Card) of the parent who signed the Form SS-5-FS
If you will not mail the original documents to our office, you should have the original documents copied and certified at a U.S. Embassy/Consulate. You should schedule an appointment with the American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit of the U.S. Embassy/Consulate in your area. On your appointment, present the original documents and inform the Consular Staff that you need certified copies which will be used as part of an application for a Social Security Number (SSN)/benefit. The Consular Staff will return the certified copies to you, and you must take care of mailing the paperwork to us.
We recommend that you send your application paperwork through a mailing or courier service (such as FedEx, UPS or DHL) with tracking capability to prevent the loss of documents. It will also allow us to verify whether or not the application has been received at our office.
We will not return certified copies. We will copy and return original documents within one week by regular mail only. However, you may provide us with a pre-paid self-addressed return label for the secure return of the documents. We can only accept return labels/airway bills issued by courier service companies (such as FedEx, UPS or DHL). Our local post office does not accept pre-paid registered mail labels issued by foreign postal offices.
Our street mailing address is:
Social Security Administration
Attention: ANH
U.S. Embassy Manila
1201 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita
Manila, Philippines 0930
Our military mailing address is: (If you are using this option, please provide a pre-paid USPS certified mail with tracking number envelope that we can use to return the original documents to your APO/DPO/FPO mailing address.)
Social Security Administration
Attention: ANH
U.S. Embassy Manila
Unit 8600 Box 1610
DPO AP 96515-1610
Once the application is processed by our office, the Social Security Card is printed from a central location in the U.S. and will be sent by regular mail to the address you provided in the application form. The average mailing time is within three weeks for a U.S. mailing address and within 90 days for a foreign mailing address.
If you do not wish to mail your application paperwork to our office for processing, we advise that you delay your SSN application until you are in the U.S. or a country that has a Federal Benefits Unit. You can then file your SSN application in person at a local Social Security Office in the U.S. or at a Federal Benefits Unit.
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Ha!
They didn't offer to do anything Gratis for myself. Nor did Manila offer me to send copies - they told (over the phone) that original documents were required.
I ended up having to fly to Manila and go to the embassy to turn in the application. Total Trip cost me over $400, a night of basically no sleep (got into my hotel near the embassy at about 3:30 in the morning and was up at 7am to be over to the embassy at 8), and then a long day sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home.
I decided to humor myself and ask for a supervisor when I was done - and I asked her why in the world I'd have to fly to Manila to get a SS# - when the key document is the birth abroad report issued through the Cambodia embassy. She said its something from DHS and it relates to "security" and there are "ongoing" discussions. Told her that someone should point out that its the equivalent of telling everyone in California they have to travel to Texas to get their social security card.
Total joke.
They didn't offer to do anything Gratis for myself. Nor did Manila offer me to send copies - they told (over the phone) that original documents were required.
I ended up having to fly to Manila and go to the embassy to turn in the application. Total Trip cost me over $400, a night of basically no sleep (got into my hotel near the embassy at about 3:30 in the morning and was up at 7am to be over to the embassy at 8), and then a long day sitting at the airport waiting for my flight home.
I decided to humor myself and ask for a supervisor when I was done - and I asked her why in the world I'd have to fly to Manila to get a SS# - when the key document is the birth abroad report issued through the Cambodia embassy. She said its something from DHS and it relates to "security" and there are "ongoing" discussions. Told her that someone should point out that its the equivalent of telling everyone in California they have to travel to Texas to get their social security card.
Total joke.
I did this process in 2015, the most problematic was the Cambodian birth certificate issued by local authority. They were trying to angle me for a bribe by telling my fiancé and I we couldn’t have a birth certificate for our son since we weren’t married. That was the Toul Tom Poung sangkat. “Big problem, cannot do, my boss get angry “. Obvious nonsense as children are constantly born out of wedlock.
We were able to get the document from a sangkat out of town near the orphanage my wife grew up in, they were friendly with the orphanage so that helped.
And I also had the offer of getting a SS card by them sending documents to Manila for me.
We were able to get the document from a sangkat out of town near the orphanage my wife grew up in, they were friendly with the orphanage so that helped.
And I also had the offer of getting a SS card by them sending documents to Manila for me.
"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach English."
Credit Jacked Camry & LTO
Credit Jacked Camry & LTO
i think if un-wed you gotta prove you will/can support the kid. my friend is going through that right now.
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Looks like a disgruntles American didn't do his proper due diligence before going to the embassy:FatherTime wrote: 6) Family photos or other evidence of relationship; otherwise, DNA testing will be requested. (I printed out several years of pictures together, from when we met, to the marriage, honeymoon, and present. I printed on regular paper, and wrote the date and location.)
US Embassy accused of delaying issuing sick child’s passport
Aside from yet another shoddy editing job from the post (I'm pretty sure the guy didn't say his kid died in the hospital), this is a reminder to: 1) not wait to get your child their citizenship/passport from your country; and 2) be as diligent as possible the first time around when you do apply.Phillip Roth, who lives in Phnom Penh with the Cambodian mother of his child, on Wednesday accused the embassy of not following its procedures and delaying the application process as he tries to get his sick son, Alexander – who he said almost died – to the US for treatment.
He told The Post: “I’m a US citizen and so my child is granted US citizenship automatically. Unfortunately, the US embassy is delaying this process and not following their protocols and procedures.
“I specified that my child continually gets sick, indicating he had a temperature of 110 Fahrenheit, which almost led him to die in hospital. I want to get him to the US to see a doctor as quickly as possible.
“I think they are actively delaying the situation for no valid reason. I don’t really understand why they are doing this when I have provided all the evidence requested.
“They don’t provide any financial assistance and they would not speed up the process. They really do not care.”
Roth said the embassy has prolonged the situation, with the process now taking over a month.
An official at the initial interview only requested photos proving his relationship with the mother of his son, which he provided the same day, he said.
An embassy official who did not give their name later asked follow-up questions via email, which Roth claims goes against procedure as laid down on the US Embassy website.
The official demanded he undergo a DNA test costing $450, plus an $80 mailing fee, that could take anywhere up to 12 weeks. This would mean he would not meet the deadline for the passport application and then have to pay an additional $215.
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So the entire process takes just a few weeks for Americans? Nice. It takes up to a fucking year for Canuckistan to get that shit sorted...
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