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Establishing a biological and legal
relationship to the child: To establish that a child born abroad
acquired U.S. citizenship at birth, the Immigration and Nationality
Act (INA) requires that a blood and a legal relationship exist
between the child and the U.S. citizen parent. U.S. law provides
that the burden of proof is upon the applicant to establish a claim
to U.S. citizenship. When primary and secondary documentary evidence
are deemed insufficient to establish such a claim, parentage blood
testing is an option available to applicants. The Department of
State appreciates that this situation may be troubling and in some
cases prohibitively costly to parents, but under the circumstances,
it appears that there is no other way to establish the child's claim
to U.S. citizenship. Parents are, of course, free to submit any
additional evidence they believe pertinent. If such tests establish
parentage, the American Citizens Services Unit would expedite
issuance of a Consular Report of Birth Abroad and a U.S. passport,
provided all other applicable requirements of the Immigration and
Nationality Act and establishment of a legal relationship
(acknowledgment of paternity and legitimization prior to the child's
18th birthday) have been met.
Arranging for Testing: Testing
can be conducted in the United States only. The laboratory
conducting the tests should send the test results and an
interpretation of the data to the U.S. Embassy directly.
Expenses: All expenses must be
borne by the parent(s), including shipping costs, and must be paid
in advance.
Selecting a Laboratory: The
laboratory must be one on the Department of State's
list of accredited laboratories. Lists of laboratories are
available from the Department of State, Overseas Citizens Services
or from U.S. embassies and consulates upon request.
Test Results: In all phases of
testing, communication must be directly between the laboratory and
the U.S. embassy or consulate. All test results must be delivered by
the laboratory to the U.S. embassy or consulate in a manner that
precludes tampering. Under no circumstances should any other party,
including those being tested, be permitted to carry or
transport blood or tissue samples or test results. Since the
applicant is bearing full financial responsibility for testing,
however, the Department of State has no objection to that person's
receiving a copy of the results from the laboratory. |
