Comment Responses Matrix

USCIS Responses to 60-day FRN Public Comments
Form N-600 Revision
Comment Public Comments
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Comment Commenter: Xuan Luo
1.
Form N-600, Part 2, Question 14C says "I am:", followed by
the choices "A Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR)", "A
Nonimmigrant", "A Refugee/Asylee", and "Other (Explain):"
with a blank. This question as written is very confusing,
because the only people who are eligible to file form N-600
to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship are people who are,
legally, already US citizens prior to filing the form. N-600
can only be filed by people who either 1) are born outside
the US and who were automatically US citizens at birth, or
2) were US permanent residents under 18 who
automatically became US citizens because they were living
in the US with a US citizen parent. In both cases, the
people must have already automatically became US
citizens before they can file N-600.

USCIS Response

Response:
Thank you for your comment. USCIS made a change to Form N-600
in response to the concerns raised.

By definition, someone who is currently a US citizen is not
currently a lawful permanent resident, a nonimmigrant, or
a refugee/asylee. Therefore, for anyone who is properly
eligible to file this form, since the questions says "I am" in
the present tense, the only possible correct answer is to
check the "Other" box, and then write in "US citizen" in the
blank. Even if, in the case of a permanent resident minor
who automatically derived citizenship, the applicant may
still possess a permanent resident card, once he/she met
the conditions to automatically derive citizenship, legally
speaking, he/she is immediately a US citizen, and is not a
lawful permanent resident.
It is very strange that the form would present a question
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USCIS Responses to 60-day FRN Public Comments
Form N-600 Revision
where the only correct answer for those eligible to file the
form, requires selecting "other" and writing in an answer,
and where none of the pre-written answers are correct.
Furthermore, it is unclear what the point of this question,
as written, would be, because by filing the N-600 form, the
applicant is, by definition, claiming to already be a US
citizen, so it seems that a question asking for what (the
applicant claims) his/her status is, is redundant.
Perhaps the question was intended to ask what the
person's status was before automatically becoming a US
citizen (although that question would only apply to those
who claimed to have derived citizenship, and not those
who claim citizenship from birth). In any case, the question
should be re-worded to clarify what is wanted.

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