CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP – This is the Document That Will Prove Your Citizenship

The certificate of citizenship can be obtained from the nearest office of Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in the United States. It is issued to the applicant only if they can submit their proof of citizenship and are within the United States.

This certificate is accessible to two categories of people. First, the person must have been born abroad and later naturalized as U.S. citizens. This means that the person has already been granted permanent residence as a citizen in the US. The Second category of people is those who were born in a foreign country to a U.S. citizen (parent or parents) and can produce proof for it. The proof of citizenship for both categories of people must be submitted and the person must be within the United States. Anyone born in a foreign territory but to a parent or parents who happen to be the US citizens is considered a citizen of the US. This is catered for by the immigration and nationality Act section 341 of the United States

The major significance of the certificate of citizenship is that one is enabled to participate in the local and national electoral process. The acquirement of permanent residence opens up the occasion to both benefit from the rights granted to the US citizens and also the responsibilities that are required from every citizen. It is expected that every citizen swears allegiance to the United States and be willing and ready to defend it if need be. The citizens and mostly men can be brought into the army in order to fight for the country in the time of war. It is therefore not about leisure and benefits alone but also about responsibilities. The person who is given nationality must also be capable to go through an assessment which requires one to be able to answer 6 questions correctly out of the potential 10.

The US Citizenship Certificate is presentable as a proof of someone's citizenship in case there is need to do so. This is important when one is seeking for government services and especially those entitled to the citizens only. An adopted person who is under the age of 18, who have met all the requirements of citizenship under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), can have their form filled by their adoptive parent or the legal guardian who is a US citizen and the one who was given the legal and physical guardianship of the child. The changes approved in the year 2001 to The Child Citizen Act were established and became effective in January 2004. They pointed out that, the provision of the certificate of citizenship, Form N-600 is involuntary to any child adopted and who comes in to the US using an IR-3 visa inside 45 days of entry into the United States. What this meant was that such children will not be issued with a permanent Alien Resident Card.

If the child enters the US on IR-4 visa, the adoption must be concluded in the United States through the procedure of re-adoption prior to the issuance of the certificate of citizenship. Once more, those children who are over the age of 14 are required to take an oath of allegiance prior to the issuing of the certificate of citizenship.