The Trump administration has clarified new rules around access to green cards for children of foreign government employees living or born in the United States, after an initial policy note caused some confusion. The correction from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not create a new immigration benefit but aims to clarify which documents potential applicants need to provide, after officials said some details were removed when the policy was announced in early September. Under the Trump administration, efforts have been made to expand the list of people who are ineligible for birthright citizenship, with President Donald Trump wanting to prevent those born to people in the United States without legal status from claiming American citizenship.
Under birthright citizenship rules, children born to diplomats are generally excluded from automatic citizenship, and the new DHS policy partly seeks to clarify that those born to foreign government workers also fall under this definition. "The green card process itself is not entirely new for children born in the United States who do not acquire citizenship at birth. USCIS already has a process for certain children born here to foreign diplomats to obtain permanent residence," Adam Klein, a former senior DHS official and co-founder of Globali.ai, told Newsweek.
"What the IFR does is expand the group of U.S. born children the administration says do not acquire citizenship and make permanent residence available to that broader group instead. The correction provides the evidentiary requirements for that process, including proof of the parent’s foreign government employment." USCIS spokesman Zach Kahler told Newsweek that the update was intended to clarify existing policy. In its updated policy this week, DHS said applicants from these groups must submit a Form I-485 application, a birth certificate, evidence of continuous residence in the U.S., travel records, and official confirmation of their parent's foreign government employment.
The department also clarified that some applicants may not need to file a waiver associated with diplomatic privileges, known as Form I-508. DHS said it had accidentally removed language around what evidence was needed to support an application when releasing the initial policy. While the new release is largely technical, it affects an as-yet undetermined number of people living in the U.S.
"I don’t think there is a reliable way to quantify the affected population yet. DHS acknowledged in the underlying rule that it does not have sufficient data to reliably estimate it, and even among those who are eligible, not every family will necessarily apply," Klein said. "Families will have to consider the cost, how long they expect to remain in the United States and whether permanent residence makes sense for their child." The revised language on the required evidence acknowledges that not all applicants' parents will have held diplomatic classifications, so applicants may need to provide other documents to prove their employment.
For decades, children born in the U.S. to foreign diplomats have been in a unique position because diplomats are not considered subject to U.S. jurisdiction in the same way other visa or green card holders might be. Now, DHS is seeking to expand this to others working for foreign governments, potentially raising broader legal issues. "To me, focusing too heavily on the green card process risks missing what is significant here.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
