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I was born in Ireland to a US Citizen (father) My father was born in Ireland ( in 1925) and obtained his citizenship through his father who was born in the US in 1894. My father lived and worked in the US from 1966 until he died suddenly while visiting Ireland in 1987. I lived in Ireland from 1966 until 1987 on a greencard. I have just applied for a US passport but have found out that my father ( although a citizen from birth ) needed to live in the US for 10 years prior to my birth but he did not. He worked for one year in Ohio as an inter doctor from Ireland but travelled on a US Passport.
Already Tried: I applied for my US Passport using my fathers US passport as evidence of proof of eligablilty for citizenship for myself. I was informed that my father had to live in the US for 10 years prior to my birth. He did not although he was born as a US citizen abroad and always traveled on a US Passport
That sounds about right. Are you asking if there is any other way that you can obtain U.S. Citizenship since your father did not meet the requirements? I probably won't have good news for you. When were you born?
I was born October 2nd 1965
,I was born October 2nd 1965
Well, take a look at this link:
http://dc.fd.org/library/naturalization%20chart.pdf
On the 6th page you can see that the requirement is what you stated, 10 years of living in the U.S. before you were born and at least 5 of those years had to have been after he turned 14. I am truly sorry. I know it doesn't make sense, but the law was done like this on purpose. If you cannot prove that your father lived in the U.S. for those years, then he cannot pass on U.S. Citizenship to you.
The only exception that I can tell you about is Double Constructive Retention but I am not experienced with it and very few attorneys are because it is very rare, but here is a good example that I have been able to find:
HOW CONSTRUCTIVE RETENTION WORKSSuppose one of your grandparents-your father's mother let us say-was a U.S. citizen at the time of your father's birth. Your father, who automatically received U.S. citizenship from his mother at birth, was born in 1942, a date when the law required him to have a U.S. residency in order to keep his U.S. citizenship. Your father never knew he was a U.S. citizen, but learned of it later as an adult. By then, the time for fulfilling his residence requirement under the law in effect at his birth had passed. Your father had always wanted to live in the U.S. He once tried to get a visa but he was turned down. Now realizing what has been lost, he wants to establish that he is a U.S. citizen. He now attempts to prove to INS or a consulate that he didn't know about the U.S. citizenship he received through his mother until it was too late to meet the legal requirements for retaining it. It is helpful that he had already made an effort to move to the U.S., because this helps to prove that had he been aware of the situation, he would have acted to retain his U.S. citizenship. If your father can establish that he didn't know and had he known he would have taken steps to fulfill the residency requirements, he can claim U.S. citizenship through the Doctrine of Constructive Retention. You, in turn, can claim that at the time of your birth your father had the necessary qualifications to confer U.S. citizenship on you. Then, if you were also subject to residency requirements, you too should be excused from fulfilling them because you were obviously unaware of a claim to U.S. citizenship. You could not, after all, be expected to know your father had a claim to U.S. citizenship through your grandfather when your father himself was unaware. This situation is called the Doctrine of Double Constructive Retention Although this logic could be used to trace citizenship back even further, such as through great grandparents, the Department of State and INS will not recognize more than a double constructive retention. The practical meaning of this complex-sounding term is simply that If you had a grandparent who was a U.S. citizen, there is always a chance that U.S. citizenship passed from your grandparent, through your parent, to you, even though none of you ever lived in the U.S. Once again, we urge you to check thoroughly If you think such circumstances may apply to you. You can get information on how to establish a claim to U.S. citizenship from the U.S. consulate in your home country. Procedures differ from consulate to consulate but the factors you are asked to prove are the same everywhere.
As I said, because it is rare, I can't even tell you how to go about applying for U.S. Citizenship through this. You can try to find an attorney by going to http://www.ailalawyer.com/. At least there is some hope. Please let me know if you have any additional questions. I would be happy to answer them for you without additional charge. If there is a delay in getting back to you it is either because I am answering other questions or I had to log off, but I will be back with you as soon as possible. My goal is to provide you with top-notch service - please don't forget to leave me feedback if that is available for you to do so and a bonus is always appreciated. If you would like to request me in the future, just go to http://www.justanswer.com/law/expert-guillermosenmartin/. Thank you!
Experience: 10+ years of experience in various aspects of U.S. Immigration Law.