If USCIS considers the child less than
18 years of age when a parent naturalizes as a U.S. Citizen or a step parent
submits a family petition so the child can get a green card, then your
application/petition will be successful.
However, if USCIS considers the child over 18 your application/petition
will be denied.
We may think these are a very simple
situations with no problems but it can be very complicated and difficult to
fix. This is especially true when the child is in another part of the world
where the time zone and date are different from the time zone and date in the
United States.
Generally under the law, courts will not
consider differences in the times zones or fractions of a day. The only time a
court will consider this question is when it affects an important right.
Petitions to get a green card and being considered a U.S. Citizen may be
considered important rights. However it depends on what part of the U.S. you
are in and what U.S. Court of Appeals is in that area.
The reason for this problem is that the
wording of the immigration laws in the above situations is unclear. If you and
your child are in one of these situations it is possible to get a denial of
your petition or application fixed. An Immigration Attorney should be able to
help you with this.
Please contact a licensed
Immigration attorney before you act on your specific situation. Immigration
Laws and Federal Regulations are constantly changing and the general information
provided can change over time.
