Minors with False Claims of Citizenship May Still Qualify for Legal Status
Normally if a person is found to have made a false claim to citizenship, they have a permanent bar and are barred from ever becoming a Legal Permanent Resident or gaining legal status. However, recently the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State have stated that in the cases of minors there might still be hope for them to gain legal status if they can show they did not understand what they were doing when they claimed to be a US citizen.
By letters to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, DHS and DOS state they will amend the AFM and the FAM to reflect the following position:
(1) Only a knowingly false claim can support a charge that an individual is inadmissible under section 212(a)(6)(C)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The individual claiming not to know that the claim to citizenship was false has the burden of establishing this affirmative defense by the appropriate standard of proof (for applicants for admission or adjustment, “clearly and beyond doubt”).
(2) A separate affirmative defense is that the individual was (a) under the age of 18 at the time of the false citizenship claim; and (b) at that time lacked the capacity to understand and appreciate the nature and consequences of a false claim to citizenship. The individual must establish this claim by the appropriate standard of proof (for applicants for admission or adjustment, “clearly and beyond doubt”).
