I Applied for a US Passport and Now They Are Investigating Me
This year for the first time in my career as an immigration attorney, I’ve been contacted by multiple individuals who have gained US citizenship without a problem, but upon applying for a US passport, were investigated by the US Passport Office to confirm their immigration status. We knew that a De-Naturalization Task Force had been established to strip citizenship from those without a legitimate permanent resident status. However, we had not seen this coming.
Immigrants applying for status can be mired in deep anxiety and fear for years until they appear for their naturalization ceremony and take the oath of citizenship to our nation. It’s a proud moment when clients are freed from the bondage of immigration stress. However, based on recent trends, we are seeing various situations where people innocently apply for their US passports—a formality formerly seen as an administrative process—to find that they are being investigated by the US Passport Office and related agencies, and denied a US passport.
One of our clients had an asylum case that he won more than 15 years ago; had his Green Card for 10 years; and was a US citizen for five years. After applying for a US passport, he was met with a year of unresponsiveness by the Passport Office. Eventually, he was called in for questioning and harassed about his asylum case.
Another client was a woman in her 50s who had a US Birth Certificate. She has been living in the US since the age of 12 and never questioned her status as a US citizen. She’s been working here, has adult children, and is a grandmother. When she applied for her US passport, she also didn’t hear back for nearly two years until they called her in and asked her for proof that she was born here. She didn’t take the matter seriously, as her first memories are those in the United States. The questioning was so offensive, it was like asking her to prove who her parents were—almost like asking her to prove a negative. Eventually, the investigators came to her mother’s house, her house, and even her place of employment. She then retained us to represent her and fix her long-term status. We think this case may have been flagged due to the birth of the client being registered many years after her birth. If a birth isn't registered with Vital Registration within the one-year period of the birth of the child, then a normal certificate may not be filed for that birth. Instead, a special type of birth certificate is issued called a “Certificate of Delayed Birth”— This type of certificate not only shows the facts of child but also the types of evidence presented to Vital Registration to back up the facts of birth.
We don’t know if this type of enforcement will increase going forward, but the number of similar situations we are now dealing with is alarming, to say the least. For those people who have immigration backgrounds that they cannot provide strong bases for, applying for a US Passport may not be the best option. We caution our clients that anytime they go before any sort of immigration-related agency, whether it be United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Department of State (DOS), and all US Consulate Offices, and now the US Passport Office, to be careful if there is something in their background that can potentially trigger adverse immigration consequences.
Over the years we at Khunkhun Law have helped countless individuals obtain and keep their Green Cards. Retaining one of our attorneys will ensure that your case is in the right hands, as we offer a customized approach for each case.
To get in touch with one of our attorneys, you can call us, email us at info@khunkhunlaw.com or review other options to get in touch with us for an immigration consultation.