Family immigration in California may involve children or spouses. For parents who are in the U.S. on visitor visas when their children are born, the children will automatically become citizens at birth unless the parents are in the country while serving as foreign diplomats.
All children born in the U.S. are given citizenship at birth. If their parents are not citizens, their parents do not automatically get citizenship because of their children, however. Instead, the non-citizen parents of children who are born in the U.S. will need to apply to become residents or citizens themselves.
Another issue that sometimes arises in family immigration matters happens when a spouse is applying for a green card based on the marriage. If the applicant gets a protection order against the U.S. citizen spouse, the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service may deny the green card application as a result. Applying may still let the person obtain an authorization to work while the case is being reviewed. If the couple is able to work things out and the protection order expires or is terminated, the green card application should then proceed normally.
Applying for family-based immigration is very common, but it may bring its own unique issues. People who have questions about helping their family members obtain green cards or in becoming naturalized citizens may want to talk to an immigration and naturalization lawyer. The process is often intricate, and legal counsel can often help their clients to avoid hidden pitfalls that could potentially derail or delay their applications.
