A recent change in immigration policy put red tape between the children of some service members serving overseas and citizenship. U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., introduced a bill on Friday to change that.
The August policy change affected the residency of children born on U.S. military installations in other nations. That meant significant changes in how those children potentially become citizens — parents now need to apply for American citizenship for those children before they turn 18.
The policy change will take effect on Oct. 29 of this year and is only expected to affect 20 to 25 people per year. But for those 20 to 25, the policy change means navigating the complex citizenship process and paying an application fee of $1,170 per child.
“Children of Americans serving their nation abroad are just as worthy of automatic citizenship as any other children,” Duckworth said. “Forcing military families to jump through bureaucratic hoops and spend hundreds of dollars applying for citizenship on behalf of their children is not right. That is why I’m proud to be working across the aisle with my good friend Sen. Isakson on this common-sense bill to ensure that when U.S. service members and civil servants start a family while stationed abroad, their children automatically gain citizenship of the country they proudly serve.”
Companion legislation was introduced by House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and House Judiciary Ranking Member Doug Collins, R-Ga.
“This commonsense legislation to help our military families is overdue, and I’m glad to be part of an effort to ensure that the children of service members who are born while stationed overseas are automatically recognized as U.S. citizens,” said Isakson, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. “We should be doing all we can to ease the lives of our all-volunteer force, not add needless hurdles for them and their families.”
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