What Is Form N-600? Eligibility, Filing, and Fees

Form N-600, the Application for Certificate of Citizenship, is filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to obtain official proof that you already became a U.S. citizen through a parent. It doesn’t make you a citizen. It documents a citizenship that happened automatically by law, either at birth abroad to a U.S. citizen parent or during childhood once certain conditions were met before your 18th birthday. The Certificate of Citizenship it produces never expires and is accepted by every federal and state agency as permanent evidence of your status.

This is different from Form N-400, which is the application for naturalization used by lawful permanent residents seeking to become citizens. If you’re using N-600, the citizenship already happened; you’re just asking the government to give you the paperwork.

Who Can File Form N-600

Eligibility splits into two main groups: people who acquired citizenship at birth because a parent was a U.S. citizen, and people who derived citizenship after birth but before turning 18. Adults file for themselves. For a child under 18, a U.S. citizen parent or legal guardian files on the child’s behalf.¹

If you were born in the United States, you don’t use this form at all. The Fourteenth Amendment establishes your citizenship, and your birth certificate is your proof.²

Citizenship Acquired at Birth Abroad

If you were born outside the United States to at least one U.S. citizen parent, you may have been a citizen from the moment of birth under INA Section 301. The rules depend on your parents’ status when you were born. When both parents were U.S. citizens, at least one had to have resided in the United States before your birth. When only one parent was a U.S. citizen, that parent must have been physically present in the United States for at least five years total, with at least two of those years coming after age 14.³ Time in honorable U.S. military service or working for the U.S. government abroad counts toward that physical presence total. People in this category were never permanent residents first. They were citizens from day one but may lack documentation proving it.

Citizenship Derived After Birth

Under INA Section 320, a child born abroad automatically becomes a U.S. citizen when all of the following are true before the child’s 18th birthday: at least one parent is a U.S. citizen, the child is a lawful permanent resident, and the child is residing in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the citizen parent.⁴ The conditions don’t have to occur in any particular order, but they must all be true at the same time before age 18. Once that happens, citizenship kicks in on its own. No ceremony, no oath, no separate application for the citizenship itself. The N-600 just proves it happened.

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 built this path for both biological and adopted children.⁵ Adopted children admitted on an IR-3, IH-3, or IR-2 visa become citizens automatically upon admission if the other conditions are met. Children admitted on an IR-4 or IH-4 visa become citizens once the adoption is finalized in the United States.⁶ Stepchildren generally do not qualify for automatic citizenship under these sections and would need to pursue naturalization separately.

Children Living Abroad

INA Section 322 covers children living outside the United States with a U.S. citizen parent. The citizen parent, or a citizen grandparent if the parent has died, can apply on the child’s behalf if the parent was physically present in the United States for at least five years, with at least two after age 14. The child must be under 18, temporarily present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission, and in the citizen parent’s legal and physical custody.⁷ Children of military members stationed abroad are exempt from the U.S. physical presence requirement.⁸

Certificate of Citizenship or U.S. Passport?

A fair question is why anyone would pay over $1,300 for a Certificate of Citizenship when a U.S. passport also proves citizenship. USCIS itself notes on the form that you may apply for a U.S. passport through the State Department as an alternative.⁹

The practical difference matters more than people expect. A passport expires every ten years, or five for minors, and must be renewed. The Certificate of Citizenship never expires. It also carries more weight in immigration proceedings, legal disputes, and government benefit applications where full proof of citizenship status is needed. If you’re sponsoring a family member for immigration, or your citizenship is questioned in some other setting, a passport alone may not resolve it. For people who derived or acquired citizenship through a parent, the certificate often becomes the foundational document used to get everything else, including the first passport.

For most people who simply need travel documentation, the passport is cheaper and faster. The certificate is the better investment when you need permanent, irrefutable proof.

Filing Fees, Waivers, and Military Exemptions

The filing fee is $1,385 for paper filing or $1,335 for online filing.¹⁰

Current or former members of any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces pay no filing fee when requesting a Certificate of Citizenship for themselves. This exemption does not extend to the children of service members filing their own applications.¹⁰

If you can’t afford the fee, you may request a waiver by submitting Form I-912 with your application. To qualify, household income generally must be at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines at the time of filing.¹¹ For 2026, that threshold is $23,940 for a single-person household and $49,500 for a family of four in the 48 contiguous states, with higher figures for Alaska and Hawaii.¹²

Documents You’ll Need

USCIS asks for substantial documentation, and a missing item can stall the case. Gather everything before you start the form.

Your birth certificate, in a certified copy issued by the civil authority in your country of birth.
The U.S. citizen parent’s birth certificate or record of birth.
Proof of the parent’s U.S. citizenship. This can be a U.S. birth certificate, Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550), Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-560), Consular Report of Birth Abroad (Form FS-240), or a valid U.S. passport.
Evidence of your lawful permanent resident status, if you’re claiming derivation under INA 320.
Proof that the child lived in the United States in the citizen parent’s legal and physical custody before turning 18.

Custody is where many applications run into trouble. USCIS wants evidence the child actually lived with the citizen parent, not just that the child entered the country. School records, medical files, and apartment leases showing the child and parent at the same address all work. Legal custody is easy when the parents were married; a marriage certificate typically suffices. Divorced parents will need a court custody order.¹³

For claims based on acquisition at birth under INA 301, the focus shifts to the citizen parent’s physical presence in the United States before the child’s birth. School transcripts, military service records, employment records, and utility bills covering the required periods can serve as evidence.⁸

If a primary document isn’t available, USCIS allows secondary evidence. You’ll need to explain in writing why the document is unavailable, then provide alternatives such as baptismal certificates, early school enrollment records, census records, or DNA test results from an AABB-accredited laboratory reported directly from the lab to the government.¹

Any document not in English must include a complete English translation with a signed certification that the translation is accurate and that the translator is competent in both languages. The translator doesn’t need to be a professional, and a family member can translate as long as they sign the certification statement.¹

How to File

You can file online or by mail. Online filing requires a USCIS account, digital uploads of your supporting documents, and electronic payment. Filing online saves $50 and gives you faster access to case status updates.

If you file by mail, send the paper application and supporting documents to the designated USCIS Lockbox facility. An important change took effect on October 28, 2025: USCIS no longer accepts personal checks, money orders, or cashier’s checks for paper filings. You must pay by credit or debit card using Form G-1450, or by direct bank transfer using Form G-1650.¹⁴ The card must be issued by a U.S. bank, and the payment authorization form goes on top of your application package.¹⁵

What Happens After You File

Once USCIS accepts the application, you’ll receive a receipt notice with a 13-character tracking number (three letters followed by ten digits). Use it to check your case status online.¹⁶

If you live in the United States, expect an appointment at a local Application Support Center for photographs.¹⁷ Not all applicants are called for an in-person interview; USCIS decides based on the evidence submitted whether it needs to question you about parental custody, residency timelines, or other details.¹⁸ Thorough, unambiguous documentation can mean you never sit across from an officer. Incomplete submissions trigger Requests for Evidence that can add months to the timeline. Once approved, your physical Certificate of Citizenship arrives by mail.

If you have a genuine emergency, you can ask USCIS to expedite. Expedite requests are granted at the agency’s sole discretion and require supporting documentation. Qualifying situations include urgent humanitarian circumstances such as a serious illness, disability, or death of a family member, and severe financial loss that isn’t the result of your own delay in filing.¹⁹ Being inconvenienced by the wait doesn’t meet the bar.

If Your Application Is Denied

A denial means USCIS determined the evidence didn’t establish you met the statutory requirements for citizenship through your parents. You can appeal by filing Form I-290B (Notice of Appeal or Motion) within 30 calendar days of the decision, or 33 days if the decision was mailed to you. The appeal goes to the Administrative Appeals Office, and you have an additional 30 days after filing to submit a brief or new evidence.

Refiling Form N-600 with stronger documentation is the other option, though it means paying the fee again. The right choice depends on why you were denied. If USCIS concluded you didn’t meet a legal requirement that no additional evidence could change, an appeal with legal arguments is the better path. If the denial was based on insufficient proof of something you can document more thoroughly, refiling may be simpler. Consulting an immigration attorney before deciding is worth the cost, because getting this wrong can mean losing time and money on a strategy that was never going to work.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-600, Instructions for Application for Certificate of Citizenship
2
Library of Congress. U.S. Constitution – Fourteenth Amendment
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1401 – Nationals and Citizens of United States at Birth
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 4 – Automatic Acquisition of Citizenship after Birth (INA 320)
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1431
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Your New Child’s Immigrant Visa
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1433 – Children Born and Residing Outside the United States
8
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 322 – Child Born Outside the United States
9
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship
10
USCIS. G-1055 Fee Schedule
11
Department of Homeland Security U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-912, Instructions for Request for Fee Waiver
12
HHS ASPE. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
13
U.S. Department of State. Get Citizenship Evidence for a U.S. Passport
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Pay With a Credit Card by Mail
15
USCIS. G-1450, Authorization for Credit Card Transactions
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Checking Your Case Status Online
17
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship
18
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship – Frequently Asked Questions
19
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expedite Requests