I have an N 600 in the "in tray" with the INS and an application for a passport being held awaiting further documentation. The grounds are birth abroad to citizen parent with no consular report of birth. My father was born in the US and I have his birth certificate but left for the UK to attend school. He returned to US in 1945 during the war and I have documentation through to 1953 when he left university here to carry on his studys in Canada, he met my mother there and married her in the US, I have a copy of the wedding certificate. They travelled to the UK in 1958 where I was born in 1960. The passport office is saying that I can show 8 1/2 years of presence but will not use the birth or wedding papers as evidence. My father has passed away during the period of these ongoing applications so can not confirm any more "dates" with him. Any ideas.
Thanks.
R.

Dear R:

Yours is a fact-based situation. You have to show that your father resided in the US for at least 10 years, 5 of which were after his 14th birthday.

While the passport office has to accept the birth and wedding papers, they don't have to give them any weight since they do not prove any period of physical presence in the US except for the one day of the birth or wedding ceremony. You cannot "imply" a longer period of time.

Since you are close to achieving the 10 years, we would suggest that you consider hiring an investigator who may be able to go more deeply into your father's past residences to see if he or she can come up with additional periods of time in the US. While this can be costly, it may be worth it. Good luck.

Hi,
thank you for prompt reply.
I understand that mine is a fact based situation but in your experience do they ever bend on this if I'm unable to track down any more documentation or would I be better served contacting my Congress Representitive and telling my tale to them. When the requirments where reduced to five years, two after fourteen it does seem strange that this was not made retroactive to the earlier dates.
The best idea I have for filling in the eighteen months I need is to ask the State Dept. for my fathers earlist travel documentation.
As you say and the passport officer says I'm very close and do not intend to give up on this.
R.

Dear R:

The provisions are statutory, so you must meet the time requirements. The officers do have discretion, however, to make a finding that he was physically present during certain periods of time.

Unfortunately, the reduction in years was not made retroactive. While we see no harm in getting your congresspersons involved, they are probably not going to be any more successful than you have been.
Getting your father's travel documents from the State Department is a good idea. Hopefully this will help. Good luck.

I have a question regarding the Cuban Adjustment Act. If I apply for residency under the CAA for being the spouse of a Cuban, is it necesarry to have been physically present in the US for one year (as it is when the cuban citizen apply)? is it necessary to be one year without interruption or can it be cumulative? (I know that for Cuban citizen is one year without interruption, but I don't know if the same applies for the spouses under the CAA). Thank you

But I'm still not sure what consitiute as good evidences? I have to register my daughter born in London and I have to prove to the embassy that I've live in US for 7 years. matter of fact I live in US for 25 years of my life. I lost my old passport which would have been too easy. School transcripts are obtainable but too much hassle. How about tax returns? would you give me a list of evidences I can use of couple of more examples?