From agoodfriend@delphi.com Fri Mar 25 23:33:46 EST 1994 A. S. writes: > My wife and I are in the United States on F visas. We have an infant >child born in the U.S. We want to visit our home country (Russia). >Naturally, the child doesn't have any U.S. visa, and she is not listed >in our passports. > 1) Can we get a U.S. passport for the child to go with us? If so, what is >the procedure of getting one? (and you are not diplomats) the U.S. government already considers your child to be a U.S. citizen. Therefore, not only can you obtain a passport for your daughter, but unless you obtain a passport waiver, it is required that you do so. Many post offices have the forms you need to obtain a passport. You could also look in the phone book under "passports" to find the right office depending upon the city you live in. The main requirement is the child's birth certificate showing that she was born in the u.S. You will also need photos and need to pay a fee, but you can get this information from the passport office. > 2) If the child travels with her own U.S. passport, does she need a Russian >visa? Note, at this moment the state of Russia has know information about >existance of the child. If your child travels to Russia with a U.S. passport, she will be entering as a U.S. citizen, not a Russian citizen, and will therefore probably need a Russian visa, just as any U.S. citizen would. You may wish to check with the Russian embassy or consulate about this though. > 3) Again, if she travels with her own U.S. passport, we won't have to get >a U.S. visa for her when we go back to the U.S. Am I right? Since your child is a U.S. citizen, not only does she not need a U.S. visa, but a U.S. embassy or consulate would be prohibited from issuing her one. As a U.S. citizen, she must enter the U.S. with a U.S. passport or a passport waiver. > 4) Do we have the option of getting the child listed in our Russian passports >(one of us)? If we do, will we have to apply for a U.S. visa for the child? You should check with the Russian embassy or consulate about whether you can list your child in a parent's passport. As I noted earlier though, since your daughter is a U.S. citizen, she may not be issued a visa. She must enter the U.S. with a passport or passport waiver. > 5) Do we have to get a new I-20 form with the child's name on it? TI-20 is primarily for visa purposes. As such, you do not need to have your child listed on the I-20. However, since the I-20 also contains financial information, for the sake of your own visas, you may wish to be able to provide evidence when renewing your own visas, that you have sufficient funds to be able to support a family of three without haveing to work in the U.S. I hope this information is helpful.