American or Not?

My granddaughter was born in 2010 to her American mother and English father.  Her and I immigrated to UK when she was 7. At first we read the American embassy page, and it looked okay, that as long as mum was American, born in US, granddaughter would be. But I'm confused after reading again, as it seems my daughter would have to have lived in the US when she was 14. Single citizenship does basically save the hassle of carrying two passports if they travel, and the expense of paying and renewing them every 5 years, but I feel it's better for her to have the choice of where she would like to live when she is an adult. Any clarification, or correction to what my husband and I think we read?

You'll probably get a faster answer to this in the Visa and Citizenship section of the board.

She is American.  I believe if she wants to pass her citizenship onto her child (if she ever has one) then she would need to live in the US after age 14.

But if I am wrong, I'm sure someone will come along shortly to correct me.

She is American.  I believe if she wants to pass her citizenship onto her child (if she ever has one) then she would need to live in the US after age 14.

But if I am wrong, I'm sure someone will come along shortly to correct me.

I'm a bit confused, because I was about to say that she isn't American.

Let me see if I have this right:

- Grandmother is a US citizen.
- Mother was born in the US and lived in the US until age 7 - she is a US citizen. Then she emigrated to the UK with grandmother at age 7 and has not lived in the US since.
- Granddaughter was born in the UK to the US citizen mother and a UK citizen father. Granddaughter is a UK citizen due to her father being British. As Mother left the US before the age of 14 and did not live in the US for at least 2 years after the age of 14 (or 5 years after the age 14 if she was born before 1986), granddaughter is not a US citizen.

D'oh!

I thought she immigrated with the granddaughter!  Which I thought was odd, but then these things happen. 

No, no in that case I think you are right the granddaughter is not a US citizen.

D'oh!

I thought she immigrated with the granddaughter!  Which I thought was odd, but then these things happen. 

I thought that at first too, but if the granddaughter was born in 2010, she couldn't have been 7 years old when she emigrated .

Good point!

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I figured she was, and then hub read it all again and she wasn't. If daughter ends up with a US job after university, I guess both the father and my granddaughter will need visas.

I think this is a case that should get looked at by the US Embassy, just for clarification. It's better to have a statement or something from the embassy stating that the granddaughter is NOT a US citizen in case she ever travels to the US, especially if she does so as a minor with her mother. Most IOs would assume that the daughter is a citizen and would require her to have a passport. Just something to think about.

Google seems to have found me a way for your granddaughter to be expeditiously naturalized as a citizen if they were to move back to the US.

Also, I found a PDF here (www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Resources/A4en.pdf) that possibly means she is a citizen:

I was born overseas. One of my parents was a U.S. citizen but never lived in the United States. One of my grandparents was also a U.S. citizen. Could I have derived U.S. citizenship?

If your parent was a U.S. citizen when you were born but had not lived in the United States for the required amount of time before your birth, but one of your grandparents was also a U.S. citizen and had already met the residence requirements, then you may still have derived U.S. citizenship. The provisions of immigration law that govern derivative citizenship are quite precise and circumstances in individual cases can be complex. For specific information on how the law applies, please check our website or the U.S. Department of State website at www.state.gov, or call USCIS Customer Service at 1-800-375-5283.

Anyway, your granddaughter probably isn't a citizen but I would verify that with the experts at the embassy.