Quote Originally Posted by Judy View Post
In order to apply for US citizenship, you have to have been a legal permanent resident of the US for at least 6 years. They would have had to enter on a visa, the waiting time for a green card to enter is a long one, usually years. So they came in on a visa in 1969 from Canada to teach at the college, then applied for a green card, probably after Haley was born because she was a US citizen. Now they're "anchored", that's why they're called anchor babies because the parents can now jump the line and get a green card to stay in the US. But she isn't a natural born citizen because her parents weren't citizens when she was born, no possible way under immigration laws based on when they arrived in the US in 1969 and when she was born 3 years later in 1972.
Isn't it possible to apply for citizenship outside of the US at an embassy or something? Is it really necessary to be a legal permanent resident first? I'm not sure I care for that, requiring such a long permanent residence just encourages immigration indifferent to citizenship, "permanent resident alien" status. Really, nobody should be living in the country who is not a citizen. Exceptions should be very few and far between. We seem to be generating huge populations of such people. It seems to me to be better to screen out applications for citizenship outside of the US.