child born abroad showed up at the consulate the next day, saying, “here’s the newest American citizen, we are so proud to get that CRBAâ€, that’s evidence of INTENT. If they don’t, and in fact wait 16 years, it’s also evidence of INTENT.
A brilliant legal point here.
(And as dumb as I was, you betcha I showed up at that embassy to get that document for my son ASAP.)
The problem is that courts have in recent years made the term’ intent’ much harder to prove in regards to a person wishing to expatriate- it is I believe almost to the point where a formal declaration of expatriation needs to be made and recorded- not quite, but almost- It’s much harder today for courts to imply aN ‘intent was made’ simply because a person didn’t act, and as I’ve posted a couple of times, a child born to a us citizen abroad doesn’t have to apply for CRBA nor a certificate of citizenship in order to be a citizen- the only requirement was that the mother be present in Us for a year or so before the child was born- Her sovereign right of citizenship is passed to her child at birth- and as her child is a minor, the child’s ‘allegiance’ is the same as her mother’s or father’s- whichever was the citizen and whichever met certain requirements depending on the situation