# Need help finding evidence of U.S. citizen parent's physical presence



## canadianmom (Feb 22, 2013)

My husband is Canadian (as am I) and wants to get his U.S. Citizenship through his mother. The problem we are running into is coming up with evidence of my mother-in-law's physical presence in the United States:

_Evidence of U.S. citizen parent's physical presence in the United States before the child's birth, such as school transcripts (not certificate or diploma), university transcripts (not certificate or degree), employment records, social security record of earnings, other documentation that corroborate the Affidavit of Parentage and Physical Presence. The physical presence requirements set by the Nationality Act and the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) are
Child's birth between December 24, 1952 and November 14, 1986, the requirement is ten years of physical presence in the United States by the American parent, five of which were after age fourteen, prior to the child's birth._

My mother-in-law stopped school in grade 9 (she was 16 by the time she stopped), and worked from age 16-17. Then she quit because she became pregnant with my husband's older sister. She then moved to Canada and got married on the same day (it was after her 19th birthday). So she is cutting it quite close. Also, her mother (my husband's grandmother) collected benefits while she was a minor. And she is pretty sure she collected benefits after she turned 18. She lived with her mother the entire time until she moved to Canada and got married (and has lived here since).

So I got my mother-in-law call the Social Security office closest to us and they looked up her social security number and were not able to find any records earnings. Probably because it was not a significant amount that needed filing. They also could not find anything about benefits being collected. My mother-in-law is going to look for her mother's social security number (her mother is deceased) and see if they can find any records via her mother's number showing perhaps that my mother-in-law lived there and had benefits collected while she was a minor.

I called the Census Bureau and they said that they only do a census every 10 years. The years I need is not during a census time at all.

I managed to track down the clinic where her medical records MIGHT be, but I have to wait until Monday since they all left for the day. I spoke to the hospital where my mother-in-law delivered her daughter, and the archives lady told me that they only keep documents as far back as 2004. She also told me she recognized the doctor's name, and that he passed away (we knew this) and that the clinic he worked at was shut down. She said she thinks she remembers an ad in the newspaper where the doctor asked all patients of his to come and get their medical records because they were about to be destroyed. Apparently this is years ago. So I found where his patient's medical records went to, but it is unlikely that it will go back as far as I need them.

I also called their local Social Services Office (State Human Services), and they said they only keep records for 7 years, and then they are destroyed.

I am waiting for a friend of hers to get back to me with my mother-in-law's place of employment. She can't remember its name, but she has her old co-worker on her Facebook. So I will try to get employment records directly from her place of employment. But that will only get me as far as about 17 years of age.

So I feel like I hit a brick wall. We KNOW she was there past her 19th birthday, but the problem is proving it! But everyone destroys all their records!! Arggg!!

Any other ideas?


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## Jrge (Mar 22, 2011)

Hi,


canadianmom said:


> My husband is Canadian (as am I) and wants to get his U.S. Citizenship through his mother. The problem we are running into is coming up with evidence of my mother-in-law's physical presence in the United States:
> 
> _Evidence of U.S. citizen parent's physical presence in the United States before the child's birth, such as school transcripts (not certificate or diploma), university transcripts (not certificate or degree), employment records, social security record of earnings, other documentation that corroborate the Affidavit of Parentage and Physical Presence. The physical presence requirements set by the Nationality Act and the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) are
> Child's birth between December 24, 1952 and November 14, 1986, the requirement is ten years of physical presence in the United States by the American parent, five of which were after age fourteen, prior to the child's birth._
> ...


Welcome to the Forum!

Quite the case, eh!

1) Did she ever apply and obtain any State Photo ID? Driver's License perhaps?
2) If she remembers her SSN and worked legally, trust me on this one: The IRS can tell you everything!
3) How did she enter Canada? Where's that passport? Have you considered requesting a Verification of Status VOS?

Animo
(Cheers)


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