Trump administration just made it harder for children of military born overseas to become citizens

Children born to U.S. citizens working for the government or military overseas used to automatically be considered U.S. citizens. Not anymore.

On Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Immigration Services released a memo saying that it "no longer considers children of U.S. government employees and U.S. armed forces members residing outside the United States as 'residing in the United States' for purposes of acquiring citizenship INA 320." That's the statute granting automatic citizenship to children of at least one U.S. citizen, provided they reside in the U.S.

The Immigration and Nationality Act sets the standards for attaining citizenship, including for children born outside the U.S. Its section 320 mandated children have "at least one parent ... who is a U.S. citizen by birth or through naturalization," be a lawful permanent resident of the U.S., and reside in the U.S. to automatically become a citizen. Its definition of residency used to include children of U.S. military members or government employees stationed outside the U.S. when they were born.

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But starting Oct. 29, those children will no longer be considered to be "residing in the U.S.," at least when it comes to citizenship, the memo said. That's because USCIS has concluded "prior USCIS policy guidance is in conflict with several provisions" under the INA, the memo continues. U.S. military members and government employees will now have to apply for their children's citizenship under INA section 322, which involves forms and an entire naturalization process, though those requirements associated with it can be completed abroad.

Find the whole USCIS memo here.