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April 06, 2005
Passport renewal
Today I took the day off. We went to Lyon, all of us, to apply for a new passport for Emma. The American Presence Post there is very discrete. When we showed up we were at the right place, but couldn't really tell. Nathalie wondered why. I figured they're not trying to avoid determined terrorists, but rather opportunistic teenagers with spray paint and bad taste.
The Consul needed both Nathalie and I to sign in her presence. Though I can get my passport renewed by mail, a child's passport renewal requires that both parents show up. Another family was there at the same time. They came from Briançon, which is even further away than Barraux.
Our current Consul at the American Presence Post in Lyon has been here a little over a year and a half. She took more time than either of the two guys that preceded her. She explained to us at length what we'd need to do and how to keep track of the kids' time in the US if they want to be able to pass their US citizenship along to their own children.
Right now that wouldn't make sense to me. They're only American in the legal sense. But if they were to live in the US for several years, transmitting their citizenship might be something they'd want to be able to do. At that point, they'd have to be able to prove presence in the US for at least 5 years in order to be able to pass along citizenship, unless they were to marry US citizens or dual nationals like themselves.
She also suggested I register myself and the three children with the Presence Post, or the Embassy, whomever actually has the records. I figured they'd already have that, since the IRS knows I live here and they have my social security number. Maybe they only keep people they're really worried about on file. Maybe we'll eventually be able to sell some Identity Management software to the federal government.
Posted by Mark at April 6, 2005 09:19 PM