Skip to content

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000

What is this law all about?
On October 30, 2000, President Clinton signed into law H.R. 2883, the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. The new law, Public Law 106-395, amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to permit foreign-born children—including adopted children to acquire citizenship automatically if they meet certain requirements. It became effective on February 27, 2001.

FAQ's
Which Children Automatically Become Citizens Under the New Law?

Beginning February 27, 2001, certain foreign-born children—including adopted children—currently residing permanently in the United States will acquire citizenship automatically. The term "child" is defined differently under immigration law for purposes of naturalization than for other immigration purposes, including adoption. To be eligible, a child must meet the definition of "child" for naturalization purposes under immigration law and must also meet the following requirements: more info @ best immigration attorney san antonio

The child has at least one United States citizen parent (by birth or naturalization);
The child is under 18 years of age;
The child is currently residing permanently in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the United States citizen parent;
The child is a lawful permanent resident;
An adopted child meets the requirements applicable to adopted children under immigration law

Acquiring citizenship automatically means citizenship acquired by law without the need to apply for citizenship. A child who is currently under the age of 18 and has already met all of the above requirements will acquire citizenship automatically on February 27, 2001. Otherwise, a child will acquire citizenship automatically on the date the child meets all of the above requirements.

Is the Law Retroactive? Is Automatic Citizenship Provided for Those Who Are 18 Years of Age or Older?

No. The new law is not retroactive. Individuals who are 18 years of age or older on February 27, 2001, do not qualify for citizenship under Public Law 106-395, even if they meet all other criteria. If they choose to become U.S. citizens, they must apply for naturalization and meet eligibility requirements that currently exist for adult lawful permanent residents.

Will Eligible Children Automatically Receive Proof of Citizenship—Such As Citizenship Certificates and Passports?

No. Proof of citizenship will not be automatically issued to eligible children. However, if proof of citizenship is desired, beginning February 27, 2001, parents of children who meet the conditions of the new law may apply for a certificate of citizenship for their child with INS and/or for a passport for their child with the Department of State.

What Will INS Do With Currently Pending Applications for Certificates of Citizenship?

For pending applications filed to recognize citizenship status already acquired, INS will continue to adjudicate such applications under the relevant law applicable to the case. For applications that required INS approval before an individual could be deemed a U.S. citizen, INS will adjudicate those cases under current law until February 27, 2001. On February 27, 2001, INS will adjudicate those cases under the new law and for applicants who automatically acquire citizenship as of the effective date, INS will issue certificates of reflecting the person’s citizenship as of that date.

Is Automatic Citizenship Provided for Children (Including Adopted Children) Born and Residing Outside the United States?

No. In order for a child born and residing outside the United States to acquire citizenship, the United States citizen parent must apply for naturalization on behalf of the child. The naturalization process for such a child cannot take place overseas. The child will need to be in the United States temporarily to complete naturalization processing and take the oath of allegiance.

To be eligible, a child must meet the definition of "child" for naturalization purposes under immigration law, and must also meet the following requirements:

The child has at least one U.S. citizen parent (by birth or naturalization);
The U.S. citizen parent has been physically present in the United States for at least five years, at least two of which were after the age of 14—or the United States citizen parent has a citizen parent who has been physically present in the United States for at least five years, at least two of which were after the age of 14;
The child is under 18 years of age;
The child is residing outside the United States in the legal and physical custody of the United States citizen parent;
The child is temporarily present in the United States—having entered the United States lawfully and maintaining lawful status in the United States;
An adopted child meets the requirements applicable to adopted children under immigration law;
If the naturalization application is approved, the child must take the same oath of allegiance administered to adult naturalization applicants. If the child is too young to understand the oath, INS may waive the oath requirement.

What You Need to Know About Medical Malpractice

Each of us should feel lucky that we live in a time and place in which high-quality medical care is readily available. But what happens when you seek medical treatment and something goes wrong? What if you leave the hospital worse off than you were when you came in?

Though it is a relatively uncommon occurrence, medical professionals can hurt you if they fail to perform their duties properly. In such a situation you might be able to recover compensation for your injuries. These types of cases, known as medical malpractice or medical negligence cases, involve some key issues you need to know about.medical malpractice

Treatment, Mistakes, Negligence, and Standards of Care

Anytime you visit a doctor or health care provider there is a range of possible outcomes. You might, for example, go to the doctor, be properly diagnosed, receive adequate treatment, and come away from the experience as your normal, healthy self. Yet you might also receive treatment and be unhappy with the result, or actually suffer an injury because the doctor did something wrong. So when can you sue for medical malpractice?

The answer depends on a number of factors, but they all boil down to whether or not the doctor breached a medical standard of care. In any given medical situation there will be a level of care or treatment that reasonable, competent medical professionals in similar situations would apply. Negligence occurs when a medical professional in any situation acts contrary to that standard of care. Because standards of care can differ depending on the area in which you live, your age, and your particular medical circumstances, there is not always a clear dividing line between what is and what isn’t medical malpractice.

Causal Damages

Even if you can show that a healthcare provider violated a standard of care, that doesn’t mean you automatically have a good medical malpractice case. In order to prevail in any case, you will have to show that you suffered some kind of damage.

Damages can include anything from additional medical expenses to compensate for the mental or physical pain you experienced because of the negligent actions. It can also include any wages you lost because you were out of work for longer than you should have been.

To recover those damages in a medical malpractice case you have to be able to show that those damages were the result of the malpractice. This is why so many medical malpractice cases involve complicated investigations and consultations with medical experts to determine what went wrong and how it affected you.

Not only that but depending on the state in which you live there may be limits on the amount of money you can win in any medical malpractice case. So, even if you can show the negligent actions resulted in significant damages, state law may limit you to a much smaller amountmedical malpractice.

Experienced Attorney Analysis

Being hurt as a result of a medical procedure or treatment is one of the worst things a person can experience. Even if you don’t want to cause anyone trouble by filing a lawsuit, or don’t think you have a case, you need to be able to talk to an attorney before you make any serious decision. State laws impose time limits on when you can file a medical malpractice claim, and if you delay too long you may be out of luck. If you don’t speak to an experienced medical malpractice attorney after you’ve suffered an injury you could damage your ability to recover what is rightfully yours.

Personal Injury Law - Truck Accidents - Insurance Companies

Insurance Adjusters are the First Step in the Game Called “Claim Denial”

A (comparatively) larger number of gravel haulers, including independents, are underinsured; which means they only carry minimum liability coverage on their rigs. However, commercial liability insurance minimums are not governed by the same laws that oversee auto minimum liability insurance companies so when there is a commercial underwriting company involved, and if there is an accident, the coverage amounts can usually fully compensate victims of dump trucks and gravel hauler accidents. But just because it’s available doesn’t mean it’s easy to be compensated for your injuries and all other damages arising from an expensive truck wreck.truck accident law - insurance claim

The business model of virtually every commercial insurance company is to protect their cash, regardless of whether the underwriter is a corporation that answers to stockholders or a mutual fund company that answers to its policyholders (in this case, the trucking company). All insurance companies are in the business of taking-in premiums and paying out as little as absolutely necessary in claims. Their duty to themselves and policyholders is to deny your claim, avoid paying you fairly, and protect their funds. This happens untold thousands of times every year. Without the right experienced dump truck and gravel hauler accident attorney on your side, the odds of collecting a fair settlement from any insurance company are astoundingly against you.

While the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Codes grant the right for anyone been injured in any trucking accident, or the surviving family members in the event of wrongful death, to be compensated, the law doesn’t necessarily grant a victim claims an injury by rote. It must hard-fought and won. You, as plaintiff, must first prove the liability of those responsible for the injuries arising from your negligent dump truck accident and all the other damages arising from it. The burden of proof is yours. Unless you clearly show that the money you’re asking for is a fair reflection of your losses, damages, and injuries, you have no hope of winning. The insurance company and the sharp lawyers who represent them, do everything possible to deny your claim or civil case. And if they are found liable, they inevitably argue that the amount you seek is excessive, unreasonable and that you deserve much less.

Insurance adjusters are their first weapon in their fight against you. They shield their employer from you because their job is to save their companies money by denying your claim or underestimating the cost of the wreck. And the best adjusters get the most important cases. Truck wrecks are the most expensive and thereby, pose the most danger to the insurance company’s profits. An adjuster often acts like your best friend and constantly assures you that all of your needs are met. Then they turn around and work behind the scenes to build the case for the insurance company’s denial of your claim.

Adjusters are very clever and can be quite sneaky. They try to imitate the good relationship you have with your car insurance agent. Often, under the guise of being “on your side,“ they might innocently try and record you saying something that can later be twisted around to sound like your admitting some liability. They regularly use this tactic to destroy your chance to receive any form of fair compensation. Some unscrupulous adjusters even try to deceptively convince uninformed truck accident injury victims to sign away the legal right to sue in exchange for a measly settlement amount that would never even approach fair compensation for the victim’s injuries and other financial losses from a big rig accident.

The tactics of an insurance company to save their money by denying your rightful claim is illustration enough of why you need aggressive, experienced legal representation. Only the history of success of an experienced dump truck accident attorney such as our Law Firm set unscrupulous insurance adjusters in their place and compel their insurance company into a fair settlement, or defeat them in court if they refuse to see reason.

Our Law Firm has decades of experience handling personal injury litigation in dump truck and gravel hauler accident cases. If you or a loved one has been seriously injured by one of these road monsters, our expertise significantly increases your odds to receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of accident victims in Texas. So if you or a loved one has been involved in a trucking accident anywhere in Texas, our experienced accident lawyers can win the best compensation possible for you.

Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation to begin your road to total recovery so you and your family can resume your life.

Self-Insured Truck Drivers Who Cause Accidents Present Different Problems

Since Texas law doesn’t require truckers to have liability insurance (past what they carry on their truck to remain “street legal”) some trucking companies protect against personal injuries from accidents by self-insuring themselves. This usually involves the transport company reserving a percentage of their assets to pay accident claims, rather than purchasing coverage from a traditional insurer. Rare is the time when they aren’t underinsured. And though the federal government monitors the insurance industry, licensed adjusters and holds insurance companies to ethical standards as best it can, no such regulations govern companies that insure themselves. injury law

And even though you won’t need to deal with insurance adjusters, winning compensation from these “self-insured” companies can be far more difficult and often even more problematic. You will be dealing with an officer of the company, instead of an insurance adjuster. This company officer’s salary comes from company profits. Any amount paid to you for a serious and expensive injury comes directly out of company coffers. So if that officer compensates you for an injury, the amount is paid directly out company assets; which means the company officer is literally taking money out of their own pocket.

So it is not unusual for a self-insured company officer resorting to any means to deny your claim and protect the company’s assets. Officers of self-insured companies have been known to willfully dispose of damning evidence, bribe witnesses, and even intimidate victims. This explains why every time our attorneys are hired against a self-insured company, the first action we take is to prevent anyone from the defendant company from behaving inappropriately toward our clients. And we step in and prevent them from communicating with our clients in any way unless we are present.

Our Law Firm has decades of experience handling personal injury litigation in large truck wreck cases. If you or a loved one has been hit by one of these monsters and you are blameless, our expertise assures that you should receive the fairest compensation possible for the injuries and pain you have suffered or if a wrongful death of a loved one has occurred. We’ve helped deliver millions of dollars to hundreds of negligent accident victims in Texas. So if you or a loved one has been involved in a trucking accident in Texas, our experienced accident lawyers can win the best compensation possible for you.

Call us today at 1(800) 862-1260 (toll-free) for a free consultation. Get on the road to recovery so you and your family can get on with your lives.

Our Main Office:

Carabin Shaw P.C.
630 Broadway St, San Antonio, TX 78215
210-222-2288