Question #8: If a child is born in China to one US citizen and one green card holder, does the child have citizenship?

Carl Shusterman: Children who are born outside the United States where one parent is a citizen and the other is not, must fulfill the requirements of the highly complex laws of derivative citizenship. See:

http://shusterman.com/acquisit.html

Although it is not possible to answer your question without additional information, the analysis for determining whether the child is a citizen at birth is as follows:

1) Determine the applicable law. Congress has changed the laws of derivative citizenship about once every ten years. The child's date of birth determines which law applies.

2) Determine whether one or both of the child's parents were citizens of
the US at the time of birth. If both of the child's parents were US citizens, chances are good that the child acquired US citizenship at birth.

3) However, if only one parent was a US citizen, the citizen parent must comply with certain residence/physical presence requirements.

4) If the child had only one citizen parent, determine whether the parent had sufficient residence or physical presence in the US prior to the child's birth to convey US citizenship on the child.