Over a year ago, Daniel Bartosiewicz from Garfield, N.J. decided to sponsor his wife for a green card. He had had an American passport for eight years and used it extensively to travel abroad, without any problem. However, during an interview at an immigration office, it turned out that his passport had been issued by mistake and that his wife, in advanced pregnancy, was told to leave the country.

When they were heading for an interview for his wife, Ela had already had fingerprints taken and received a Social Security number and a work permit. Her green card was just one immigration interview away. During the interview, however, the immigration officer remarked that he noticed something wrong with Daniel's passport. It seemed to him that he was issued an American passport by mistake and that, in fact, he was not an U.S. citizen.

A passport application for Daniel and his younger sister was submitted by his father who had lived in the United States for 20 years. He filed for their citizenship shortly after he became a citizen himself in March 2002. He didn't realize, however, that it was too late for Daniel, as the law requires that citizenship application on behalf of a child be submitted before he or she turns 18. Daniel had turned 18 in December 2001.

After his American passport was issued, Daniel had no reason to think there was anything wrong and or that his citizenship was not valid. After all, "American passports are issued as a proof of citizenship," says Jerzy Sokół, an immigration lawyer, who points out that it was a clear oversight on the part of the immigration officials.

When the mistake came to light, Daniel's status was changed from U.S. citizen to resident.

"The worst part in this whole thing was that soon afterwards my wife received a letter in which she was informed that not only had all permits issued to her been revoked, but she had to leave the country within 30 days," says Daniel Bartosiewicz. Ela was due to give birth in a couple of weeks.

"There was no way she could be travelling to Poland," he added.

Daniel immediately applied for citizenship through naturalization and, after becoming an American citizen, resumed his wife's sponsorship process.

The whole case ended successfully and Ela received her green card last week.