Membership | Adoption Source Kit | About Us | FAQ | Que Tal | Events | Culture | Links | Forums | Contact Us
|
Child Citizenship Act As you all know, the Child Citizenship Act (CCA) went into effect on February 27, 2001. This law represents a significant and important change in the U.S. nationality laws. Now, most foreign-born children adopted by U.S. citizens will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship on the date they immigrate to the United States. In the past, adoptive parents had to apply for naturalization for their foreign-born children. And the children did not acquire citizenship until the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) approved the application. Sometimes, delays in the old application process left adopted children subject to deportation from the United States. The change to automatic acquisition of citizenship by operation of law permanently protects the adopted children of U.S. citizens from deportation. Under the CCA, your child will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship on the date that all of the following requirements are satisfied:
If your child satisfies the requirements listed above, he or she automatically acquires U.S. citizenship by operation of law. If you completed a full and final adoption abroad, your child automatically becomes a citizen on the day he or she is admitted to the United States as an immigrant. If you complete the adoption or have to re-adopt your child after your child has been admitted to the United States as an immigrant, your child automatically becomes a citizen on the day the full and final adoption is completed. Your child's citizenship status is no longer dependent on INS approving a naturalization application. INS has begun working with Congress and the adoption community to reengineer and streamline the process for receiving a Certificate of Citizenship. Unfortunately, at this time, adoptive parents are not automatically provided with documentation of their child's citizenship at this time. If you want documentation of your child's U.S. citizenship, you may obtain a Certificate of Citizenship from INS and/or a U.S. passport from the Department of State. Keep in mind that you do not need a Certificate of Citizenship issued by INS in order to obtain a passport for your child. If you want to file for a Certificate of Citizenship for your child, you should file Form N-643, Application for Certificate of Citizenship in Behalf of an Adopted Child, with a $125 filing fee. For children who have immigrated to the United States, parents will not be required to submit any evidence that is already contained in the INS file, including translations of documents. If your child has immigrated to the United States (has a "green card") after a full and final adoption abroad, you should submit the following with the Form N-643:
If your child has immigrated to the United States (has a "green card") to be adopted or readopted, you should submit the following with the Form N-643:
After review of the application, INS may ask that you submit additional documents to establish your child's citizenship status, but these requests generally only will occur in cases where discrepancies need to be resolved between the application and INS records. An interview generally will not be required for obtaining a Certificate of Citizenship under the CCA. However, INS may request an interview if discrepancies between the application and INS records need to be resolved. File the Form N-643, with required supporting documents, at the INS district office that has jurisdiction over your place of residence. Your child's citizenship status will not be negatively affected if you wait for INS to reengineer its process before you document your child's citizenship. If your child satisfies the requirements for automatic acquisition of citizenship, his or her citizenship is obtained by operation of law and cannot be lost by failure to document it. The INS has also removed the Affidavit of Support (Form I-864) requirement for children adopted abroad who will receive citizenship at the time of entry as lawful permanent residents. This is the vast majority of cases. However, children born and residing outside of the United States or children who will not be adopted until after they enter the United States will still require the affidavit of support. If you wish to apply for a U.S. Passport, you should complete a U.S. Department of State Passport Application (Form DSP-11). This form is available at most post offices and on-line. You must apply in person (with your child) at the U.S. Passport Office or at passport facilities and/or post offices authorized to handle this function. Along with the application, you must submit the following original documents:
The U.S. Passport Office and/or U.S. Post Office will not accept copies of the originals. In addition, proof of the parents' and/or parent's U.S. Citizenship (either a birth certificate or a U.S. Passport) needs to be shown. All original documents, including the green card, will be returned to you along with the child's U.S. passport. For more information about the CCA application procedures and forms, you may visit the INS Web site at www.ins.usdoj.gov or contact INS National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. INS has also made available field guidance and public materials to all information officers and other front-line staff to aid them in answering questions. For more information about the passport application process, you may visit the U.S. Department of State Web site at http://travel.state.gov/passport_services.html Editor's Note: Chloe Rose Mackay and Lucy Noëlle Smeets have applied for and received U.S. passports under this new law: Both applications were handled at the post office and the process from application to receipt of passport took around four weeks.
(Sources: INS and U.S. Department of State) |