February 2001
revised November 2005
Changes in citizenship laws
With relatively little fanfare, President Clinton signed into law on 30 October 2000, a modification of Section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act which makes it a bit easier for minor children of US citizens (both foreign-born and adopted abroad) to become citizens of the US.
The new law, known by its number HR2883, authored by Congressman Bill Delahunt, now Public Law 106-395 or "The Child Citizenship Act of 2000" went into effect on 27 February 2001.
The law has the following effects:
What this new law means is that an adopted (or natural-born) child becomes a US citizen the moment he or she sets foot on US soil after proper adoption and immigration procedures have been fulfilled.
Now for the bad news
Discussion
This new law was highly encouraged by people adopting foreign children as its main effects are for adopted children entering the US with their new US parents.
It will help to resolve future cases of extreme hardship some of which have occurred in the past due to the fact that the US parents of adopted children, for one reason or another, failed to have their children naturalized. For example, in one well-known case, John Gaul, an adoptee born in Thailand and adopted by Florida family at the age of four, was deported by the US government as a criminal alien at the age of 25. The Gauls had obtained an American birth certificate for John shortly after adopting him, but didn't realize until he applied for a passport at age 17 that he had never been naturalized.
It also affects children born abroad to parents, only one of whom is a US citizen and who has not resided the requisite five years in the US (two of which must be after the age of 14) before the birth of the child. In such a case, the child born abroad is not recognized as a US citizen, but when and if his parents immigrate with him or her to the US, he or she may become a naturalized US citizen upon arrival in the USA (before the age of 18).
How will the new law work?
For both adoption and natural-born cases, the parent or parents returning or immigrating to the US must still file the necessary immigration papers for their minor children. Although these requests come under the "immediate relative" i.e. non-quota status, the necessary paperwork still has to be done properly. This involves petitioning as a sponsor, applying for a visa and filing the affidavit of support as well as the usual photos, medical exams, police certificates, payment of fees, etc. This is the same as if you were filing for a Green Card for your child except that upon arrival in the US, your child will not need the Green Card because he or she will immediately be recognized as a US citizen under the new law. The child can immediately apply for a US passport and/or Certificate of Citizenship.
What about US parents residing permanently abroad with no immediate intention of returning to the USA with their children (either natural or adopted)?
In these cases, under another procedure, it is possible to file from abroad for immediate naturalization under Section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (which was modified in form but not in substance by the new law). This procedure enables private US citizens residing abroad to obtain US citizenship for their children, not otherwise eligible to be citizens, through a special naturalization procedure, which does not require that they immigrate or move back to the United States. All the papers are filed from abroad, and the American parent and child/children then travel to the chosen District Office in the United States to finalize the process on the day of a previously arranged appointment. Naturalization is not possible outside the USA.
Karl Jauch
ACA Geneva
February 2001, revised November 2005