U.S. Citizenship

The Citizenship Act of 2000 allows all children adopted internationally who have come home on what are called IR-3 (IR stands for immediate relative) visas to become U.S. citizens without any formalities. How does a child come home on an IR-3 visa? If your child has been seen by you and your spouse before or during the adoption proceedings, then your child will come home on an IR-3 visa. Some countries, such as Russia, require both parents to be at the adoption hearing; vir­tually all children adopted from Russia would come home on an IR-3 visa. Other countries, such as China, allow only one parent to be present; if only one parent goes to China, then the child comes home on an IR-4 visa and the child is not a U.S. citizen.

Then there are adoptions that take place in the country-such as Guatemala ­without the parents present. If parents simply travel to get their child and receive his visa, then the child will come home on an IR-4 visa. Some parents visit the child before the adoption in Guatemala, and then the child comes home on an IR-3 visa.

If you are adopting from a country in which your child may come home on either an IR-3 or IR-4 visa, you may consider taking the steps to visit your child beforehand or have both parents travel since there are some advantages to seeing your child before the adoption, as follows:

1. Your child is automatically a U.S. citizen when he touches U.S. soil arid will be issued a Certificate of Citizenship in the mail-usually a few months after being home.
2. You do have to meet the preadoption requirements of your state (if any) before going to the U.S. Embassy to receive your child in the other country. For example, if only one spouse is traveling to China, the child will not be issued an IR-3 visa, and the parents must then meet the preadoption requirements of their state. This is usually proven by the fact that a home study is issued, but some states such as Wisconsin have more stringent guidelines. It is critical that you check with your home study provider as to your state’s requirements.
3. If your child came home on an IR-4 visa, you will need to apply for a Certifi­cate of Citizenship by filing CIS form N-600, Application for Certificate on Behalf of an Adopted Child. The CIS does not require original documents; send only photocopies. Attach a letter and state that they are true copies of the originals and have your signature notarized.

Copies of documents that must accompany the N-600 include:

• Child’s new birth certificate from overseas and from the United States.
• Final adoption decree overseas and in the United States.
• If the child’s name has been changed since coming to the United States, submit evidence of legal name change if not in the adoption decree.
• Evidence that one of the adoptive parents is a U.S. citizen. If you are born in the United States, your birth certificate will suffice.
• Marriage certificate of adoptive parents.
• Divorce decree or death certificate (if applicable). If either parent has been widowed or divorced, evidence of termination of these marriages must be given.
• Photographs. You will need to submit three identical passport photos of your child; these photos must be no more than thirty days old.
• Green card.

If you need more proof of your child’s citizenship quickly, you can obtain a U.S. passport for your child while you are waiting for the Certificate of Citizenship.

If your child is a U.S. citizen, there is no question whether or not you are eli­gible for the federal tax credit when you file your taxes. In some states, you must readopt your child, making your a child a citizen, before you are eligible for the tax credit. ‘This can delay your getting a tax credit by one year.

Although you may be tempted to forego getting your child a Certificate of Citizenship, once you adopt your child-after all he is a U.S. citizen with or without the Certificate-you should proceed with obtaining the Certificate. It is a bit expensive and does take some time to complete the N-600 form, but it is better to do this now while you know just where your child’s important paper­work is located instead of waiting until he is going off to college. A birth certifi­cate is not proof that your child is a citizen. Passports expire; the Certificate of Citizenship does not. Your child, especially if he is not “Anglo” in appearance, may be required more often than other Americans to “prove” that he is a U.S. citizen. Having the Certificate of Citizenship can save your child the hassle of having to get other documentation to prove that he is truly a citizen. Report­edly, some institutions of higher learning and the Armed Services may require a Certificate of Citizenship for those of foreign birth and will not accept a U.S. passport as proof of citizenship.

The N-600 is not necessarily filed in the same CIS where your I-600A was filed. To find out the exact location of where this should be filed, contact your home study agency. If the staff is not sure, then ask your immigration liaison at your congressman’s or senators’ local office.