This bill changes part of the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow certain people who were adopted from other countries to automatically acquire United States citizenship. It updates section 320(b) so that a child adopted by a U.S. citizen can qualify under several existing definitions of "adopted child" no matter when the adoption was finalized. The bill creates two main paths:
For adopted people already living in the United States: they automatically become citizens if all these are true: they were adopted by a U.S. citizen before age 18; they were physically present in the U.S. in the legal custody of the citizen parent after being lawfully admitted before age 18; they did not already have U.S. citizenship before this law; and they were residing in the U.S. under a lawful admission on the law’s enactment date.
For adopted people living outside the United States: if they meet the same requirements except for residing in the U.S. on the enactment date, they become citizens when they are physically admitted into the U.S. lawfully. The bill says usual grounds for inadmissibility (section 212(a)) do not apply to these people seeking admission, but a visa will not be issued until a criminal background check is done and any unresolved criminal matters are coordinated between the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, and law enforcement.
If you were adopted from another country by a U.S. citizen before you turned 18 and you were lawfully in the U.S. in your parent’s custody before age 18, you may automatically become a U.S. citizen under this law if you meet the listed conditions. If you meet those conditions but live abroad, you would become a citizen when you enter the U.S. lawfully, though you must clear a criminal background check before a visa is issued. If you do not meet these specific conditions, this bill does not change your status. No publicly available information on how many people would be affected.
No publicly available information on estimated costs or budget effects. The text requires criminal background checks and coordination among federal agencies for some applicants, which would involve administrative actions by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State.
The bill’s stated purpose is to provide automatic acquisition of U.S. citizenship for certain internationally adopted individuals. Sponsors listed in the provided metadata introduced the measure to achieve that outcome.
No publicly available information on opposition or arguments against the bill in the provided text or metadata.