| In the decade following World War I, the United States Congress enacted four temporary acts which allowed expedited immigration of foreign born children. These acts were primarily aimed at providing emergency assistance to children who were victims of war. In 1952, the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA) was promulgated, but it did not provide immigration benefits to children adopted from outside the United States. This was due to a concern that fraudulent adoptions would be used to circumvent the U.S. immigration quotas. Five years later, however, the U.S. Congress amended the immigration statutes to specifically recognize foreign-born adopted children for the first time.
Child of U.S. Citizen Exemption
Today, the INA provides that being a "child" of a U.S. citizen confers an exemption on the standard worldwide numerical limitations on immigration. Foreign children adopted by U.S. parents may qualify as "children" for purposes of the Act under § 101(b)(1)(F). The first step is that the adoptive parents request that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) admit the child as a permanent legal resident. They do so by filing one of two forms, depending on whether or not they have located a specific child at that point. If the parents have located a specific child, they must file a "I-600" form, which is a "Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative." The INS publishes guidelines on the definition of an "orphan," and they include that the child be under the age of 16, the child's biological parents must have died, disappeared, abandoned the child, or be incapable of caring for the child. If a biological parent of the foreign-born adoptee is surviving and in the picture, they must irrevocably consent to the child's adoption and migration to the United States. Parents who know they are adopting, but have not located a child, can file the I-600A form, or "Advance Processing Request." This form determines in advance the suitability of the parents. The parents must still later file an I-600 form regarding the suitability of the child for immigration.
Preferential Visa
Once the I-600 form has been approved by INS and the adoption has taken place pursuant to the laws of the child's country of origin, the Office of Visa Services investigates the child before issuing a visa so that the child may enter the United States. The Office of Visa Services must verify that the child is an "orphan," because the visa categories do not include a category for "adoptees." A qualifying child is issued a "preferential visa" as an immediate relative of a U.S. citizen. This allows the child immediate entry into the United States. Once the child arrives in the U.S., the visa is surrendered for a permanent resident or "green" card.
U.S. Citizenship
Following entry as a permanent legal resident, and the granting of a final adoption decree by a United States state court, many children automatically gain U.S. citizenship. The parent may also apply to the Attorney General of the United States for a Certificate of Citizenship (by filing an N-600 form), which, once issued, confers immediate citizenship on the adopted child. Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. |