There is good news for American citizens who have adopted foreign-born children. A recent change in law now means that most foreign-born children who are adopted by U.S. citizens will automatically become U.S. citizens once their adoption is final.

Under the old law, a foreign-born child who was adopted by a U.S. citizen did not become a citizen unless their U.S. citizen parent or parents applied for naturalization and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) approved the request. Unfortunately, delays in the application process can leave adopted children subject to deportation.

To correct this problem, Congress recently passed the Child Citizenship Act, which went into effect Feb. 27, 2001. The new law automatically confers U.S. citizenship on any foreign-born child who is adopted by a U.S. citizen, whose adoption is final, who is under the age of 18 and who has been admitted to the United States as an immigrant.

The INS estimates that 70,000 to 75,000 children fit this criteria and automatically became U.S. citizens on Feb. 27. In addition, approximately 20,000 foreign-born children are adopted by U.S. citizens each year. The vast majority of these children will benefit from this automatic citizenship provision.

Families who are living with foreign-born children in this country and are waiting for completion of the adoption process should know that their children will become U.S. citizens on the day the adoption is final. In other words, the citizenship status of these children is no longer dependent on INS approval of a naturalization application.

The legislation also deals with children who are currently living abroad, and were not born in the United States but have at least one biological parent who is a U.S. citizen. In order for foreign-born children living outside the United States to acquire citizenship, the U.S. citizen parent or parents must still apply for naturalization on behalf of the child. The naturalization process cannot take place overseas. The child will need to be in the United States temporarily to complete naturalization and take the oath of allegiance.

It's important to note that the new automatic citizenship provision does not apply to individuals who are 18 years of age or older on Feb. 27, 2001. If they wish to become U.S. citizens, they must apply for naturalization and meet eligibility requirements that currently exist.

At this time, the INS is not able to automatically provide adoptive parents with documentation of their child's citizenship. However, the INS, Congress, and adoption advocates are working to re-engineer the current process of issuing a Certificate of Citizenship.

In the meantime, families who want a Certificate of Citizenship immediately can file Form N-643 with the INS. These families can also obtain a U.S. passport from the U.S. State Department for their adopted child. They do not need a Certificate of Citizenship to acquire the passport. For more information, contact the INS' National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283 or visit their web site at www.ins.usdoj.gov. 

Millions of foreign-born children are part of American families. I am very pleased that Congress has streamlined the citizenship process so that U.S. parents can stop worrying about their child's status. Now, these families can just focus on nurturing and loving their child.