The Child Citizenship Act, which applies to both adopted and biological children of U.S. citizens, amends Section 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") to provide for the automatic acquisition of U.S. citizenship when certain conditions have been met. Specifically, these conditions are:

Similarly, some foreign-born biological children of U.S. citizen parents were unable to acquire U.S. citizenship at birth because their parents did not meet the legal requirements for transmission of citizenship. While the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 does not alter these transmission requirements, it does provide for the automatic conferral of U.S. citizenship on these children once the first three criteria listed above have been met.

Children under age 18 who already fulfilled the above four conditions as of February 27, 2001 will acquire U.S. citizenship automatically. Children who have not yet fulfilled these conditions will acquire U.S. citizenship on the day that the last of these criteria have been met, provided the child is still under 18 at the time.

This new law is important not only because it eases the process the U.S. citizen parent must go through in order to gain U.S. citizenship for his/her foreign-born child, but also because it seeks to address the problem faced by families when a foreign-born child becomes subject to removal from the United States. Under prior law, foreign-born adopted children, in particular, could be subject to removal if they did not acquire U.S. citizenship after being brought to the United States - even if they had lived since infancy in the United States. While this Act will not remedy past cases in which such children were deported, it will ensure that this unfortunate possibility will be eliminated for most noncitizen adopted children under the age of 18 and all noncitizen children adopted by U.S. citizens into a household in the U.S. in the future.

On February 27, 2001, some 75,000 children already residing in the United States with their U.S. citizen parents automatically became U.S. citizens with the entry into effect of this Act. Thousands more children will automatically become U.S. citizens every year as they enter the United States with their U.S. adoptive parents.

For Immigration Attorneys/Lawyers
Call 763.300.4468
Se Habla Espaņol

Ask-A-Lawyer
Ask a lawyer your immigration questions online or seek a case review from an immigration lawyer

Bulletin Board
Ask or answer a U.S. immigration question

Immigration News Blog
Get rapid U.S. Immigration updates from our immigration lawyers on our immigration news blogger.

U.S. Visa Lottery
Live and Work in the United States by filing for the U.S. Visa Lottery.

Canadian Immigration
Visit our Canadian Affiliate for Canadian Immigration information.

Check the Status of Your Case
If you have your INS immigration Application Receipt Number, You may Check on the Status of your immigration application

Immigration Links
Links to U.S. Immigration Pages, Services, and Information

U.S. Immigration Laws
Find U.S. Immigration Laws Online

Click Here - Immigration Buys