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S 2923119th CongressIntroduced

A bill to provide for the automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes.

Introduced: Sep 19, 2025
Immigration
Standard Summary
Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs

This bill aims to automatically grant U.S. citizenship to certain internationally adopted individuals who were not covered by previous adoption citizenship laws. It addresses a gap in the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which left some adoptees without automatic citizenship despite being legally adopted by U.S. citizens. The legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for adoptees who were brought to the United States as children but fell through legal cracks—often due to their adoptive parents failing to complete naturalization paperwork. This would resolve the status of individuals who have lived most of their lives in the U.S. as Americans but technically remain foreign nationals, sometimes facing deportation.

Key Points

  • 1Provides automatic citizenship acquisition for internationally adopted individuals who were adopted by U.S. citizen parents but did not receive citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000
  • 2Covers adoptees who were under 18 years old when the Child Citizenship Act took effect or were adopted before its enactment
  • 3Eliminates the requirement for adoptees to have actively applied for naturalization, addressing cases where parents failed to complete this process
  • 4Protects long-term U.S. residents who were raised as Americans from potential deportation due to citizenship technicalities
  • 5Aims to correct an unintended consequence of previous immigration law that left some adoptees in legal limbo

Impact Areas

International adoptees: Primarily benefits adult adoptees who grew up in the U.S. but lack citizenship documentationImmigration enforcement: Reduces deportation cases involving individuals who have deep ties to the United StatesAdoptive families: Provides relief to families whose adopted children face citizenship issues due to incomplete paperworkImmigration policy: Closes a gap in adoption-related citizenship law and aligns treatment of all internationally adopted children
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