I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1376 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2010 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

To restore immunization and sibling age exemptions for children adopted by United States citizens under the Hague 

Convention on Intercountry Adoption to allow their admission into the United States. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘International Adoption 

3 Simplification Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM VACCINATION DOCUMENTATION 

5 REQUIREMENT. 

6 Section 212(a)(1)(C)(ii) of the Immigration and Na7 tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(1)(C)(ii)) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘section 101(b)(1)(F),’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara9 graph (F) or (G) of section 101(b)(1);’’. 

10 SEC. 3. SIBLING ADOPTIONS. 

11 Section 101(b)(1)(G) of the Immigration and Nation12 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(G)) is amended to read as 

13 follows: 

14 ‘‘(G)(i) a child, younger than 16 years of 

15 age at the time a petition is filed on the child’s 

16 behalf to accord a classification as an imme17 diate relative under section 201(b), who has 

18 been adopted in a foreign state that is a party 

19 to the Convention on Protection of Children 

20 and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry 

21 Adoption, done at The Hague on May 29, 

22 1993, or who is emigrating from such a foreign 

23 state to be adopted in the United States by a 

24 United States citizen and spouse jointly or by 

25 an unmarried United States citizen who is at 

26 least 25 years of age, Provided, That— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the Secretary of Homeland Secu2 rity is satisfied that proper care will be 

3 furnished the child if admitted to the 

4 United States; 

5 ‘‘(II) the child’s natural parents (or 

6 parent, in the case of a child who has one 

7 sole or surviving parent because of the 

8 death or disappearance of, abandonment or 

9 desertion by, the other parent), or other 

10 persons or institutions that retain legal 

11 custody of the child, have freely given their 

12 written irrevocable consent to the termi13 nation of their legal relationship with the 

14 child, and to the child’s emigration and 

15 adoption; 

16 ‘‘(III) in the case of a child having 

17 two living natural parents, the natural par18 ents are incapable of providing proper care 

19 for the child; 

20 ‘‘(IV) the Secretary of Homeland Se21 curity is satisfied that the purpose of the 

22 adoption is to form a bona fide parent23 child relationship, and the parent-child re24 lationship of the child and the natural par25 ents has been terminated (and in carrying 


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1 out both obligations under this subclause 

2 the Secretary of Homeland Security may 

3 consider whether there is a petition pend4 ing to confer immigrant status on one or 

5 both of such natural parents); and 

6 ‘‘(V) in the case of a child who has 

7 not been adopted— 

8 ‘‘(aa) the competent authority of 

9 the foreign state has approved the 

10 child’s emigration to the United 

11 States for the purpose of adoption by 

12 the prospective adoptive parent or 

13 parents; and 

14 ‘‘(bb) the prospective adoptive 

15 parent or parents has or have com16 plied with any pre-adoption require17 ments of the child’s proposed resi18 dence; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) except that no natural parent or prior 

20 adoptive parent of any such child shall there21 after, by virtue of such parentage, be accorded 

22 any right, privilege, or status under this chap23 ter; or 

24 ‘‘(iii) subject to the same provisos as in 

25 clauses (i) and (ii), a child who— 


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1 ‘‘(I) is a natural sibling of a child de2 scribed in clause (i), subparagraph (E)(i), 

3 or subparagraph (F)(i); 

4 ‘‘(II) was adopted abroad, or is com5 ing to the United States for adoption, by 

6 the adoptive parent (or prospective adop7 tive parent) or parents of the sibling de8 scribed in clause (i), subparagraph (E)(i), 

9 or subparagraph (F)(i); and 

10 ‘‘(III) is otherwise described in clause 

11 (i), except that the child is younger than 

12 18 years of age at the time a petition is 

13 filed on his or her behalf for classification 

14 as an immediate relative under section 

15 201(b).’’. 

16 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

18 (b), the amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

19 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

20 (b) EXCEPTION.—An alien who is described in sec21 tion 101(b)(1)(G)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality 

22 Act, as added by section 3, and attained 18 years of age 

23 on or after April 1, 2008, shall be deemed to meet the 

24 age requirement specified in subclause (III) of such sec25 tion if a petition for classification of the alien as an immeVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:46 Jul 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1376.RFH S1376

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1 diate relative under section 201(b) of the Immigration and 

2 Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)) is filed not later than 

3 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the Senate July 21, 2010. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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