II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 967 

To provide for the automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for 

certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2021 

Mr. BLUNT (for himself, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. COLLINS, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. 

MURKOWSKI, and Ms. DUCKWORTH) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for the automatic acquisition of United States 

citizenship for certain internationally adopted individuals, 

and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Adoptee Citizenship 

5 Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP FOR CERTAIN INTER7 NATIONALLY ADOPTED INDIVIDUALS. 

8 Section 320(b) of the Immigration and Nationality 

9 Act (8 U.S.C. 1431(b)) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(b) ADOPTED CHILDREN OF CITIZEN PARENT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) shall apply 

3 to a child adopted by a United States citizen parent 

4 if the child satisfies the requirements applicable to 

5 adopted children under subparagraph (E), (F), or 

6 (G) of section 101(b)(1), regardless of the date on 

7 which the adoption was finalized. 

8 ‘‘(2) LIMITED APPLICATION TO CERTAIN

9 ADOPTED INDIVIDUALS RESIDING IN THE UNITED

10 STATES.—Notwithstanding section 318, an indi11 vidual born outside of the United States who was 

12 adopted by a United States citizen parent shall auto13 matically become a citizen of the United States when 

14 all of the following conditions have been fulfilled: 

15 ‘‘(A) The individual was adopted by a 

16 United States citizen before the individual 

17 reached 18 years of age. 

18 ‘‘(B) The individual was physically present 

19 in the United States in the legal custody of the 

20 citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission 

21 before the individual reached 18 years of age. 

22 ‘‘(C) The individual never acquired United 

23 States citizenship before the date of the enact24 ment of the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021. 


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1 ‘‘(D) The individual was residing in the 

2 United States on the date of the enactment of 

3 the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021 pursuant 

4 to a lawful admission. 

5 ‘‘(3) LIMITED APPLICATION TO CERTAIN

6 ADOPTED INDIVIDUALS RESIDING OUTSIDE OF THE

7 UNITED STATES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any individual who 

9 meets all of the criteria described in subpara10 graphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (2), but 

11 does not meet the requirement described in sub12 paragraph (D) of such paragraph, shall auto13 matically become a citizen of the United States 

14 on the date on which the individual is physically 

15 present in the United States pursuant to a law16 ful admission. 

17 ‘‘(B) INAPPLICABILITY OF GROUNDS OF

18 INADMISSIBILITY.—The grounds of inadmis19 sibility set forth in section 212(a) shall not 

20 apply to any individual described in subpara21 graph (A) who is seeking admission to the 

22 United States. 

23 ‘‘(C) CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK.— 

24 Notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) and (B), 


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1 an individual described in subparagraph (A) 

2 may not be issued a visa unless— 

3 ‘‘(i) the individual was subjected to a 

4 criminal background check; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) if the background check con6 ducted pursuant to clause (i) reveals that 

7 the individual has committed a crime that 

8 was not properly resolved, the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

10 State coordinated with relevant law en11 forcement agencies to ensure that appro12 priate action is taken to resolve such crimi13 nal activity.’’. 

Æ 


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