I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5233 

To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for certain 

internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2018 

Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mrs. MIMI

WALTERS of California, Mr. MACARTHUR, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, 

and Ms. LOFGREN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide for 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 2018’’. 

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). 

7 ‘‘(2) LIMITED APPLICATION TO CERTAIN

8 ADOPTED INDIVIDUALS RESIDING IN THE UNITED

9 STATES.—Notwithstanding section 318, an indi10 vidual born outside of the United States who was 

11 adopted by a United States citizen parent shall auto12 matically become a citizen of the United States when 

13 all of the following conditions have been fulfilled: 

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

15 United States citizen before the individual 

16 reached 18 years of age. 

17 ‘‘(B) The individual was physically present 

18 in the United States in the legal custody of the 

19 citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission 

20 before the individual reached 18 years of age. 

21 ‘‘(C) The individual never acquired United 

22 States citizenship before the date of the enact23 ment of the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018. 

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

25 United States on the date of the enactment of 


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1 the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018 pursuant 

2 to a lawful admission. 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITED APPLICATION TO CERTAIN

4 ADOPTED INDIVIDUALS RESIDING OUTSIDE OF THE

5 UNITED STATES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara7 graphs (B) through (D), an individual who 

8 meets all of the criteria described in subpara9 graphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (2) shall 

10 automatically become a citizen of the United 

11 States on the date on which the individual is 

12 physically present in the United States pursu13 ant to a lawful admission. 

14 ‘‘(B) INAPPLICABILITY OF GROUNDS OF

15 INADMISSIBILITY.—The grounds of inadmis16 sibility set forth in section 212(a) shall not 

17 apply to an individual described in subpara18 graph (A) who is seeking admission to the 

19 United States. 

20 ‘‘(C) CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECK.—An 

21 individual described in subparagraph (A) may 

22 not be issued a visa unless— 

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

24 criminal background check; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) if the background check con2 ducted pursuant to clause (i) reveals that 

3 the individual has committed a crime that 

4 was not properly resolved, the Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security and the Secretary of 

6 State coordinated with relevant law en7 forcement agencies to ensure that appro8 priate action is taken to resolve such crimi9 nal activity. 

10 ‘‘(D) DEPORTABLE OFFENSES.—An indi11 vidual described in subparagraph (A) may not 

12 be granted automatic citizenship under this 

13 paragraph if the individual— 

14 ‘‘(i) has been found guilty of a deport15 able offense that has as an element the 

16 use, attempted use, or threatened use of 

17 physical force against another person; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) was deported.’’. 

Æ 


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