I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3110 

To provide United States citizenship for children adopted from outside the 

United States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 26, 2009 

Ms. WATSON (for herself and Mr. BOOZMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition 

to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide United States citizenship for children adopted 

from outside the United States, 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 ‘‘Foreign Adopted Chil5 dren Equality Act’’ or the ‘‘FACE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CITIZENSHIP FOR CHILDREN ADOPTED FROM OUT2 SIDE THE UNITED STATES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 320(b) of the Immigra4 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1431(b)) is amended 

5 to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(b) CITIZENSHIP FOR CHILDREN ADOPTED FROM

7 OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A child born outside the 

9 United States automatically becomes a citizen of the 

10 United States if the Secretary of State is satisfied 

11 that all of the following conditions are met: 

12 ‘‘(A) The child is adopted by a parent who 

13 is a citizen of the United States. 

14 ‘‘(B) The child is younger than 18 years of 

15 age. 

16 ‘‘(C) It is determined that each adopting 

17 parent is eligible and suitable to adopt the 

18 child, including determining that the parent is 

19 able to support the child and has undergone an 

20 appropriate criminal background check. 

21 ‘‘(D) Prior to the adoption, the child was 

22 an unmarried individual younger than 18 years 

23 of age— 

24 ‘‘(i)(I) whose biological parents (or 

25 parent, in the case of an individual who 

26 has 1 sole or surviving parent) or other 


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1 person or institution that retains legal cus2 tody of the individual— 

3 ‘‘(aa) have freely given their writ4 ten irrevocable consent to the termi5 nation of their legal relationship with 

6 the individual, and to the individual’s 

7 emigration and adoption and that 

8 such consent has not been induced by 

9 payment or compensation of any kind 

10 and has not been given prior to the 

11 birth of the individual; 

12 ‘‘(bb) are unable to provide prop13 er care for the individual, as deter14 mined by the competent authority of 

15 the individual’s residence; or 

16 ‘‘(cc) have voluntarily relin17 quished the individual to the com18 petent authorities pursuant to the law 

19 of the individual’s residence; or 

20 ‘‘(II) who, as determined by the com21 petent authority of the individual’s resi22 dence— 

23 ‘‘(aa) has been abandoned or de24 serted by the individual’s biological 

25 parents or legal guardian; or 


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1 ‘‘(bb) has been orphaned due to 

2 the death or disappearance of the in3 dividual’s biological parents or legal 

4 guardian; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) with respect to whom the Sec6 retary of State— 

7 ‘‘(I) is satisfied that the proper 

8 care will be furnished the individual if 

9 admitted to the United States; 

10 ‘‘(II) is satisfied that the purpose 

11 of the adoption is to form a bona fide 

12 parent-child relationship and that the 

13 parent-child relationship of the indi14 vidual and the biological parents has 

15 been terminated (and in carrying out 

16 both obligations under this subpara17 graph, the Secretary of State, in con18 sultation with the Secretary of Home19 land Security, may consider whether 

20 there is a petition pending to confer 

21 immigrant status on 1 or both of the 

22 biological parents); 

23 ‘‘(III) is satisfied that there has 

24 been no inducement, financial or oth25 erwise, offered to obtain the consent 


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1 nor was it given before the birth of 

2 the individual; and 

3 ‘‘(IV) in consultation with the 

4 Secretary of Homeland Security, is 

5 satisfied that the individual is not a 

6 security risk. 

7 ‘‘(2) CITIZENSHIP FROM BIRTH.—An individual 

8 who becomes a citizen of the United States pursuant 

9 to paragraph (1) shall be deemed to have been a cit10 izen of the United States at birth and shall be 

11 issued a United States Consular Report of Birth. 

12 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR ADOPTEES WHO ARE

13 OLDER THAN 18 YEARS OF AGE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A person described in 

15 subparagraph (B) shall be deemed to have been 

16 a citizen of the United States at birth after the 

17 approval of an application filed within the 

18 United States or with a United States Em19 bassy. 

20 ‘‘(B) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person de21 scribed in this clause is a person who— 

22 ‘‘(i) is older than 18 years of age; 

23 ‘‘(ii) was born outside the United 

24 States and was adopted by a parent who is 

25 a citizen of the United States before the 


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1 date on which the person reached 18 years 

2 of age; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) was described in subparagraph 

4 (E), (F), or (G) of section 101(b)(1). 

5 ‘‘(4) NO LIABILITY FOR PRIOR TAXES.—An in6 dividual who becomes a citizen of the United States 

7 pursuant to paragraph (1) or (3) may not be liable 

8 for any taxes that the individual would have paid to 

9 the United States as a citizen of the United States 

10 before the date on which the individual becomes 

11 such a citizen.’’. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (1) HEADING.—The heading of section 320 of 

14 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1431) is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘CHILDREN BORN OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; 

17 CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CITIZENSHIP IS ACQUIRED’’. 

18 (2) SECTION 301 OF THE IMMIGRATION AND NA19 TIONALITY ACT.—Section 301 of the Immigration 

20 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401) is amended— 

21 (A) in subsection (g), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

22 the end; 

23 (B) in subsection (h), by striking the pe24 riod at the end, inserting a semicolon and 

25 ‘‘and’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

2 ‘‘(i) a person deemed a citizen at birth pursuant to 

3 section 320(b).’’. 

4 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 of the Immigration and Nationality Act is amended by 

6 striking the item relating to section 320 and inserting the 

7 following: 

‘‘Sec. 320. Children born outside the United States; conditions under which 

citizenship acquired.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. NONIMMIGRANT STATUS FOR CHILDREN BROUGHT 

9 TO THE UNITED STATES TO BE ADOPTED. 

10 Section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nation11 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)) is amended— 

12 (1) in subparagraph (U), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

13 the end; 

14 (2) in subparagraph (V), by striking the period 

15 at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

16 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(W) an individual brought to the United 

18 States as a child to be adopted by a citizen of 

19 the United States.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. APPEAL OF NOTICE OF INTENT TO DENY AN ADOP21 TION. 

22 (a) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY TO

23 APPEAL.—If the Secretary of State determines that a cov24 ered individual is not eligible to be adopted by a citizen 


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1 or national of the United States on the basis that the con2 ditions described in subsection (c) are not met, the Sec3 retary shall provide— 

4 (1) a notice of intent to deny the adoption of 

5 the child to such citizen or national of the United 

6 States; and 

7 (2) an opportunity for such citizen or national 

8 to appeal the determination. 

9 (b) COVERED INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—In this sec10 tion, the term ‘‘covered individual’’ means an individual 

11 who— 

12 (1) is younger than 18 years of age; 

13 (2) was born in a foreign country; and 

14 (3) is seeking to be adopted by a parent who is 

15 a citizen or national of the United States. 

16 (c) CONDITIONS FOR ADOPTION.—The conditions de17 scribed in this subsection are met if— 

18 (1) the covered individual’s biological parents 

19 (or parent, in the case of an individual who has 1 

20 sole or surviving parent) or other person or institu21 tion that retains legal custody of the covered indi22 vidual— 

23 (A) have freely given their written irrev24 ocable consent to the termination of their legal 

25 relationship with the individual, and to the indiVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:32 Jul 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3110.IH H3110

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1 vidual’s emigration and adoption and that such 

2 consent has not been induced by payment or 

3 compensation of any kind and has not been 

4 given prior to the birth of the individual; 

5 (B) are unable to provide proper care for 

6 the individual, as determined by the competent 

7 authority in the country of the individual’s resi8 dence; or 

9 (C) have voluntarily relinquished the indi10 vidual to the competent authorities pursuant to 

11 the law of the country of the individual’s resi12 dence; or 

13 (2) the covered individual, as determined by the 

14 competent authority in the country of the individ15 ual’s residence— 

16 (A) has been abandoned or deserted by the 

17 individual’s biological parents or legal guardian; 

18 or 

19 (B) has been orphaned due to the death or 

20 disappearance of the individual’s biological par21 ents or legal guardian. 

22 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

23 Nothing in this Act, or in any amendment made by 

24 this Act, may be construed to— 


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1 (1) abrogate any citizenship rights provided to 

2 an adoptee by the adoptee’s country of origin; or 

3 (2) nullify the facts of the adoptee’s birth his4 tory. 

5 SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that the government of 

7 each foreign country from which children are adopted by 

8 citizens of the United States should provide documenta9 tion of the adopted children’s original birth history to the 

10 adoptive family in accordance with the laws of such coun11 try. 

Æ 


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