Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018

To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018 2. United States citizenship for certain internationally adopted individuals Section 320(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act ( 8 U.S.C. 1431(b) (b) Adopted children of citizen parent (1) In general Subsection (a) shall apply to a child adopted by a United States citizen parent if the child satisfies the requirements applicable to adopted children under subparagraph (E), (F), or (G) of section 101(b)(1). (2) Limited application to certain adopted individuals residing in the United States Notwithstanding section 318, an individual born outside of the United States who was adopted by a United States citizen parent shall automatically become a citizen of the United States when all of the following conditions have been fulfilled: (A) The individual was adopted by a United States citizen before the individual reached 18 years of age. (B) The individual was physically present in the United States in the legal custody of the citizen parent pursuant to a lawful admission before the individual reached 18 years of age. (C) The individual never acquired United States citizenship before the date of the enactment of the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018 (D) The individual was residing in the United States on the date of the enactment of the Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018 (3) Limited application to certain adopted individuals residing outside of the United States (A) In general Subject to subparagraphs (B) through (D), an individual who meets all of the criteria described in subparagraphs (A) through (C) of paragraph (2) shall automatically become a citizen of the United States on the date on which the individual is physically present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission. (B) Inapplicability of grounds of inadmissibility The grounds of inadmissibility set forth in section 212(a) shall not apply to an individual described in subparagraph (A) who is seeking admission to the United States. (C) Criminal background check An individual described in subparagraph (A) may not be issued a visa unless— (i) the individual was subjected to a criminal background check; and (ii) if the background check conducted pursuant to clause (i) reveals that the individual has committed a crime that was not properly resolved, the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State coordinated with relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that appropriate action is taken to resolve such criminal activity. (D) Deportable offenses An individual described in subparagraph (A) may not be granted automatic citizenship under this paragraph if the individual— (i) has been found guilty of a deportable offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against another person; and (ii) was deported. .

Summary: Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2018 This bill amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to grant automatic citizenship to all qualifying children adopted by a U.S. citizen parent. (Currently, an adopted child must have been under 18 years old as of February 27, 2001, in order to qualify for automatic citizenship.) An individual born outside of the United States who was adopted by a U.S. citizen parent shall automatically become a U.S. citizen when the following conditions have been fulfilled: the individual was adopted by a U.S. citizen before the individual reached age 18, the individual was physically present in the United States in the citizen parent's legal custody pursuant to a lawful admission before the individual reached age 18, the individual never acquired U.S. citizenship before the enactment of this bill, and the individual was lawfully residing in the United States on the date of enactment of this bill. An individual who meets such criteria, except for lawfully residing in the United States on the date of enactment of this bill, shall automatically become a U.S. citizen on the date on which the individual is physically present in the United States pursuant to a lawful admission. A visa may not be issued to such an individual unless: the individual was subjected to a criminal background check, and the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State coordinated with law enforcement agencies to ensure that appropriate action is taken regarding any unresolved criminal activity. Automatic citizenship may not be granted to an individual who was deported for an offense that involved the use of physical force against another person.