Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.1593 | Sponsor: Rep. Smith, Adam (D-WA)
Policy area: Immigration

Summary:
Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021
This bill provides for the automatic acquisition of citizenship for certain individuals adopted by a U.S. citizen.
A child born outside the United States and adopted by a U.S. citizen shall automatically acquire citizenship upon meeting certain requirements, regardless of when the adoption was finalized. Currently, adoptees who were over the age of 18 on February 27, 2001, do not automatically acquire citizenship.
An individual born outside the United States and residing in the United States shall automatically acquire citizenship if the individual (1) was adopted by a citizen before becoming 18 years old, (2) was physically present in the United States in the citizen parent's custody pursuant to lawful admission before becoming 18 years old, (3) never acquired citizenship before this bill's enactment, and (4) was lawfully residing in the United States on this bill's enactment date.
An individual born outside the United States and residing outside the United States but who otherwise meets all of the requirements shall automatically acquire citizenship upon being physically present in the United States pursuant to lawful admission. Such an individual shall be subject to a background check. If the background check reveals the individual has committed a crime that was not properly resolved, the individual may not receive a visa unless the Department of Homeland Security and Department of State have coordinated with law enforcement to ensure that action was taken to resolve the issue.


To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for 
  certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP FOR CERTAIN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED 
              INDIVIDUALS.

    Section 320(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1431(b)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(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), regardless 
        of the date on which the adoption was finalized.
            ``(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 2021.
                    ``(D) The individual was residing in the United 
                States on the date of the enactment of the Adoptee 
                Citizenship Act of 2021 pursuant to a lawful admission.
            ``(3) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
        residing outside of the united states.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An individual who meets all of 
                the criteria described in paragraph (2) except for 
                subparagraph (D) 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.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B), 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.''.
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