^^We were in June of 2001 do right after the new auto citizenship change.
My daughterâs SS card also didnât have the âvalid for workâ notation and she received it in 1999 as a permanent resident. When I switched the status to citizen, she received another card and it looked exactly the same. Still have both of them. My daughter uses her passport for everything like getting a job and never uses the SS cards.
The only thing that was strange was that the number assigned was out of Texas and we live in Colorado. I never understood that.
Her school never requested anything for registration or financial aid. The FSA ID confirmed her citizenship status. She had no issue getting a driverâs license and has never had an issue with passports either; I think sheâs on her fourth one.
@twoinanddone reg post #178, I donât think it was the case for younger DD though. She never got a green card. I forgot the process for her, but I am quite sure we knew she would be a citizen as soon as she landed as I had looked into the process of getting her citizenship before adoption and was glad that the law was changed when we got her. I have no idea why she wasnât recorded as citizen with SS when her older sister did.
I forgot but I think you may be right that I applied for the C of C for both of them.
The certificate of citizenship is THE gold standard for proving citizenship of a child adopted abroad.
It is the one piece of paper that no government agency can deny.
I know people have different philosophies about what should and should not prove citizenship. It doesnât matter. The only one that counts everywhere is that certificate of citizenship.
I beat the drum a bit about getting that CofC because I truly believe it is that important.
I have never used the C of C except to get the first passport (when she was 3).
Basically I am too cheap to get a Certificate of Citizenship. The price has skyrocketed and I canât imagine where it would be necessary once my daughter got her passport and citizenship registered with Social Security. Am I missing something? She was adopted in 2001.
I once had a government office ask me for the C of C and when I provided the passport instead the response was âI guess this will work.â That office was used to seeing either a US birth certificate or a certificate of naturalization. They wanted what they were used to, but I assured him the passport would work and after a stare down, he took it. Most other times the person wants to see the passport because thatâs what they are used to (driverâs license, school registration). I used to use her passport to register her for sports teams because her foreign birth certificate (US issued) looked âfakeâ to them (âthemâ being the parents who were in charge of registration).
The only time Iâve seen the C of C specifically requested is for some military or govt jobs. Iâm sure the passport would be accepted but may take more back and forth. They like the documents on the checklist, and the CofC is on the list. Well actually it usually lists the C of Naturalization, so even the C of C is different from what they want and you have to explain it to them.
We applied for COCâs a couple years ago and were DENIED!!! We adopted our kids while living in the US and then we moved overseas. We contacted all the appropriate people to figure out which forms to file etcâŠand denied. The letter we received in the mail states that we could not get COCâs as our kids are American Citizens. Now, my kids carry their passports, that letter and SS cards etc. when necessary. My eldest is in college in the US and never needed to prove anything and we shall see with my daughter when she heads off in the fall.
When we have renewed passports, and have been asked for the COC, my kids have been trained to say âChild Citizenship Act of 2001â and that has worked every time.
@hkamy21 - wow, seriously? I admit I am not up on the latest paperwork.
My oldest, now a college freshman, was adopted just prior to the act - we came home in November of 2000 - so we had to file. For my youngest, only I traveled so again we had to file even though it was after the Act.
Neither of my kids had to prove anything, but now that my state has gone to enhanced licenses that should be interesting the next go-round.
We opted not to file for the CofC given that the passport should be ok. Hopefully that was not a mistake. Plus, the cost is rudiculous.
I adopted my DD in 1998 and applied for the CofC n 1999 when the price was going up from $85 to $115! Somewhere along the way, I misplaced it, and I arranged to replace it just before the most recent price increase. The application was hers to sign because she is of age, but I did the paperwork and paid the fee. I figure that I owe it to her to have all the documentation available as I send her off into the world as an adult. Sheâs almost 23 now.
The cost of the CofC is now up to $1,170, which is kind of crazy. I finally got my Dâs when she was about 9 and even then it was around $600. She has never needed it, but given the climate surrounding immigration today, Iâm glad ishe has it just in case.
So, my future daughter in law was adopted from overseas prior to 2000. I have questions but her Mom is extremely confrontational so I am hoping for enlightenment here, thanks in advance!
FDIL has a CofC in her physical possession. She has been raised in the belief that it cannot be copied (even for her own purposes) or her adoption is nullified. She has been raised to believe she has no birth certificate, nor any adoption paperwork. I can believe the former, but have trouble with the latter. She has a US passport.No driverâs license. Raised to believe she has an actual birthdate and a legal birthdate which differs for some sort of paperwork reason. Mom has never explained this to her daughter.
This all came up as they were working on a marriage license form, which requires an ID, parental info, and birthdate. But to boil it all down â wouldnât there have to be some adoption papers in order to have obtained a CoC or passport? And if there arenât papers, was it legal? Or maybe a CoC is all she needs? Like many people, I worry that in this current climate, they will hit a roadblock and not have the information they need to defend her.
@greenbutton, my guess is that she should either find a way to speak to her parents, or contact a good international adoption lawyer to get the questions resolved.
To get my then 18 year old son a passport, we had to submit a variety of paperwork. It must exist somewhere if she was adopted legally-- and if it was an international adoption, I would imagine it must have been a legal adoption.
There is only Mom, who adopted as a sngle parent. Thereâs no possibility of involving a lawyer. And my baseline worry is that the reason FDIL does not have these papers herself as a legal adult (rather than Mom âkeeping them safeâ) is that the adoption was irregular in some way that Mom feels she needs to conceal. But a passport should be enough, I hope.
Bride/groom live in a major city, and we think it would be best to get the license there, where they are more likely to have dealt with this, than our little backwater town where even âunknownâ for the father may be a sticking point. And I admit I may worry about nonsense.
If she has a CofC and a passport, I would imagine she should be fine. But if sheâs concerned I would still find a way to consult with a lawyer. This is too important an issue to avoid.
She could see if her local courthouse has a birth certificate on file for her. If not them, maybe the state bureau of vital statistics.
My daughterâs CofC has her birthdate on it - whether itâs her actual birthdate or not doesnât matter, itâs the one thatâs on all her paperwork. When we had our appointment, we had to bring her original birth certificate (from China), her original final adoption decree, and legal name change (we readopted and changed her name).
And I keep their CofC in the safe deposit box, but I do have a copy of it at home just for personal use.
Depending on the country, I would imagine the adoption was legal.
@greenbutton, I know of a lawyer who deals with issues surrounding international adoptees. PM me if you want contact info. She is in PA but I believe she is aware of issues elsewhere.
Your future DIL may be able to fill out a form to get the info the U.S. government has on her adoptionâcopies of the paperwork her mother submitted when FDIL entered the U.S. I agree with others that her passport and COC should be sufficient for any eventuality but you never know.
Does the young lady know the agency that handled her adoption? If so, perhaps she can contact them for some answers about her adoption paperwork. The young lady has her citizenship papers in her own possession? Not her mom?
She believes there are no adoption papers, because thatâs what sheâs been told by Mom her whole 25 yrs of life. For her to start searching would constitute a real breach of the relationship and I doubt that I can effectively advocate for that.Although I think itâs ridiculous she hasnât been told any of these things, but she was told she couldnât visit the country of birth until she was an adult, lest someone recognize her and demand legal rights to her. Who tells a 10-yr -old that? I donât think there is a birth certificate, otoh, FDIL told me she only knows that she was flown to the US on her birth countryâs passport, and she doesnât have dual citizenship.
I donât think itâs my place, unfortunately, to shake FDIL and say she really has a right to know all this. And I feel like Iâm prying to ask too many questions.But something seems off, at least to my uninformed mind, so Iâm really grateful for the information.