Internationally adopted kids applying to college

In response to an earlier post. If the child comes in with an IR-3 citizenshipt is automatic. If they come in with an IR-4 the adoptive parents need to adopt the child in the USA and then it is automatic. BUT the parent(s) then need to take the proof of citizenship to social security so that their social security card is in the system as citizen rather than under a green card designation. Failure to do that and their SS will be flagged as not citizen.

I took every scrap of documentation to the DMV when my D was getting her learnerā€™s permit. And I have it all, including C of C and readoption. But they still wanted to hold everything up because they questioned the Chinese to English translation in her original adoption papers. They started to insist that I needed to have a state-approved translator go over it. I insisted they get a supervisor. About 45 minutes later we managed to move ahead with the permit. I have never heard of anyone else with that issue. @kidsandliz Iā€™m sorry your D hasnā€™t been able to get her permit. So frustrating!

So for PA, where we live, to get a learnerā€™s permit, the PA DMV website says she will need to bring her original social security card (not laminated) and one of several options, including a current US passport. I guess weā€™ll start with that when the time comes. I donā€™t know how they can require more at the DMV than the DMV form says is required. What frustrating experiences you have had, Barbalot and kidsandliz! Grr!

I donā€™t recall there being any issue when S got his permit. He took his passport for ID. I donā€™t even know if he took his SS card, but I doubt it. Likely just wrote the number down on the form. A few years later he got a New York State enhanced license so he wouldnā€™t have to schlep his passport to Canada. Never an issue getting that either. Iā€™m in NY so maybe other states require more ID.

@emilybee, it wasnā€™t a problem for us in NY either. The passport did the job. But Iā€™ve heard many reports of families i other states having great difficulty.We did need the social security card but everyone needs that now and maybe for the past few years.

https://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/get-learner-permit

We had no problem with either of our daughters in NJā€¦we also filed for a NJ birth certificate for them both, just a couple of years agoā€¦no need to re-adopt, or go to court, just filed application alone with copies of all their documentation. Four weeks later they showed up in the mail! But we used passports for school, drivers license, etc.

@begood I am also a PA resident. I suggest taking any documentation you may have to the DMV, including CofC, passport, readoption paperwork, original adoption paperwork, original and PA birth certificates, Social Security card, photo ID (such as a school ID), and several forms of ID for yourself. My Liberian S17 and I (old blond single mom) had a terrible time getting his permit last April. S15 (Vietnamese) had no such problem the year before. Just be prepared. It probably depends on which clerk serves you, but even the supervisor was rigidly unhelpful in S17ā€™s case.

I sent my daughter to DMV in Brooklyn, NY with the documents required according to the website (no citizenship certificate as I couldnā€™t find it but with a recently issued adult passport; no state birth certificate as I never got one) and an application filled out and signed by me as the parent of a minor (at the time). I waited in the car outside. She emerged victorious having registered and taken the learnerā€™s permit test, and the photo card came a week later.

I had much, much more trouble trying to transfer the registration of my late fatherā€™s car at the same DMV office. It took several visits until the supervisorā€™s supervisor finally acknowledged that I had the right stuff that I had brought on the first visit.

@kidzncatz Itā€™s awful that they put your dear son through so much! I do not have a CofC. Our daughter has US passport (which we always keep current), original SS card, certified copies of her Certificate of Foreign Birth and her Final Judgment Confirming Foreign Adoption (we readopted in Florida, where we were living at the time), and photo ID from her school. I have PA driverā€™s license, current US passport, original SS cardā€¦ I think thatā€™s it. We may go in full-bore as a family with all our various IDs. Iā€™m obviously naive - if the dang form says ā€œSS card + ONE of the followingā€, and ONE of the following is a US passport, and your son had one of those, how could they get away with requiring more???

@begood, can you request help from one of your representatives in the state legislature?

@oldmom4896 , we are not yet experiencing any difficulty. Iā€™m a planner-aheader, looking toward learnerā€™s permit in 1.5 years and college app process in 3.5 years! Iā€™m just stunned at the difficulty some families have had with these bureaucratic processes, despite having the documentation ostensibly required. I suppose I could take this interim time to work on getting a CofC, figuring thereā€™s no downside to having oneā€¦

@begood, I think itā€™s worth the fee to have a certificate of citizenship, especially these days with the political fallout against immigrants. We are in the process of getting a replacement C of C, although my daughter has to sign the paperwork herself since sheā€™s over 17 (sheā€™s 20).

I had to get a new license in California in 2010. At that time they had just switched to a new program to comply with the REAL ID law, and my current OOS license couldnā€™t be used as an ID. I was able to use my expired passport to prove I was a legal citizen or I could have used a certified birth certificate. I finally received the license in the mail about 13 weeks after I first applied, and it had holograms and 27 kinds of security. Then I moved to Florida and my kids also needed permits. I went to the DVM (called the tax collector) and asked exactly what we would need, and they gave me a checklist for both a license and to register my car. Certified birth certificates plus C of C OR a passport. Done. We all got new passports and thatā€™s all we needed. The Florida license has a special gold star on it, which means the state has certified our legal status.

I do not take all the documents I have. I take their check list of what is required, and those forms only. I take control and as I go in I state, ā€œI have the passport as proof of birth, citizenship, photo idā€¦I have the from from her driverā€™s ed classā€¦I have $20ā€¦ā€ I am very firm that I have the required documents.

Now, of course, California gives licenses to undocumented persons. They donā€™t look the same as the one it took me 13 weeks to get. I do not think the newer ones will work for federal government purposes (ID to get into federal buildings, TSA, for federal benefits).

I, too, have had government workers tell me the a passport wouldnā€™t work as proof of citizenship. I just look at them for as long as it takes for them to decide ā€œwell, Iā€™ll TRY it to see if it works.ā€ Iā€™m always thinking, ā€œYes, why donā€™t we try sending in the exact forms that are required and see if they work.ā€ And they always DO work.

My sister was able to use her expired passport to get drivers license in CT when they moved but HSBC wouldnā€™t take my expired passport as one of the IDā€™s to be put on my motherā€™s safety deposit box. They also wouldnā€™t take my birth certificate because it doesnā€™t have my married last name on it.

I was pleasantly surprised how little the DMV in my small town cared about paperwork.

My oldest was adopted before the new rule for automatic citizenship if both parents traveled, so we ended up re-adopting her for the Ohio BC and then did the CofC and a passport (that has long since expired). Her original SS card had ā€œnot valid to workā€ stamped on it, but that was cleared up pretty quickly.

When we went to get her learnerā€™s permit all they wanted to see was the Ohio bc, which clearly states she was born in China. I brought everything, just in case. All they wanted was the basic forms of ID anyone else might need to show.

The public schools, again, have only wanted to see what they would see with any other kids - SS card and birth certificate. It might make a big difference having a US birth certificate versus the original country one, and probably saves a few headaches. In my town, all we had to do was petition at the courthouse - it literally cost nothing, just filing some easy paperwork and showing up at a court date and the bc came in the mail a week or so later.

I will say that getting the Certificate of Citizenship is well worth it. Both my children have had theirs since they were tiny (we filed the paperwork within a week of getting home). It was a PITA to have to go to a particular city in person to get it (maybe itā€™s changed) but itā€™s a good piece of paper to have and is not supposed to be questioned.

The SS card designation was actually ā€œvalid for workā€ or something similar. Yes, our 2 year olds were allow to go out and start pulling their weight. Welcome to America, now get a job!

Some states still donā€™t care about the legal status as their DL arenā€™t REAL ID compliant. Public schools also cannot prevent an undocumented student from attending.

My daughter will have dual citizenship until she is 18 (then she can renounce her non-U.S. one). She will be applying to college when she is still 17 and I saw that the app asks if the child has dual citizenship. Any idea why they ask? Does it make a difference (positive or negative)?

Our girls were adopted from China in 1998 and 2000. Our eldest applied to 8 universities around the country from small to very large, was accepted at all and was never asked for proof of citizenship. However when she had to renew her passport this year, her 4th passport as sheā€™s a 19 year old adult now, we were both still required to accompany her along with copies of her adoption certificate. They assured me the next one she could get without us. I said good because we arenā€™t getting any younger!

I have three teens who were adopted from Ukraine ~3 years ago. The oldest will likely be applying to colleges soon. I had no idea these kind of headaches may be waiting for us! If my son has a valid SSN and US passport, I donā€™t understand how there could be any question regarding his citizenship. I thought those documents were bulletproof. What raises the red flag on the college application? Place of birth? The dual citizenship question?

Anyway, thank you for this stickied thread.

It is not the application or admissions that causes problems, but the application for financial aid IF the SSN doesnā€™t reflect the citizenship.

My daughter has been a citizen since 2001 and I changed her SS status at that time. She has a C of C but I havenā€™t used it for anything since her original passport in about 2003. She got her driverā€™s license using only her passport. Sheā€™s had no problems.