Citizenship

You are getting a number of separate issues confused. Let me try to straighten them out. 1. Citizenship. If your child comes home on an IR-4 visa, you must EITHER readopt or (in your case) obtain a recognition of the foreign adoption in your state before he/she becomes an automatic citizen. You will then need to apply for a certificate of citizenship, using the N-600 form. When you apply for the certificate, you will need to show proof that you have obtained a recognition of the adoption in your state. If you do not obtain a certificate, the USCIS will not know that your child is a citizen, because it will not have seen the recognition document, and so it will consider him/her a resident alien. 2. A certificate of foreign birth is not proof of citizenship under any circumstances. It is issued by a state. States are not allowed to "adjudicate status" -- that is, to determine who is and who is not a citizen. Only the State Department and the USCIS are allowed by law to "adjudicate status" -- meaning, to determine who is and who is not a citizen -- for people born abroad. The main proof of citizenship, good in all circumstances, is a certificate of citizenship, which is issued by the USCIS. For many, but not all, purposes, you can also use a U.S. passport, which is issued by the U.S. State Department. Just remember that you cannot get EITHER of these documents for an IR-4 child until you have either readopted or obtained a recognition of your adoption. 3. People don't need to be citizens to obtain Social Security numbers. You can get a SSN the minute you arrive home with your child, even if he/she is an IR-4. All you need to do is to go down to the SS office with your child's foreign passport, foreign birth certificate, and foreign adoption decree, plus some identification for yourself, such as your own passport. The clerk will photocopy your documents and hand them back to you. The SSN is usually issued on the spot, and a card is sent to you within about two weeks. That being said, you should be aware of two things. First, if all of your foreign documents have only the child's foreign name on them, it is likely that the SS card will be issued in the foreign name. Once in a while, a clerk may take pity on you and issue the card in the American name, even without proof of a legal name change, but he/she really shouldn't. But this is really no big deal. For tax purposes, you can simply list the child's foreign name with the American name in parentheses (or vice versa) on the appropriate line. And you will need to do a legal name change in any case, either through readoption or through some other mechanism. So when you do the legal name change, just go back to the SS office with the name change order, fill out a name change form, and wait for the clerk. He/she will photocopy the order and return it to you. Your child's SSN won't change, but you will be sent a card with your child's American name in a couple of weeks. Second, if you do not present proof of your child's American citizenship when you apply for his/her SSN, the SS Administration MUST list him/her as a permanent resident alien. Even if the clerk knows all about the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, he/she is not permitted, by law, to list him/her as a citizen. Again, the SS Administration is not authorized to adjudicate status (see above). Only the USCIS or the State Department can do this. But, again, this is no big deal. Once you readopt or obtain a recognition for your child, you can apply for a certificate of citizenship and/or a U.S. passport for him/her. Once you have one of these documents -- the certificate is the most useful, but takes long to arrive, while the passport is less useful but can be gotten in a couple of weeks -- just go back to the SS office with it and fill out a change of status form. The clerk will photocopy it and return it to you immediately. Your child's SSN won't change, and you may or may not be issued a new card. Only the internal SS records will change. I hope this helps. Sharon