Advertisements
I was adopted by my aunt, my father's sister, US naturalized citizen. Both my father and mother are Thai citizens. I was born in Thailand and came to the US on a visitor visa. My aunt began the adoption process after my arrival. I was adopted, name changed. I received a permanent resident status. Finally, I was naturalized a US citizen.
I had a Thai passport under my Thai name and had used it when I came to the US, I haven't used it since. I have renewed it once, before I applied for US citizenship. I renewed it because I was told I had to have a valid passport to apply for citizenship.
The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 doesn't apply since I was already 18 when it became effective.
I think I was only adopted here in the US and not in Thailand. I have a California birth certificate with my current name and with my aunt listed as the "mother". My father and mother had signed consent forms and submitted it as part of the adoption process.
I am male, but had never applied for Thai citizen card nor served in the Thai military.
So, do I still have my Thai citizenship? I applying to the US Navy and need to know if I have to renounce my Thai citizenship in writing.
Like
Share
The following are grounds for involuntary loss of Thai citizenship: Person voluntarily acquires foreign citizenship. When there exist circumstances suitable for maintaining the security or interests of the State, the government is empowered to revoke Thai nationality of a person who had acquired Thai nationality through naturalization.
ANY QUESTIONS concerning citizenship, or requests for renunciation of citizenship, should be directed to the address below:
Embassy of Thailand Consular Section 1024 Wisconsin Ave., NW Washington, DC 20007
Embassy/Consular Telephone: 202-944-3600 Fax: 202-944-3611
Advertisements
Some countries consider children placed for adoption with foreign families as retaining their citizenship; others automatically revoke the citizenship once the child has emigrated.
In general, Eastern European and Latin American countries are more likely to insist that an internationally adopted child retains his/her original citizenship. As an example, a Russian-born adopted child is required to use his/her Russian passport if he/she wishes to visit Russia, even if he/she has become an American citizen. That child may renounce his/her Russian citizenship only after attaining age 18, by going to a Russian Embassy or Consulate in the U.S. and signing some documents.
Asian countries tend to remove citizenship from internationally adopted children. As an example, both South Korea and China remove citizenship. My daughter is from China, and once her Chinese passport expired, she would not have been allowed to renew it, because she had been adopted by an American citizen and was living in the U.S.
I don't have a specific answer about your situation. While Thailand is likely to follow the pattern of other Asian countries in the case of adopted children, you have a unique situation that, in my estimation, sets you apart from people who were adopted from Thailand in the normal way.
The thing that makes your situation unusual is that your adoption and naturalization were a bit irregular. Normally, your aunt should have gone through the adoption process in Thailand, under Thai law, since adoptions are supposed to be conducted under the law of the child's country of original citizenship.
Depending on Thailand's law, you should have either had a finalized adoption in Thailand or should have received a Thai judge's order of guardianship so that you could be brought to the U.S. for adoption here. You had neither of these things.
You actually came to this country as a tourist and, at least according to U.S. immigration law, committed a crime by overstaying your tourist visa. You are very fortunate that your aunt was allowed to adopt you in her state of residence, and that you were able to attain U.S. citizenship, under the circumstances.
Unfortunately, I have encountered situations where a child was brought to the U.S. on a tourist visa, even though his/her parents intended to place him/her with a relative. No official adoption occurred, because the relative did not realize it was needed, but the child remained in the relative's custody, overstaying his/her tourist visa.
Later, when applying for a college scholarship, the person learned that he/she could not get one because he was not a U.S. citizen, and that he/she could not get citizenship because he/she was in the country illegally.
Technically, the child's parents committed visa fraud, a federal crime, by applying for a tourist visa for the child when they actually planned to leave the child in the U.S. permanently. And technically, the young person could be deported to his/her birth country, which he/she had not seen since babyhood. While appeals could be made, it was not clear whether they would be granted.
As I said before, you are lucky to have been adopted and naturalized. You could have wound up in a similar situation.
Officially, the Thai government probably does not know that you were adopted abroad, and still considers you a citizen, since you were not actually adopted there or sent to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship.
As a result, you probably do have to renounce your Thai citizenship. Your best bet would be to contact the Thai Embassy in the U.S. for further information.
Sharon