Fee for N-600K?

If both parents (assuming married) see the child prior to the finalization of the adoption in the foreign country, the child will enter the US on an IR3 visa and be a US citizen upon arriving in the US and will receive a COC automatically within 4-6 weeks. If both parents do not see the child prior to the adoption being completed in the foreign country, the child will enter the US on an IR4 visa as a legal resident and be issued a Green Card. The parents then need to readopt (or whatever the process is in their state) to finalize the adoption and establish the child's US citizenship. At that point the N600 (not N600K) is filed with USCIS to get a COC as proof of their citizenship aquired through readoption. Hope that helps!

Thanks for your reply. We're in a little bit different situation, I think. We adopted our children while residing overseas, but when we first brought them into the States a couple of years ago, we were only here on a visit and, technically, still overseas residents. USCIS granted PR cards, but said we'd need to wait until we returned to live in the US to get their citizenship papers. We've now done that, and have been advised that for cases like ours, need to file the N-600K, not the N-600. It still seems wrong to me that we should be paying this fee, though, since citizenship should be automatic now that we've returned permanently as US residents.

That is an different situation from typical international adoptions. What type of visa do the children have? If they received permanent resident cards it does sound correct that you would have to pay for the COC just like a typical international adoption with an IR4 visa.

If a child enters the U.S. on an IR-3 visa, he/she will now get a COC in the mail, at no cost, within a couple of months. The family does not have to complete any paperwork. The U.S. government considers the adoption "full and final", so automatic citizenship is granted. If a child does not qualify for an IR-3 visa because both parents did not travel, or because the parents live overseas, then the U.S. government does not consider the adoption "full and final". Only a child with a "full and final" adoption qualifies for automatic citizenship. Other children must be readopted or have a recognition of the foreign adoption done before they are considered automatic citizens. Once you readopt or do a recognition, the child DOES become a citizen automatically. However, because the USCIS does not have that information, you must file the appropriate form and pay the appropriate fee to obtain a COC. While we may think that the fee is high, the USCIS believes that it is necessary to cover the costs of adjudicating the child's status and issuing the COC. Sharon