Jan 21, 2026
Evidence of United States citizenship is important for your adopted child. For this reason, we recommend that you obtain a Certificate of Citizenship for your child following your re-adoption or your registration of foreign adoption. This application is easily accessed online. Below you will find the link to give you additional information on how to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship through USCIS. http://www.uscis.gov/n-600.
The purpose of the Certificate of Citizenship is to establish citizenship. In the past, the federal government has not consistently viewed passports and/or social security cards as definitive evidence of citizenship. There are even rare situations when a birth certificate is insufficient to establish citizenship and a Certificate of Citizenship is necessary.
If an internationally adopted child’s family does not apply for his or her Certificate of Citizenship, that child’s USCIS file remains open. Therefore if, as an adult, an adopted child gets in legal trouble or stays outside of the United States for more than one year, USCIS may not be able to verify that the child is already a United States Citizen. By obtaining the Certificate of Citizenship, the child’s file is complete and USCIS has knowledge that the child is a United States citizen.
Furthermore, presently, from the time the Certificates of Citizenship is requested until the document is received, it is taking a very long time … in some cases, even MORE THAN A YEAR. We are often contacted when families need to help their child get registered for kindergarten, obtain a driver’s license or apply for college. Unfortunately, waiting until these milestones approach to begin the application process can result in not having the desired Certificate of Citizenship in time for whatever deadline you are facing.
The simple reality is that there is no such thing as too much evidence of citizenship. For that reason, Jeanne T. Tate, P.A. strongly recommends that anyone completing an international adoption also obtain a Certificate of Citizenship, and that you begin the Certificate of Citizenship process well before any potential deadlines. Now is not too soon!
Jeanne T. Tate, P.A. does not provide legal representation in connection with immigration matters, however, we offer ministerial assistance with completion of the application form and compiling the attachments to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship for a fee of $350.00.
