For international adoptees who acquired citizenship before they turned 18 but have not yet acquired the Certificate of Citizenship, the cost is now Zero. It’s usually about $1200, so this is a significant savings!

The Certificate of Citizenship (CoC) is the permanent proof of citizenship. Passports (from the U.S. State Department) prove citizenship and are used for international travel, but they can expire. The CoC never expires, and is a gold standard for proof of citizenship. The CoC is issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Here’s the link to the Form N-600, Certificate of Citizenship, via USCIS. The N-600 is the form that adoptees should use to get their CoC.

Here is a link to the USCIS fee schedule, showing the N-600 cost as 0.

For adult adoptees over 18, here’s a link to a helpful USCIS page: Adult Adoptees and US Citizenship.

The legal documents are crucial in all this. This can be a difficult challenge for some adoptees who do not have access to their documents (the adoptive parents refuse to give them to the adoptee or have lost them, for example.)

That said, adoptees who are over 18 and unsure of their citizenship status can file a Freedom of Information Act request with USCIS for all their records, to determine their status, via Form G-639.

Here’s some other great news: Adoptees United will be launching a legal clinic in July to help folks with requesting records and obtaining a CoC. More details will be available in the coming months. Costs will be minimal. Bravo, Adoptees United!

Why bother with getting the Certificate of Citizenship?

As mentioned above, it’s the gold standard for proof of citizenship.

Beyond that, as years go by and government policies change, the CoC may be even more necessary for those who were not born in the U.S. and who immigrated here, as is the case for international adoptees.

Currently, different states have different approaches to citizenship verification. Some require a CoC for drivers’ licenses at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Security clearances may require a CoC, as do some military roles. Some states may require a CoC for voter registration, particularly online. (Non-citizens are not allowed to vote.)

All these state and federal policies could change in the future, and could affect international adoptee as much as other immigrants.

Adoptive parents who don’t feel the need to get their minor child’s CoC may want to think about when their children are adults, when the parents are no longer alive, and when citizenship verification may change. Noncitizens, or those who cannot prove their citizenship, may have trouble accessing Medicare, for example. That is true now. Access to other government benefits could also depend on proof of citizenship.

And of course noncitizens, including international adoptees who cannot prove citizenship, can be deported. Until the U.S. government decides that all international adoptees should have automatic citizenship, the solid proof is the Certificate of Citizenship.