Child Citizenship Act of 2000
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The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 is a United States federal law that allows certain foreign-born, biological and adopted children of United States citizens to acquire U.S. citizenship automatically. These children did not acquire U.S. citizenship at birth, but they are granted citizenship when they enter the United States as lawful permanent residents. The law modified past rules for child citizenship, which only allowed citizenship to be granted through the male parent[citation needed].
[edit] Whom the act applies to
The child must have at least one U.S. citizen parent by birth or naturalization, be under 18 years of age (have been born on or after Feb 27, 1983)[1], live in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent, and be admitted as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence. In addition, if the child is adopted, the adoption must be full and final.
The effective date of the Child Citizenship Act is February 27, 2001. Children who met the requirements of the Act on that date automatically became U.S. citizens. Children who were 18 years of age or older on that date did not acquire U.S. citizenship from the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.
The Act is known as Public Law 106-395, and is codified at 8 U.S.C. ยงยง 1431-33.
