Possible Concerns Regarding Adoptions And Foreign Births

 

As I may have mentioned before, I was born in Guam. My father was stationed there for the Navy, and my sister started school there. Despite the fact that Guam is an American territory and has been for over a century, I've had my citizenship questioned several times  This was mostly when registering in school, but it raises an interesting question-what happens if a child is born outside the home country of her parents? Would she still be a citizen? What kind of hoops, if any, would you have to jump through? Also, what if you and your baby's father are from different countries? Could your child be a citizen of both countries? In this post, I'm going to attempt to answer this very complicated question. Even though I can only speak for the US, it can still give you some food for thought.

The answer is-yes and no. Most of the time, the US does not allow someone to be a citizen of more than one country except under certain circumstances.

For instance, it is possible for a child born to parents of different nationalities to automatically be granted citizenship of both countries. I once worked with a man whose father was from Denmark while his mother was from the US. Until he was older and joined the military, he was a citizen of both countries. Denmark just happened to allow this, but other countries may not. Since a dual citizen is often subject to the laws of both countries, it's up to you to decide if this is really something you want to deal with.

If your child is born in the US, s/he is automatically a citizen. The same goes for a child born abroad to American parents, like me.  It doesn't matter where a child is born; if she is born to American parents who are there as Americans (for instance, military or diplomatic families), she's a citizen.

To make things even more convoluted, it's possible for a child to have citizenship of a whole host of countries. A child born in the European Union to be a citizen of all EU countries, although they may not have the same rights in all countries.

If you adopt a child from another country, the citizenship of the child depends on the other country. In 1980, The Hague Convention was enacted to regulate international adoptions for the purposes of the child's protection and citizenship. It was started primarily to combat child abductions across international borders and facilitate the child's return home, but it also works with a large number of countries to match children with loving families. If a child is from a country that subscribes to the Convention, there are special guidelines the parents must follow to ensure their child's entry and residence in the country. It's possible to adopt a child from a country that does not subscribe to the Convention, but there may be different processes. Unfortunately, some countries might not process international adoptions at all. For more information about The Hague Convention, visit http://immigration.about.com/od/immigrationbasics/a/Inter_Adopt.htm.

As you can see, the subject of a child's citizenship can be pretty complicated. These are only basic guidelines, so you'll want to do your homework when it comes to the particular countries you're dealing with. I know this seems like an odd thing to think about, but it's becoming more and more relevant as the different countries of the world interact with each other. For more information, visit http://immigration.about.com/od/uscitizenship/f/DualCitizenship.htm.