Adult Korean Adoptee Faces Deportation
International adoptees do not always get automatic citizenship, even in 2011. According to the information posted at http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/types/types_1312.html , in order for a child to qualify, the following conditions must apply:
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Have at least one American citizen parent by birth or naturalization
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Be under 18 years of age
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Live in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent and
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Be admitted as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence.
The last point happens when a child immigrates on an IR-3 visa, but children still immigrate on an IR-4 visa and have to finalize the adoption in the US.
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In addition, if the child is adopted, the adoption must be full and final.
Prior to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (effective February 27, 2001), no internationally adopted child automatically gained citizenship. It was up to the adoptive parents to file the necessary paperwork—but many, in fact, did not.
For those adult adoptees without citizenship papers, “[c]urrent law stipulates that legal residents can be deported if they are convicted for crimes involving drugs, prostitution or other nefarious activities, or if they are sentenced to more than a year in prison”
This is precisely what is happening with the case of a Korean woman adopted as an eight-month old. The story can be found at http://tinyurl.com/4zv8mn6 [Hyphen Magazine 1/21/11 by New American Media]
Other cases of deportations are archived at Pound Pup Legacy: http://poundpuplegacy.org/adoptee_deportation.
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