Social Security Card
Within a few days after returning to the United States, we went down to the local Social Security office to get Emily a social security number. In order to claim a child on your federal tax return, the child must have a social security number. We wanted to make sure that Emily had a social security number before we submitted the upcoming annual federal tax return (we always file early).
Readoption
On March 6, 2003, I submitted an application for a (re-)adoption hearing. On April 3, 2003, we went to the California Superior Court (County of Sacramento) for the (re-) adoption hearing. Although the adoption in China is formally recognized by the US and California governments, we had Emily formally adopted in California too. The benefits are: 1.) Emily’s name was legally changed to Emily Jian Kawada. She came to this country with her Chinese name (Jian Ying Gan). All the documents she had prior to the California adoption hearing had her Chinese name on them. 2.) the California adoption process results in a State of California issued birth certificate with her new legal name. Copies of this birth certificate are available through the State of California any time in the future. 3.) the California adoption process recognizes Emily’s full inheritance rights under California law should anything happen to us (her parents).
On May 10, 2003, we received in the mail a certified copy of Emily’s State of California issued birth certificate with her new legal name.
U.S. Passport
Although legally Emily became a US citizen when she arrived in San Francisco on December 19 based on the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, she was not given written documentation to prove she is a U.S. citizen.
There are two ways to obtain documentation of US citizenship. One way is to obtain a U.S. passport from the U.S. State Department (via the local post office). The second way is to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship from the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS, formerly the INS). Though by law Emily is a U.S. citizen, for documentation purposes, our adoption agency recommended obtaining both a U.S. passport and a Certificate of Citizenship.
We applied for and received a US passport for Emily in May 2003 (it took less than two weeks and we didn’t ask for it to be rushed!).
Since Emily applied for a Social Security number before obtaining one of these two documents, she was listed in her Social Security record as a “legal alien” (the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 hadn’t caught up with the Social Security Administration). And since we applied for a social security number for Emily before she legally changed her name (through the re-adoption process), Social Security had in their records Emily’s Chinese name. In June 2003, I went down to the local Social Security office and submitted a one page page to change her legal name and citizenship status (actually, it was the same form as the one used to initially get a social security number).
Certificate of Citizenship
In late June 2003, we applied for a Certificate of Citizenship from the BCIS. By mid August, we received a letter from the Sacramento BCIS office informing us we were scheduled for an interview during the last week of August. On August 29, we went down to the BCIS office in Sacramento for an appointment. The appointment took a total of 20 minutes (we showed up a few minutes early and were taken in just a few minutes after arriving) and only involved showing a friendly BCIS officer Emily’s green card and signing a couple of forms. 10 minutes of the time in the BCIS office involved waiting for a Certificate of Citizenship to be typed up. I signed the Certificate after it was typed. However, the Certificate was held onto by the BCIS until a citizenship ceremony specifically for adopted children was held at the Sacramento Zoo in the middle of September.
As of 2004, there is no need to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship from the BCIS. Certificates of Citizenship are mailed to the parents of the children who enter the U.S. on IR3 visas within 45 days of entry, automatically free of charge.