[sak9645]

If your twins came home on an IR-4 and you did not readopt or do a "recognition" in your home state, your children are NOT citizens, and you won't be able to get them a passport or a certificate of citizenship, since they are not citizens.

Under USCIS rules, if both spouses in a married couple, or the person adopting as a single, traveled and saw the child prior to the issuance of a final decree of adoption abroad, an IR-3 visa is issued.

The IR-3 visa means that the USCIS recognizes your adoption as "full and final". Doing a readoption or recognition in your state is not required unless your state has specific requirements for it.

With an IR-3, your child becomes a U.S. citizen automatically upon entering the U.S., and, nowadays, a certificate of citizenship is sent automatically. If you adopted before the decision to send certificates automatically, then you simply file the N-600 to get a certificate, though you will have to pay the fee. You can also apply for a U.S. passport right away.

HOWEVER, an IR-4 visa is granted in situations where either:

a) Only one spouse in a two-parent family saw the child before a final decree of adoption was granted overseas.

b) No parent saw the child before a final decree of adoption was granted overseas; there was a proxy adoption.

c) The child was brought to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship for adoption in the parents' home state (a model used in Korea and a few other countries, but not in China).

If a child comes home on an IR-4 visa, then the USCIS does NOT consider the adoption to be "full and final", even if a decree of adoption was issued overseas. When a child does not have a full and final adoption, he/she cannot become a U.S. citizen unless either:

1. You readopt him/her in your home state, assuming that readoption is allowed by your state law.

2. You do a "recognition" of the adoption in your home state, assuming that it has a process for recognitions.

Some states have processes for readoption and recognition, while other states have processes only for one of these options.

Readoption is a legal process -- a sort of "adoption lite" if you will -- that actually involves a judge issuing an order declaring you to be the legal parent(s) of the child. You can use readoption to do a legal name change, if the child's American name is not on any of the foreign paperwork.

In some states, readoption is fairly easy, and you can do it without a lawyer; in others, use of a lawyer is mandatory or strongly recommended. In some states, you may need such things as an updated homestudy, some post-placement visits, and new police clearances and medical clearances.

Readoption tends to be more expensive and time consuming than recognition, but it offers a bit more protection in situations related to inheritance rights and such. It provides an adoption decree that may be more acceptable in cases where you are asked to provide one. In some states, you can't get a state birth certificate without it.

Recognition is an administrative process, whereby a government office issues a document indicating that your state accepts the validity of your foreign adoption. Because it is not a legal process, it cannot be used to do a legal name change.

Obtaining a recognition is usually very easy and cheap, and no lawyer is required. You go to a government office, fill out a form, and provide some simple paperwork. A recognition document will be sent to you. Since it is not an adoption decree, you will have to show BOTH the recognition statement and your foreign adoption decree, if someone wants to see proof of a legal adoption.

Once you receive a readoption decree or recognition statement, your child is automatically a U.S. citizen. You can then file the N-600 to obtain a certificate of citizenship for him/her. You can also obtain a U.S. passport for your child. You will simply submit the readoption decree or the recognition statement with the rest of the required paperwork.

I hope this clears up the matter for you, and that you take action quickly to make your kids citizens and obtain proof of their citizenship.

Sharon