[Travelkid]

Jamie came home last December on an IR3 Visa. We re-adopted him in VA and did a name change. After I received the court papers with re-adoption/name change I got his new SS card and sent off for the new COC (I kept a copy of the the old COC) in October.

This is my problem; we did not get a passport before we sent in for the new COC. We are supposed to be going out-of-the country in June and have an appt w/the PO next Friday for his passport. No one seems to be able to give an answer till we meet the processor regarding whether we can still get the passport (I have all other paperwork). Has anyone else expereinced this and were you able to get the passport issued?

I am just sick about this. After two years of filing paperwork I cannot beleive I dropped the ball at the end. Any help or advice from my wise forum friends would be greatly appreciated!

[mommytoEli]

i did a similar thing. i spoke to many many people in the passport office and they all said there is no way for me to get a passport without his coc, so i must wait. she actually laughed at me when i asked if their computers were all connected so they could just look it up. lol. so i wait.

[dspakowsky]

I'm so, so, sorry, but you need an orginal CoC to get a Passport.

I hope someone has some advice about you can get help with this.

[Travelkid]

Thank you for responding so quickly. I don't have much hope that the COC will get here quickly - from what I am hearing 18 months......oh, well may be next year! Luckily I didn't book our flights yet!

[MomofFelix]

Just FYI, we've been waiting nearly 9 months for our son's new COC with the name change. Thankfully, we did got his passport before sending it in.

Who knows, maybe they will accept your copy of the COC when you apply for a passport? (Although the COC document indicates that it should never be copied, we did too!). If they accept a copy, your legal adoption papers should be enough to explain the name difference to the passport agency.

Good luck!

[sesmom]

We were able to get our daughter's passport without her COC in July of this year. I had sent in her COC to have her name changed in March and didn't get it back until September so I included the following original documents with the passport application instead:

1) Guatemala Birth Certificate (with translation)
2) Adoption Protocolo (with translation)
3) Guatemala Passport showing IR-3 Visa
4) State Birth Certificate
5) State Recognition of Foreign Adoption (To show her name change)

The application center I went to wasn't sure if I needed everything but we included it just in case. Everything was returned with her passport.

Good luck!

Ann

[mommy2jaun]

I agree with sesmom. I got my son's passport with no problem. We did not have his COC. I basically just sent what sesmom listed above. We never got any questions about it. We received his passport no problem. Hope that helps!

[Evan's Folks]

Some friends of ours brought their son home on an IR-4 visa on the same day we brought our son home. They then readopted him in Georgia, got a Georgia birth certificate and then applied for and received his US passport. They were able to do this without ever applying for or receiving a COC. It took a little time and some phone conversations to verify that the PO has the right information, but they got the passport.

For reference, the brought their son home in April 2007, completed the readoption that summer, applied for the US passport and received it before year-end. I know this because they had it we went to the SS office together the day after Christmas to apply for SS cards.

[jeannecr]

Wow--I am keenly interested in this, too. Sent in our COC last July for name change. Some of us should try the alternate method and see if we can do it.

[gdbe]

It is covered under the child citizenship act of 2000. If the guat passport has the INS stamp I-551, and the adoption is final, and you have the other documentation, that is enough.

Here is the link from the government website:
Child Citizenship Act Of 2000

You can always print it off, and bring it with you to the passport office, in case they are not correctly informed .

Gail

[dspakowsky]

Gail - that's good news! Thanks!

[sak9645]

The U.S. Passport Office, which is part of the State Department, IS permitted to "adjudicate status". This means that it can determine, by looking at original adoption documents, whether a child does or does not qualify for automatic citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.

Therefore, it CAN issue a passport without seeing a certificate of citizenship issued by the USCIS. The main things it needs are the "A-number" (Alien Registration Number) in the child's foreign passport or green card, the foreign birth certificate, and the foreign adoption decree, as well as a readoption decree or recognition document if the child came home on an IR-4 visa.

If the child's American name does not appear on any of the foreign documents, and if readoption or a legal name change by another method has not occurred, then the child's foreign name MUST be put on the U.S. passport.

If the child came home on an IR-4, and readoption or recognition in the parents' state of residence did not occur, the child does NOT qualify for a passport since he/she does not become a citizen until one of these events occurs. U.S. passports will be issued only if an applicant meets U.S. citizenship requirements.

Sharon

[Travelkid]

Thank you, thank you.........you made my day. We have an appt at the PO next Friday. I'll keep you all posted............

[JillnChris]

I don't really know anything about passports since I havn't applied for Eva's yet but wouldn't you be able to get one with her U.S. birth cert.? Just a thought.

[mommytoEli]

but wouldn't you be able to get one with her U.S. birth cert.? Just a thought.

in some states, CA being one, the birth cert is not a normal bc, it says something like, "delayed registration of foreign birth," at the top.... therefore, for us, we can not just use that bc it does not prove citizenship.