[azguatemom]

Hi everyone. I just joined so please bear with me if the questions are repetitive. My wonderful son was adopted from Guatemala 14 years ago. I got his passport quite some time ago and assumed that it took care of his citizenship status. Why do I need a certificate of citizenship?

Secondly, do our adopted children retain their Guatemalan citizenship?

Thirdly, off-topic, but since I hopefully got someone's attention, anybody know of any other Guate adoptees in the Phoenix area?

[alreadylove2005]

From what I understand, the certificate of citizenship doesn't expire like a passport does, which avoids potential problems of you or son someday forgetting to renew the passport. Sometimes, a certificate of citizenship is more accepted. With the COC, there is no doubt, although there shouldn't be any doubt with a passport either.

That said, we haven't gotten the certificate of citizenship yet either. Like your son, Maya does have her passport. The cost of the COC just doesn't make sense to me and causes me to postpone again and again. So thanks for asking the question, I'm interested in the replies too!

[Quesita]

Welcome to the forums Azguatmom!

Immigration laws and adoption procedures have changed a great deal over the past 14 years. When you say you got a passport for your son, I assume that you mean a US passport. If he has a US passport, he is, indeed, a US citizen.

I don't know the process of applying for the CoC, because mine came automatically, based on the fact that my daughter became a citizen upon entering the country, based on the kind of visa she entered with. However, I have been advised to do the re-adoption process, which will also result in the creation and issuance of a NYS birth certificate. I am guessing that you did not do the re-adoption.

It might be in your son's best interest to consult an attorney so that you clearly understand your options. It might be best to do the re-adoption at this point, or it might not matter. In terms of the CoC, it might just be a question of filling out a form and paying a fee. You could google adoption attorneys in your community, or you could call a local adoption agency and ask them if they have someone to recommend.

Good luck, and keep us updated!

Oh. And never be shy about asking questions on these forums.

[guatemama94]

Hi!!! Welcome to the forum

With all of the issues in our country these days I think it is very important to have a COC (certificate of citizenship). Children who are adopted internationally now and come home on an IR-3 visa receive a COC automatically in the mail approx. 4+ weeks after arriving home. The IR-3 visa is issued if the parents visited with the child in the child's home country prior to finalizing the adoption. If the parents were unable to visit the child prior to finalizing the adoption the child would have travelled home on an IR-4 visa. In this situation, the child would receive a green card and then you have to submit the necessary paperwork for the COC.

Now, in your situation: I am assuming since you got him home prior to 2001 (when the citizenship act was signed) he received a green card. Our DS came home in 2000 so I am going by our experience. Filing for the COC is fairly simple. Just a lot of photo copies and paying the fee.

Now, many people on the forum will tell you that no one has ever "pinned them down" to provide *proof* that their adopted child was a citizen. I can also attest to that, but times are changing. Think of it this way....we know how that our children will someday grow up and maybe get married, have jobs, travel etc. Given the current climate regarding illegal immigrants I think that since this document is available to them, it is worth getting. Who knows when they may need it, right?

Maybe someone else can chime in?

As far as retaining Guatemalan citizenship.....this is a topic that comes up every now and again on here too. Last summer we renewed our DS's Guatemalan passport. In our area there is a Guatemalan consolate and they offer that service. When we went we brought all of the copies of the paperwork from the adoption as well as his expired Guatemalan passport and his US one too. They spoke with both me and DH and needed the numbers on his Guatemalan Birth Cert. the process was fairly simple (just waited in line a while!) We spoke with one of the consolate's representative's and she said he would always be considered a citizen of Guatemala because he was born there (and record of his birth remains in the records).

Quesita mentioned readoption to get a state issued BC. I think that is a great idea too. Our cost was about $2000, but it allows him to request a BC here. We only have a few copies of the Guatemalan BC now. So whenever he is older and needs to request a BC for anything he will be able to request from our state. Some states allow you to do a "recognition of foreign adoptions" which will also allow you to have a state issued BC.

Hope this helps some!! Again, welcome to the forum! Our son is about the same age as yours I'm guessing. He turns 14 in Oct. (Hence my name Guatemama94 --for the year he was born) BTW, we just applied for the COC in 2007 (7 years after being home!!) We took our time too

[annaguat]

If you got a US passport you must have used his COC to get it. I have two children that came home about 13 yrs ago and for all my foreign adoptive chidlren I needed the COC to get the US passport. Even an expired US passport can be used to proof citizenship but not everyone will accept it as proof not even a valid US passport. This has been our experience. As for the COC, I have been asked multiple times for mine as has DH. Anna

[azguatemom]

Many thanks to all of you for the warm welcome and very helpful replies.

I did do the readoption process in the NJ court system shortly after returning in 1994 and we do have the NJ birth certificate. That and the adoption papers were what we used to get the passport. He did get a green card which I still have. How could I forget the customs agent in Houston giving the little canned speech about how he could get a job? There he was at 11 months in a baby pouch--how funny.

We lived in NJ just across the river when the WTC went down so I became very conscious of not having proof of his citizenship. That's when I got the first passport, and, yes living in the Phoenix area I am feeling the anger and hostility about immigrants. I will definitely take your advice and move to get the COC as a back-up. I think we may have a Guate consulate here so I will get his Guate passport renewed also.

We just did three weeks in Guate, two in Antigua and one in the Lake Atitlan for his first trip back and it really worked out great. He is really stoked about going back and taking some friends from school for some language study and travel.

Thanks again for all your help. I am so glad to have discovered this forum, even if it is late in my adoption journey. For those of you in the process, my heart and prayers are with you!

[guatemama94]

You're welcome!!! Let us know if you need help with the COC etc. Oh, after you file that you can file a G-884 to the USCIS and you can get all those original documents returned to you...You know the ones in the "mysterious" envelope that you gave the INS when you entered the country. There are a lot of people on here that can help with all this little paper chasing steps. Good luck

[Devora]

As for Guatemala -- they retain their citizenship for life, even if you don't keep the Guatemalan passport updated. But it's much easier to keep it updated than it is to get one after the previous one expires. Even if you don't live near a consulate, you can still do it through the mail. If it's expired then you just need to contact the closest Guatemalan consulate's office and ask what you need to do to get a new one.