[SheilaCo]

Hi all,

I'm sure this has been asked and answered but I'm having trouble finding this exact situation through by searching old posts...

I have social security cards for my kids that were issued before we readopted in NJ (came home on IR4 visas). They are in their old names with our surname of course. Now that we have readopted, I have the NJ birth certificate and want to have the names changed on Soc Sec cards but...I don't have a COC. Shouldn't I be able to do this without that? Also, can I get a US Passport for them with just the BC from NJ.

Thanks!

Sheila

[cborsa7]

Now that we have readopted, I have the NJ birth certificate and want to have the names changed on Soc Sec cards but...I don't have a COC. Shouldn't I be able to do this without that? Also, can I get a US Passport for them with just the BC from NJ.

Maybe..
You should be able to change the name with Social security with your readoption paperwork. It (shouldn't) be a problem as long as the paperwork lists the old name to the new name. Sometimes your office will require you to show a name matching COC. It will all depend on the office for this. Bring everything you have and keep your fingers crossed.
As far as a passport, you cannot get a passport without proof of citizenship so you will need a COC to do this. Again, you could include your readoption paperwork to establish the name connections to the old COC assuming you have one. But you will need to show a COC of some sort because the NJ BC does not establish citizenship.

[sak9645]

You don't need a CoC to do a name change in SS records. Just bring the document with the name change order to the office and fill out name change form. When called to the clerk's desk, give him/her the document and form. He/she will photocopy the decree and give it right back to you. Your child's SSN won't change, but you'll get a new card with the corrected name in the mail within a couple of weeks.

In most cases, there will be no problem at all. Once in a while, you may get a "stinker" who challenges the paperwork because it doesn't specifically state that "the child formerly known as X will now be known as Y". Some states do not include the old name with the new name on the order because of sealed records laws dating back to era when most domestic adoptions were closed, and the clerk may want more verification of the fact that the two names refer to the same person. But this roadblock doesn't usually happen.

As to the passport, technically the Passport Agency does NOT require a COC in order to issue a passport to an adopted child. The Passport Agency is a branch of the U.S. State Department, and both the State Department and the USCIS are allowed by law to "adjudicate status" -- that is, to determine who is and who is not a citizen by looking at original documents and seeing, for example, whether an adopted child qualifies for citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act.

In other words, the Passport Agency should be able to look at the foreign birth certificate, foreign adoption decree, foreign passport with the U.S. visa stamp in it, and -- in the case of IR-4 children -- a readoption decree or recognition document, and say, "OK, your kid is a citizen and we can issue a passport."

In fact, when the Act was first passed, the State Department issued a document URGING people to get passports before they got CoCs for their kids, since it was taking so long for the USCIS to issue the CoCs. They made it very clear that they WOULD adjudicate status and issue passports without needing CoCs.

Unfortunately, it appears that concerns about terrorism and such are causing a major tightening of rules. There is much less willingness to let Passport Agency officials adjudicate status. As a result, a CoC IS now required to get a passport for an adopted child, although I suppose that if someone wanted to make a court test of it, he/she might prevail. But with all the other hassles in our lives, who would be willing?

Do remember that a state birth certificate is NEVER proof of citizenship for a foreign born person. Think about it. By law, ANYONE born in the U.S. is automatically a U.S. citizen -- even the child of an undocumented alien. As a result, if a person has a birth certificate showing birth in the U.S., this automatically means that he/she is an American citizen. But with an internationally adopted child or other immigrant, a state Certificate of Foreign Birth (which is the correct term for a birth certificate issued to a person born overseas), does not indicate that he/she was born in a U.S. hospital, because he/she wasn't; it shows that he/she was born overseas. A person born overseas MAY OR MAY NOT have obtained U.S. citizenship, and thus the certificate of foreign birth is meaningless for determining whether he/she is a citizen. There needs to be a document, such as a CoC or passport, that confirms that the foreign born person has become a citizen.

Sharon