@CoffeeAddict
It’s no secret that Joseph’s daughter loves spending the summer in our home, with all my progeny
BUT, I don’t take adoption lightly.
Our youngest daughter was adopted in China. The experience was trying, painful and expensive, but worth it.
American government officials at many levels don’t understand US adoption/citizenship laws.
When she wanted to get a drivers license, CT Motor Vehicle Dept insisted on a copy of her Green Card and Naturalization papers.
BUT, the law is that a child adopted abroad by American citizens is instantly a US Citizen. She did not have to be naturalized. She has a birth certificate issued by the State Of CT Probate Court at the time her name was legally changed from the birth Chinese name to the name of our choosing.
I had to climb through 6 layers of management at DMV and finally to their chief Counsel and provide him a copy of the State Department directives that declare this instant citizenship. For years DMV had been turning away adoptees and not issuing licenses. Now there is a procedure manual in every CT DMV branch clarifying this.
When she wanted a US passport to travel to EY, it was denied. Why? The passport office insisted on a valid Green Card. Something she never had or needed. It took a call from our Congressman to straighten this out.
Even registering to vote was an issue because her CT Birth Certificate lists China as place of Birth.
This is not unusual, there are many children born abroad who are US Citizens. Getting a US Birth Certificate is common.
Educating Civil Servants in the law is hard