ARC 조사에 따르면, 1945년부터 1998년 사이 해외에서 미국으로 입양된 입양인 중 최대 49,000명이 시민권이 없는 것으로 추산된다. 대한민국 보건복지부 발표 자료와 취합했을 때 이 중 절반가량이 한국출신일 가능성이 높다. 이에, 지난 2000년 "소아 시민권 법" (Child Citizenship Act)가 연방의회를 통과, 법제화 되어 외국에서 태어난 입양인의 입양가정의 부모 중 최소 한명이 미국 시민일 경우 자동으로 미국 시민권을 부여하도록 연방 제도를 개정했으나, 법안 통과 당시 적용대상에 나이 제한이 추가되어 현재와 같은 상황이 발생하게 되었다.
이에, 미국 시민권이 없는 해외 입양인들을 구제할 목적으로, "입양인 시민권 법안"이 미 연방의회에서 2016년 부터 매 회기마다 발의되어 왔으나 법으로 제정되지 못하였다.
이번 2024년 입양인 시민권법안은 이러한 허점을 보완하고 영구적이고 입법적인 해결책을 마련하기 위해 다시 도입되었다.
2023년 2월 [Adoptee Rights Law Center] Latest on Citizenship for Intercountry Adoptees
2023년 2월 [아담 스미스 의원실] House of Representatives Passes Rep. Smith’s Adoptee Citizenship Act
2022년 2월 [프레시안] 美 '입양인 시민권법'이 '4수'만에 하원을 통과한 원동력은?
2020년 1월 [FOX News] Reps. Gomez & Woodall: Korean American Day – Let's skip the politics. Congress needs to take these actions
2019년 11월 [The Hill] Congress left international adoptees behind: It's time we fix it
2019년 2월 [NBC Washington] Tens of Thousands of Adoptees Learn They Aren’t US Citizens, Even After Decades Living Here
해외 입양인들이 미국 시민권이 없는 이유는?
Intercountry adoptees born or after Feb. 28th, 1983 (41 years or older as of 2024) were not granted automatic citizenship under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 due to a loophole that excluded adoptees who have reached or past the age of 18. In many cases, these non-U.S. citizen adoptees do not find out about their citizenship status until much later in life when they go to apply for a U.S. passport for international travel or undergo a secure background check. If the adoptee had already reached adulthood at the time of the discovery, they are forced to undergo the complex and lengthy process of naturalization despite having permanently residing in America under U.S. citizen parent(s).
Despite being adopted by U.S. citizen parent(s), there are instances where although the overseas adoptees arrived on an immigrant visa, their adoption may not have been finalized upon arrival or the naturalization process has never started—whether due to misinformation, ill-advice, or negligence on the part of the adoptive parent(s). Currently, only those who arrive on either IR-3 or IH-3 visa are granted automatic citizenship, as long as the child is under 18 years of age and lives in the U.S. with their parents. Those who arrive on either IR-4 or IH-4 visa are granted automatic citizenship, only after their adoption is finalized after arriving in the U.S.
미국 시민권이 없는 해외 입양인의 인구는?
The Adoptee Rights Campaign (ARC) estimates that there are between 25,000 and 49,000 intercountry adoptees who reach adulthood without U.S. citizenship after being adopted between 1945 and 1998.
미국 시민권이 없는 해외 입양인들의 연령대는?
The impacted adoptees—intercountry adoptees who lack U.S. citizenship as an adult—are at least 41 years old, having reached adulthood before the day of the Child Citizenship Act's enactment on February 27, 2001.
피해를 받고 있는 입양인들이 시민권이 없다는 것을 알게된 계기는?
The journey of each and every person is different, but many impacted adoptees had not been made aware about their need for naturalization until after they had reached adulthood. Examples of stories that have been courageously shared include one by an affected adoptee who found out that she wasn't a U.S. citizen just days before her unit's deployment to Iraq, and another adoptee who discovered the fact when applying for a passport.
해외 입양인들이 겪는 어려움은?
Foreign-born adoptees who lack of U.S. citizenship face numerous economic, social and psychological challenges on a constant basis:
Risk of family separation and deportation
Renewal of drivers' license and other forms of government ID
Receiving social security, medical care, and legal justice
Disenfranchisement from voting in U.S. elections
Applying for federal loans for education and housing
Applying for jobs
Prohibition from international travel
해외 입양인들이 앞으로 시민권을 취득할 수 있는 방법은?
The timeline for naturalization varies for every individual but intercountry adoptees may face additional hurdles due to their immigration status. For some foreign-born adoptees, the naturalization process have taken several years and multiple attorneys to obtain the documentation necessary to prove legal residency in the United States, under the physical and legal custody of a U.S. citizen parent.
Individuals must first meet certain requirements to apply for naturalization, such as being at least 18 years old, having a green card for at least five years (3-5 years if living with a U.S. citizen spouse), and residing in the state or USCIS district of where they are applying for three months
Complete and submit Form N-400
Biometrics Appointment
Interview
Naturalization Test
Oath of Allegiance
2024 입양인 시민권 법안의 내용은?
The Adoptee Citizenship Act, if enacted, would provide automatic U.S. citizenship to foreign-born children lawfully adopted by U.S. families who turned 18 years old before the effective date of the Child Citizenship Act on February 27th, 2001. Automatic U.S. citizenship applies when these individuals are physically present in the United States based on a lawful admission. For those residing abroad at the time of enactment, they must receive a background check and have any crimes be resolved by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
2000 소아 시민권 법의 내용은?
Families who adopted children from abroad were previously required to go through a lengthy process to naturalize and gain U.S. citizenship for their adopted children, in addition to the long, costly, and burdensome adoption process. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 eliminated the need for adoptive families to apply to naturalize their newly-adopted children. This law grants automatic citizenship to all foreign-born children brought to the U.S. under the age of 18 and have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen. It applies to all future adoptees as well as those under the age of 18 who were adopted prior to the law's effective date, February 27th, 2001.
오늘날 시민권 없이 해외에서 입양되는 사례는?
Yes, the most common instances are children adoptees who were either victims of human trafficking, brought into the U.S. on a non-immigrant visa, or adopted on the IR-4/IH-4 visa of which their U.S. citizen parents have not finalized the adoption process in their state upon arrival.
IR-3 비자와 IR-4 비자의 차이는?
IH-3 visas are issued for children with full and final adoptions from a Hague Convention country, whereas IH-4 visas are issued when a child is coming to the U.S. from a Hague Convention country to be adopted.
IR-3 and IR-4 visas are issued for adoptions from Non-Hague countries. IR-3 visas are issued when a full and final adoption is completed abroad, and thus, requires that at least one parent (if married) physically see the child prior to or during the adoption proceedings.
Children with IR-3 or IH-3 visas automatically acquire citizenship if they enter the U.S. prior to their 18th birthday and reside in the U.S. with their parents. IR-4 and IH-4 visas, however, do not grant automatic citizenship upon entry to the U.S. but on the date of their adoption in the U.S., if the adoption occurs before the child's 18th birthday.
이미 추방된 인구에 관련된 입양인 시민권 법안의 영향은?
The Adoptee Citizenship Act of 2024, if enacted in its current version, would provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship for eligible adoptees lawfully adopted by U.S. families who currently reside outside of the United States. However, those who have been deported account for less than one-tenth of one percent of the all those born overseas and adopted by American families (512,627 between 1945 and 2016).
입양인 시민권 법안이 법제화 될 경우, 미국 이민 시스템이 오남용 될 가능성은?
No. Both the current requirements around intercountry adoption by American families and the purposes of the Adoptee Citizenship Act require that the adoptees have been lawfully admitted to the U.S. at the time of their arrival as children.
It is virtually impossible to exploit this law for immigration purposes unrelated to adoption. Rather, due to the lack of adequate information among and from adoption agencies and the legal community, as well as incongruency between the state and federal laws, there are several cases in which adoptees struggle for equal legal recognition as children that still pose a great challenge to many families today.
해외 입양인들의 출신 국가는?
According to the Adoptee Rights Campaign, those who have reached adulthood without U.S. citizenship were adopted from Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iran, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Panama, the Philippines, Russia, Samoa, South Korea, St. Kitts, Thailand, United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Vietnam.
"입양인 평등을 위한 전국 연대"는 어떤 단체?
Led by the Korean American Grassroots Conference, Adoptee Rights Campaign, and Holt International, NAAE is a consortium of community organizations, faith-based groups, and adoptee advocates who came together to further raise awareness of the issue and advocate for a permanent, legislative solution on the national level.