The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 provides for automatic naturalization of a child who both has been legally adopted by a U.S. citizen and has lawfully entered the U.S. as an immigrant. This means the child “automatically” becomes a U.S. citizen as soon as he/she meets all of the requirements stipulated in the law. For further information, see the Travel.State.Gov webpage regarding International Adoptions.

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 also provides a method for expeditious naturalization of a child adopted by a U.S. citizen residing abroad. U.S. citizen adoptive parents who are legal residents of The Bahamas or the Turks and Caicos Islands, and who don’t intend to move to the U.S. in the near future may contact the consular section at acsnassau@state.gov for information about the specific requirements.