[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1376 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1376

                      One Hundred Eleventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten


                                 An Act


 
To restore immunization and sibling age exemptions for children adopted 
  by United States citizens under the Hague Convention on Intercountry 
        Adoption to allow their admission into the United States.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as ``International Adoption Simplification 
Act''.
SEC. 2. EXEMPTION FROM VACCINATION DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENT.
    Section 212(a)(1)(C)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1182(a)(1)(C)(ii)) is amended by striking ``section 
101(b)(1)(F),'' and inserting ``subparagraph (F) or (G) of section 
101(b)(1);''.
SEC. 3. SIBLING ADOPTIONS.
    Section 101(b)(1)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
U.S.C. 1101(b)(1)(G)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(G)(i) a child, younger than 16 years of age at the time 
        a petition is filed on the child's behalf to accord a 
        classification as an immediate relative under section 201(b), 
        who has been adopted in a foreign state that is a party to the 
        Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in 
        Respect of Intercountry Adoption, done at The Hague on May 29, 
        1993, or who is emigrating from such a foreign state to be 
        adopted in the United States by a United States citizen and 
        spouse jointly or by an unmarried United States citizen who is 
        at least 25 years of age, Provided, That--
                ``(I) the Secretary of Homeland Security is satisfied 
            that proper care will be furnished the child if admitted to 
            the United States;
                ``(II) the child's natural parents (or parent, in the 
            case of a child who has one sole or surviving parent 
            because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or 
            desertion by, the other parent), or other persons or 
            institutions that retain legal custody of the child, have 
            freely given their written irrevocable consent to the 
            termination of their legal relationship with the child, and 
            to the child's emigration and adoption;
                ``(III) in the case of a child having two living 
            natural parents, the natural parents are incapable of 
            providing proper care for the child;
                ``(IV) the Secretary of Homeland Security is satisfied 
            that the purpose of the adoption is to form a bona fide 
            parent-child relationship, and the parent-child 
            relationship of the child and the natural parents has been 
            terminated (and in carrying out both obligations under this 
            subclause the Secretary of Homeland Security may consider 
            whether there is a petition pending to confer immigrant 
            status on one or both of such natural parents); and
                ``(V) in the case of a child who has not been adopted--

                    ``(aa) the competent authority of the foreign state 
                has approved the child's emigration to the United 
                States for the purpose of adoption by the prospective 
                adoptive parent or parents; and
                    ``(bb) the prospective adoptive parent or parents 
                has or have complied with any pre-adoption requirements 
                of the child's proposed residence; and

            ``(ii) except that no natural parent or prior adoptive 
        parent of any such child shall thereafter, by virtue of such 
        parentage, be accorded any right, privilege, or status under 
        this chapter; or
            ``(iii) subject to the same provisos as in clauses (i) and 
        (ii), a child who--
                ``(I) is a natural sibling of a child described in 
            clause (i), subparagraph (E)(i), or subparagraph (F)(i);
                ``(II) was adopted abroad, or is coming to the United 
            States for adoption, by the adoptive parent (or prospective 
            adoptive parent) or parents of the sibling described in 
            clause (i), subparagraph (E)(i), or subparagraph (F)(i); 
            and
                ``(III) is otherwise described in clause (i), except 
            that the child is younger than 18 years of age at the time 
            a petition is filed on his or her behalf for classification 
            as an immediate relative under section 201(b).''.
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
    (a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), the 
amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Exception.--An alien who is described in section 
101(b)(1)(G)(iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as added by 
section 3, and attained 18 years of age on or after April 1, 2008, 
shall be deemed to meet the age requirement specified in subclause 
(III) of such section if a petition for classification of the alien as 
an immediate relative under section 201(b) of the Immigration and 
Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1151(b)) is filed not later than 2 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.