[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1376 Referred in House (RFH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1376
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 22, 2010
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
Passed the Senate July 21, 2010.
Attest:
NANCY ERICKSON,
Secretary.