119-hr5492

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5492 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5492

 To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for 
 certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 September 18, 2025

 Mr. Smith of Washington (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for 
 certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes.

 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 the ``Protect Adoptees and American 
Families Act'' or the ``PAAF Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP FOR CERTAIN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED 
 INDIVIDUALS.

 

Section 320

    (b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1431

    (b) ) is amended to read as follows:
 ``

    (b) Adopted Children of Citizen Parent.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Subsection

    (a) shall apply to a child 
 adopted by a United States citizen parent if the child 
 satisfies the requirements applicable to adopted children under 
 subparagraph
        (E) ,
        (F) , or
        (G) of 

section 101

    (b)

    (1) , regardless 
 of the date on which the adoption was finalized.
 ``

    (2) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
 residing in the united states.--Notwithstanding 

section 318, an 
 individual born outside of the United States who was adopted by 
 a United States citizen parent shall automatically become a 
 citizen of the United States when all of the following 
 conditions have been fulfilled:
 ``
        (A) The individual was adopted by a United States 
 citizen before the individual reached 18 years of age.
 ``
        (B) The individual was physically present in the 
 United States in the legal custody of the citizen 
 parent pursuant to a lawful admission before the 
 individual reached 18 years of age.
 ``
            (C) The individual never acquired United States 
 citizenship before the date of the enactment of the 
 Protect Adoptees and American Families Act.
 ``
            (D) The individual was residing in the United 
 States on the date of the enactment of the Protect 
 Adoptees and American Families Act pursuant to a lawful 
 admission.
 ``

    (3) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
 residing outside of the united states.--
 ``
        (A) In general.--An individual who meets all of 
 the criteria described in paragraph

    (2) except for 
 subparagraph
            (D) shall automatically become a citizen 
 of the United States on the date on which the 
 individual is physically present in the United States 
 pursuant to a lawful admission.
 ``
        (B) Inapplicability of grounds of 
 inadmissibility.--The grounds of inadmissibility set 
 forth in 

section 212

    (a) shall not apply to an 
 individual described in subparagraph
        (A) who is seeking 
 admission to the United States.
 ``
            (C) Criminal background check.--Notwithstanding 
 subparagraphs
        (A) and
        (B) , an individual described in 
 subparagraph
        (A) may not be issued a visa unless--
 ``
            (i) the individual was subjected to a 
 criminal background check; and
 ``
            (ii) if the background check conducted 
 pursuant to clause
            (i) reveals that the 
 individual has committed a crime that was not 
 properly resolved, the Secretary of Homeland 
 Security and the Secretary of State coordinated 
 with relevant law enforcement agencies to 
 ensure that appropriate action is taken to 
 resolve such criminal activity.''.
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