Case Update (29 Jan 2025): Matter of Lily; foreign adoption was recognized under DRL even without a copy of the child’s visa

The petitioner adopted a child in China on June 11, 2008. On June 29, 2023, she filed to register the foreign adoption order and sought an order of adoption from the Surrogate’s Court in Nassau County, New York. In the petition, the petitioner noted that the child’s original Certificate of Citizenship and Chinese passport, containing her immigrant visa, was lost. The petition did, however, include a copy of a replacement Certificate of Citizenship, issued by USCIS on April 10, 2023, confirming that the child became a U.S. citizen on June 20, 2008. The petitioner also included, in her filing, an original birth certificate, adoption registration certificate, and Chinese passport. On April 3, 2024, the Surrogate’s Court denied the petition without prejudice, determining it could not determine the validity of the foreign adoption without review of the child’s immigrant visa.

New York state passed as law in 2008, a bill that ultimately became Domestic Relations Law 111-c, which eliminated the need for a parent in New York to re-adopt (go through adoption proceedings a second time in New York) after a foreign adoption proceeding. It recognizes these foreign adoption judgments provided that either adopting parent is a resident of NY, and the validity of the foreign adoption has been verified by granting an IR-3, IH-3, or a successor immigrant visa for the child by USCIS. Children who are adopted in another country are granted either an IR-3 or an IH-3 immigrant visa prior to entering the USA. The USCIS website states that a child admitted to the USA with one of these visas who, inter alia, resides in the USA and otherwise fulfills the conditions of the Child Citizenship Act will automatically become a US citizen and receive a Certificate of Citizenship. If a child is granted a different visa (an IR-4, IH-4, or IR-2), then they get a permanent resident card and must apply for a Certificate of Citizenship instead.

In this case, while the petitioner did not annex a copy of the child’s immigrant visa, because it had been lost, she did provide an affidavit averring that the child had been issued the relevant visa, and provided a copy of the Certificate of Citizenship, issued by USCIS, showing the child became a US citizen only nine days after her adoption. “The record shows that the child would not have been able to automatically obtain a Certificate of Citizenship if she had not possessed the appropriate immigrant visa.” Therefore, the appellate court concluded that the foreign adoption meets the requirements of DR 111-c, including the requirement that the foreign adoption was verified by the granting of the required visa. The Surrogate’s Court order is reversed, and the matter is remitted to the Surrogate’s Court to issue a registration of foreign adoption and an order of adoption.