US citizen(adoption) wants career req. security clearance

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hi all- our daughter adopted from China ('02) is interested in STEM careers that might require higher levels of clearance. Her green card expired and we felt that a US passport would always be sufficient to provide proof of citizenship, so never started the looongg and expensive route for the COC. Wondering if you can tell me how to determine if a passport would be sufficient for the careers she is looking in to?

2

It has been noted here, in the past, that a passport is not sufficient in this circumstance. But, others here have said that it SHOULD be. How far into the future are we talking about?

3

I had a similar dilemma.

They did not accept passports, they wanted the naturalization cert only.

4

a quick Google search …
’

1 Like
5

Hi Ed. Well she is a jr in high school right now; so, after college… the screwy part is that Everybody is confused over this- including the gov’t . gov sites do acknowledge that she ‘has’ citizenship
" The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 was designed to make acquisition of U.S. citizenship easier and to eliminate extra steps and costs. Under the Child Citizenship Act, children adopted abroad automatically acquire U.S. citizenship if:

At least one of the child’s parents is a U.S. citizen;
The child is under 18;

  • The child lives in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent;
  • The child is admitted into the United States as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence; and
  • The adoption is final.

Because of the Child Citizenship Act, many parents no longer need to apply separately for a child’s naturalization.

If your adoption does not meet these requirements, you must take additional steps to secure your child’s U.S. citizenship. Children who enter the United States on IH-4 or IR-4 visas automatically acquire U.S. citizenship (assuming they are under 18) as of the date of their full and final adoption in the United States. To obtain a Certificate of Citizenship once the adoption is finalized, beneficiaries file Form N-600 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS). She meets all the above criteria that confers citizenship. No Naturalization is needed. Many parents of China adoptees have freaked over the current administration and believe that their passports will be arbitrarily yanked, that is the only reason most do go to the time ( 10-20 mos of your original paperwork from China being gone) and expense ( currently $1170) of obtaining the Certificate of Citizenship which merely verifies that the named child is a citizen. But that is not something that you would carry around with you, and 99% of people wouldn’t know what it was anyway! gahhhhhhhh

6

Hi Selene, we may not be talking about the same situation. Our child never needed a Naturalization Certificate. She acquired US citizenship because * The child lives in the legal and physical custody of the American citizen parent;

  • The child is admitted into the United States as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence; and
  • The adoption is final.

Because of the Child Citizenship Act, many parents no longer need to apply separately for a child’s naturalization. This quote is from the site travel.gov.

7

I don’t think it’s as different as you think it is.

Per the Most recent SF-86, (https://www.opm.gov/forms/pdf_fill/sf86.pdf), Passports aren’t listed a a citizenship document. In my case, I tried checking the “other” box and listed the passport number for my family member. The security office was having none of it and said that the passport was not an acceptable form of identification.

Maybe your daughter will be lucky enough to have an understanding security officer reviewing her case, but I’ve noticed that the more difficult an applicant’s case it, the longer it takes for it to go through.

I’d assume that without a CoC, your daughter’s case would potentially require more investigation, verification, and review. Maybe they’ll accept her adoption paperwork, but I **suspect ** that there is a high risk that her case will be delayed since it won’t fit neatly within their guidelines for documentation.

The government is notorious for being so bureaucratic that it negatively affects their ability to recruit and retain talent. I know that this is not the answer that you want to hear.

As I am not a security officer and I am not a background investigator, take what I say with a grain of salt. I am basing this off of my own experience, and the experience of other people that I know.

Perhaps @backgdinvestigator could chime in about whether they know how such cases are usually handled. However, I think your best bet may be to talk to a lawyer about this.

8

The cases I have worked had the citizenship question sewed up with the court record and naturalization documents. My area might be better off because of the international adoption agencies used by my Subjects.

9

thank you very much for your tme