S. 1376 (111th): International Adoption Simplification Act

Introduced:
Jun 25, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
Sponsor:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
Status:
Signed by the President
Slip Law:
This bill became Pub.L. 111-287.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on November 30, 2010.

Progress
Introduced Jun 25, 2009
Referred to Committee Jun 25, 2009
Reported by Committee Dec 17, 2009
Passed Senate Jul 21, 2010
Passed House Nov 15, 2010
Signed by the President Nov 30, 2010
Cosponsors
7 cosponsors (5D, 2R) (show)
Committees

House Judiciary

Senate Judiciary

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill 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.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Jan 01, 2010.
3 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

11/30/2010--Public Law. (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on July 21, 2010.
The summary of that version is repeated here.) International Adoption Simplification Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to include in the definition of "child," and thus in the exemption from required admissions vaccination documentation, certain children who have been adopted in a foreign country that is a signatory to the Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Convention) or who are emigrating from such a country for U.S. adoption.
Includes in such definition and exemption a child who is under the age of 18 at the time an immediate relative status petition is filed on his or her behalf, has been adopted abroad or is coming for U.S. adoption, and is the natural sibling of:
(1) an adopted child from a Hague Convention signatory country;
(2) a child adopted under the age of 16 who has lived with the adoptive parents for at least two years, or a child who has been abused; or
(3) an orphan who was under the age of 16 at the time an immediate relative status petition was filed on his or her behalf.
Makes such provisions effective on the date of enactment of this Act, except that such an alien sibling who has attained the age of 18 on or after April 1, 2008, shall be deemed to meet the age requirement if a petition for classification of the alien as an immediate relative is filed not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

This summary can be found at http://www.gop.gov/bill/111/2/s1376.

Summary

Under current law, U.S. citizens can generally adopt children from foreign countries and have those children considered as being immediate relatives for immigration purposes if the children are adopted while under the age of sixteen.  However, adoptions are also allowed up to the age of 18 in instances where a U.S. citizen is seeking to adopt a child from a foreign country after having already adopted a sibling of the child. 

 

The implementing legislation to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions did not include this latter provision.  Therefore, the Immigration and Nationality Act’s provision allowing adoptions of siblings under the age of 18 does not apply to children adopted from countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention.  S. 1376 would extend the provision to these sibling adoptions. 

 

The bill contains another provision related to the Hague Convention.  Under current law, prospective immigrants have to be vaccinated against certain diseases before they can enter the U.S.  There is an exemption for adopted children if they are 10 years of age or younger and the adoptive parents certify that the children will receive the necessary vaccinations within 30 days of entry into the U.S.  This exemption was enacted in 1997 to ensure that parents do not have to subject their children to unsafe immunizations in foreign nations.  However, the exemption does not apply to children adopted from countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention.  This bill would expand the exemption to also cover children adopted from Hague signatory countries.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

United States Code

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