Determining US citizenship

Kenmartins

New Member
Hello,
I’ll appreciate if someone can help me as I’m trying to figure out if I am already a US citizen or what Forms I need to file for citizenship.

1. I was adopted on October 1977 at 13 years of old In the Philippines
2. My adopted mother was a US permanent resident at the time of my adoption. She became a US citizen March 1978
3. I arrived in the United States as a permanent resident November,1980. I have the old green card that has no expiration date.

Im trying to determine if I am a citizen when my adopted mother because a citizen in 1978 or do I need to apply for naturalization.
Thank you.
 
You definitely did not become a citizen in 1978 because you were not yet a permanent resident at that time. My understanding is that, prior to 2001, adopted children must be residing in the US as permanent residents at the time of the adoptive parents' naturalization in order to derive citizenship. If the parents naturalized first and the adopted child became a permanent resident later, it doesn't count. (Furthermore, both adoptive parents would have needed to naturalize.) So you did not derive citizenship in 1980 either.

So you probably need to apply for naturalization now.
 
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