PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jun 25, 2009
Foreign Adopted Children Equality Act or the FACE Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to set forth automatic citizenship criteria for a child adopted outside the United States by a U.S. citizen parent.
Deems such an adopted child to be a U.S. citizen at birth.
Deems to be a U.S. citizen at birth, after the approval of an application filed within the United States or with a U.S. Embassy, a person who: (1) is older than 18 years of age; (2) was born outside the United States and was adopted by a U.S. citizen parent before such person reached 18 years of age; and (3) was adopted under 16 years of age and has lived with the adoptive parents for at least two years, was abused, or is an orphan who was under 16 years of age at the time an immediate relative status petition was filed on his or her behalf.
Includes within the definition of nonimmigrant an individual brought to the United States as a child to be adopted by a U.S. citizen.
Expresses the sense of Congress that the government of each foreign country from which children are adopted by U.S. citizens should provide the adoptive family with birth history documentation.
People & committees
Sen. Landrieu, Mary L. [D-LA] · D–LA
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Aug 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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