Domestication or recognition of a foreign adoption, often referred to as “readoption,” is critical for internationally adopted children who entered on IR-4 vias. In those cases, it is the court hearing date and resulting order, not entry into the United State, that makes the child a United States citizen. 

Internationally adopted children who enter the United States on IR-3 visas becomes citizens automatically upon entry. Even for those children, however, it may be wise to domesticate the foreign adoption. In Florida, domesticating the foreign adoption facilitates applying for a Florida Certificate of Foreign Birth, which is more easily accepted than foreign birth certificates. In some instances, medical doctors may advise families that their child may be a different age, or even a different biological sex, than what the child’s foreign birth certificate indicates. In those instances, adoptive parents may wish to domesticate the foreign adoption so they may apply for a birth certificate with the correct information.