If you live in the United States but had originally come from another country, you may wonder if you can enjoy the privileges and rights of a U.S. citizen. If another American citizen had adopted you when you were a child, it is possible you are a citizen as well.
The USCIS provides some background on how adult adoptees born abroad may acquire citizenship in the United States.
Your adoption history
Some immigrants become eligible for citizenship because of the circumstances of their adoption. To take an example, you may have come to the United States to become adopted or arrived here for a different reason but completed adoption at a later time.
However, your parents might have adopted you in another country. Still, this is not a disqualifying event. You could have gained citizenship if you later came to the U.S. to live with your adoptive parents.
Possibilities for acquiring citizenship
The U.S. government has specific requirements that you may have followed as part of the adoption process and becoming a U.S. resident. In the event you did not acquire citizenship through these methods, your adoptive parents might have helped you through naturalization to become a citizen.
If you cannot find any personal citizenship documents, it does not mean you are not a citizen. You could be eligible to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship using other information to establish your citizenship.
Knowing this information can not only clarify your standing in the United States, but it could help you bring foreign-born family members into the U.S. and enable them to receive citizenship. You may even wish to adopt a child from another country and raise him or her in the U.S.
