My wife who is Korean was adopted in 1975 to us citizens?

Question

ok ill descibe the situation as best i can my wife who was adopted from korea in 1975 to us citizens,What is her status now as far as we know she was never naturlized I am a us citizen and our 2 kids are we just dont know what to do we applied for medical for our kids through our state and they told us my was isnt a us citizen what do we do to remedy the situation how do we find out her status shouldnt she automaticlly be a citizen since she has always been here since she was 2 months old and was adopted by us citizens i mean she has always filed her taxes and has never been into trouble see what those illigals are doing to us making it hard for true americans......

she has a ssn
she has been paying her taxes
we just learned about her status

her parents are no longer alive as far as we can tell they never did anything to make her a citizen all we have is a little green card that is barley legibale her adoption paperwork and her korean birth certificate she dosent even speak the language.

Answer 1

As noted by the last person, the US changed its laws on bringing in foreign born children to allow them to become US citizens when they enter precisely because of situations like this. In many cases, the parents either didn't realize what they needed to do, or never got around to it. This resulted in some adopted children being deported many years later for minor drug busts, etc. Brazil told the US, if you want these children fine, but you have to keep them. If you won't keep them, you can't have them.

So much for the historical background. What you need to do now is go down to your nearest USCIS office and have them look into her records to see what her situation actually is. What was done, and what wasn't. If necessary, she can apply for naturalization like any other green card holder. Might take a while though as USCIS has backlogs for that as well as everything else. So, get down there ASAP. And, while you're down there, renew her greencard.

Answer 2

If she was adopted as a 2 month infant then she be came a US Citizen when she was brought here and her parents registered in the US. The government may give you some **** about the laws now. They do not matter what matters is the law that was in effect at the time and anything else violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution. If they Fu@k with you about it nail their hides to the wall. They are trying to deprive a US Citizen her civil rights and that is a major felony. As in 25 to life with out parole.

Answer 3

Since adoption never conferred citizenship automatically when your wife was adopted and immigrated to the US, as long as she has a green card (or is entitled to one, having entered legally as an immigrant) she can simply apply for naturalization. George, as usual, is correct; do as he says.

By the way, this is far from an unusual problem: people in your wife's situation surface all the time. The process is very simple and straightforward.

Answer 4

A new law was passed in 2000 that grants citizenship to foreign-born children who are adopted by US citizens, but that wasn't the law in 1975. As best as I can figure (since the websites focus on today's laws rather than 32 years ago), her adoptive parents needed to file for her citizenship before her 16th birthday. You should contact them to find out what they did.

Answer 5

link for info.
http://www.hooyou.com/adoption/citizenship.html

her parents may not have finished the paperwork

It is also possible that a mistake was made, either way you might want to see about a lawyer (legal aid perhaps) If you can't afford a lawyer then you'll have to do some research and file the papers yourself.

Answer 6

She's a legal permanent resident, but not a U.S. citizen.

Answer 7

If she has been working, does she have a ss card? if so then there may be a discrepancy that needs to be addressed, contact SSA and they can help you.