Getting a US passport for any child got harder when the State Department decided to "fight" international child abduction by requiring both parents and a child to appear together at the passport office. I'm positive there's never been any cost/benefit evaluation of this measure. I'd wager it's all cost, no benefit.
Getting a US passport for an adopted child is even worse. There are two typical road blocks. One is "name change", the other is proof of citizenship for international adoptees.
The name change problem applies to all adoptees. Under current practice US adoptees are issues a new "birth certificate" and, almost always, their birth names are changed to match the names of adoptive parents. So for the purposes of the passport application, have they had a name change? I think the answer is "no". Their current name is the same as the name on the birth certificate, which is legally their originating name. If you answer "yes" you may run into trouble with demonstrating the legal chain of name change evidence, since, legally, it's never changed.
The proof of citizenship is a pain too. In theory a prior passport is evidence enough, but officials can be puzzled by this and they can request other documents as needed. International adoptee "birth certificates" look like US birth certificates, but they have an added statement that declares they don't serve as proof of citizenship. They only serve as proof of parental relationship. For proof of citizenship there's another document that one is supposed to keep locked away and photocopies are meaningless, so you won't have it at the passport office.
Isn't there a senator somewhere with adoptive children? (McCain's adopted daughter is an adult now, so she's clear of most of this mess.)
Getting a US passport for an adopted child is even worse. There are two typical road blocks. One is "name change", the other is proof of citizenship for international adoptees.
The name change problem applies to all adoptees. Under current practice US adoptees are issues a new "birth certificate" and, almost always, their birth names are changed to match the names of adoptive parents. So for the purposes of the passport application, have they had a name change? I think the answer is "no". Their current name is the same as the name on the birth certificate, which is legally their originating name. If you answer "yes" you may run into trouble with demonstrating the legal chain of name change evidence, since, legally, it's never changed.
The proof of citizenship is a pain too. In theory a prior passport is evidence enough, but officials can be puzzled by this and they can request other documents as needed. International adoptee "birth certificates" look like US birth certificates, but they have an added statement that declares they don't serve as proof of citizenship. They only serve as proof of parental relationship. For proof of citizenship there's another document that one is supposed to keep locked away and photocopies are meaningless, so you won't have it at the passport office.
Isn't there a senator somewhere with adoptive children? (McCain's adopted daughter is an adult now, so she's clear of most of this mess.)
