PAAF Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5492 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5492

 To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for 
  certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 18, 2025

  Mr. Smith of Washington (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide for automatic acquisition of United States citizenship for 
  certain internationally adopted individuals, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Adoptees and American 
Families Act'' or the ``PAAF Act''.

SEC. 2. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP FOR CERTAIN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED 
              INDIVIDUALS.

    Section 320(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
1431(b)) is amended to read as follows:
    ``(b) Adopted Children of Citizen Parent.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subsection (a) shall apply to a child 
        adopted by a United States citizen parent if the child 
        satisfies the requirements applicable to adopted children under 
        subparagraph (E), (F), or (G) of section 101(b)(1), regardless 
        of the date on which the adoption was finalized.
            ``(2) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
        residing in the united states.--Notwithstanding section 318, an 
        individual born outside of the United States who was adopted by 
        a United States citizen parent shall automatically become a 
        citizen of the United States when all of the following 
        conditions have been fulfilled:
                    ``(A) The individual was adopted by a United States 
                citizen before the individual reached 18 years of age.
                    ``(B) The individual was physically present in the 
                United States in the legal custody of the citizen 
                parent pursuant to a lawful admission before the 
                individual reached 18 years of age.
                    ``(C) The individual never acquired United States 
                citizenship before the date of the enactment of the 
                Protect Adoptees and American Families Act.
                    ``(D) The individual was residing in the United 
                States on the date of the enactment of the Protect 
                Adoptees and American Families Act pursuant to a lawful 
                admission.
            ``(3) Limited application to certain adopted individuals 
        residing outside of the united states.--
                    ``(A) In general.--An individual who meets all of 
                the criteria described in paragraph (2) except for 
                subparagraph (D) shall automatically become a citizen 
                of the United States on the date on which the 
                individual is physically present in the United States 
                pursuant to a lawful admission.
                    ``(B) Inapplicability of grounds of 
                inadmissibility.--The grounds of inadmissibility set 
                forth in section 212(a) shall not apply to an 
                individual described in subparagraph (A) who is seeking 
                admission to the United States.
                    ``(C) Criminal background check.--Notwithstanding 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B), an individual described in 
                subparagraph (A) may not be issued a visa unless--
                            ``(i) the individual was subjected to a 
                        criminal background check; and
                            ``(ii) if the background check conducted 
                        pursuant to clause (i) reveals that the 
                        individual has committed a crime that was not 
                        properly resolved, the Secretary of Homeland 
                        Security and the Secretary of State coordinated 
                        with relevant law enforcement agencies to 
                        ensure that appropriate action is taken to 
                        resolve such criminal activity.''.
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