Case Story
We Adopted Our Child Abroad — Is She a U.S. Citizen?
When American parents adopt a child overseas and try to get her a U.S. passport at the embassy, they often walk away confused and empty-handed — not because their daughter isn’t eligible, but because they applied through the wrong door entirely.
The Family
Brad — U.S.-citizen father, born in Ohio, working in Seoul as a software engineer for a multinational company
Kylie — U.S.-citizen mother, born in California, accompanying Brad to Korea on a dependent visa
Clara — the couple’s adopted daughter, born in South Korea, adopted through a Korean agency at four months old
Brad and Kylie had lived in Seoul for three years when they finalized Clara’s adoption. She was the only child they’d ever wanted, and getting her a U.S. passport felt like the obvious next step.
What They Tried First: The U.S. Embassy in Seoul
Brad and Kylie went to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and applied for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad — commonly known as a CRBA. They assumed it was the right document because it’s what U.S.-citizen parents abroad use to document their children’s citizenship.
The embassy denied the application.
This wasn’t a bureaucratic error. A CRBA documents citizenship that already exists from birth — it applies to children who were born to a U.S.-citizen parent and acquired citizenship at the moment they were born, by operation of law. Clara didn’t qualify because she wasn’t born to U.S.-citizen parents. She was born in Korea, to Korean parents, and later adopted. The CRBA was simply the wrong form for her situation.
The Right Path: Form N-600K
When Brad and Kylie came to us, the answer was clear: Clara’s path to citizenship was Form N-600K — Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
N-600K exists precisely for children like Clara: born outside the United States, currently living outside the United States, with at least one U.S.-citizen parent (biological or adoptive). It doesn’t require the family to uproot their lives abroad. It does require the child to be temporarily present in the United States for a naturalization interview and ceremony — but “temporarily” means exactly that, typically a short trip of a few weeks.
Why the CRBA and N-600K Are Not the Same Thing
This is the distinction that trips up almost every family in Brad and Kylie’s situation, and it’s worth being explicit about.
A CRBA documents citizenship that already existed from birth. The child is a citizen whether or not you ever file the paperwork — the CRBA just proves it. That’s why it’s filed at the embassy right after the child is born.
An N-600K confers citizenship that doesn’t yet exist. The child is not a U.S. citizen until the application is approved and the naturalization certificate is issued. That certificate has a specific date on it — and that date matters, because it determines when the child’s U.S. citizenship legally begins.
For Clara, this meant she was not a U.S. citizen when Brad and Kylie went to the embassy. She became one after her N-600K was approved and she was naturalized during a brief trip the family made to the United States.
The Deadline That Can’t Be Overlooked
N-600K has a hard cutoff: it must be completed — meaning the child must be naturalized — before she turns 18.
For Brad and Kylie, Clara was still an infant, so timing wasn’t an issue. But families who adopt older children, or who wait years before consulting a lawyer, can find themselves racing toward a deadline they didn’t know existed. If your adopted child is living abroad with you and is approaching her teenage years, this is not a process to defer.
Speak to a lawyer for more details about where your child stands relative to the N-600K deadline.
Key Takeaway
If you’re a U.S. citizen living abroad and you’ve adopted a child who was not born to you, a CRBA is not the right document — and an embassy denial doesn’t close the door. Form N-600K is the correct path, and it works. But it has a deadline, it requires a trip to the United States, and the process is easier to navigate with experienced guidance before you’ve already filed the wrong form.