Child Citizenship Act of 2000

Child Citizenship Act of 2000

Long title	An Act To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify the provisions governing acquisition of citizenship by children born outside of the United States, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 106th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 106–395 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at Large	114 Stat. 1631
Legislative history
Introduced in the House of Representatives as H.R. 2883 by Lamar Smith (R–TX) on September 21, 1999 Committee consideration by House Judiciary Passed the House of Representatives on September 19, 2000 (unanimous consent) Passed the Senate on October 12, 2000 (unanimous consent) Signed into law by President Bill Clinton on October 30, 2000

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA) is a United States federal law that amended the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 regarding acquisition of citizenship by children of US citizens and added protections for individuals who have voted in US elections in the mistaken belief that they were US citizens. The law modified past rules for child citizenship. Under the CCA, certain children born outside the US who did not obtain citizenship at birth may obtain citizenship automatically after admission as permanent residents (CCA § 101) or may be eligible for expeditious naturalization (CCA § 102). The act also implemented protections for some individuals who have voted or claimed to be US citizens as a result of a good faith mistake (CCA § 201).

The Act is known as Public Law 106-395. CCA § 101 is implemented in INA § 320, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1431. CCA § 102 is implemented in INA § 322, codified at 8 U.S.C. § 1433. The CCA modified INA §§ 101(f), 212(a)(10)(D), 212(a)(6)(C), 237(a)(6), and 237(a)(3)(D); 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f), 1182(a)(10)(D), 1182(a)(6)(C), 1227(a)(6), and 1227(a)(3)(D). The CCA also modified 18 U.S.C. §§ 611 and 1015.