USA IMMIGRATION ANNOUNCED THAT IN REINTERPRETATION OF PROVISION IN THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT ALLOW SMALL GROUP OF AMERICAN MOTHERS TO TRANSIT THEIR CITIZENSHIP TO THEIR FOREIGN BORN CHILDREN BUT DEPARTMENT CLARIFIED THAT IT IS NEW INTERPRETATION NOT AN AMENDMENT JERUSALEM — The reinterpretation of a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) makes it easier for a small group of American mothers to transmit their citizenship to their foreign-born children. A State Department official told USA TODAY that the change — a new interpretation, not an amendment — means that the government can no longer deny U.S. citizenship based on proof of a biological link to the child of an American woman who conceives with a donor egg, and who gives birth abroad with the intention of keeping the baby (not a surrogate). The official spoke to USA TODAY on condition of anonymity in line with department policy. Immigration experts and parents who were frustrated by the old provisions are hailing the retroactive policy shift, but insist the State Department needs to do even more to ensure that children born abroad to American parents via assisted reproductive technology (ART) enjoy the same rights and benefits as other children adopted by or born to U.S. citizens. This new policy only addresses a relatively small subset of ART cases, the official acknowledged. It does not, for example, apply to cases in which a child is born to a surrogate and is not genetically or gestationally related to a U.S. citizen [who is the] intended parent. The shift follows years of complaints from American women living abroad, who insisted that their fertility status and where they gave birth should have no bearing on their childs citizenship. Had they flown to the U.S. to give birth, they noted, their children would have received automatic citizenship, no questions asked. Michele Coven Wolgel, an Israel-based immigration lawyer who has been advocating for the policy change, said the original regulations were designed to prevent immigration fraud. While citizenship rules are important, she said, they were never intended to prevent the children of bona fide American citizens from becoming citizens. The fact that the INA has traditionally required proof of a biological connection to the child while failing to take into consideration the many advances in reproductive medicine, where donated sperm, eggs or both are often used for conception, has led to a lot of heartache, said Wolgel, who created the Registering Children of American Citizens Born Abroad Facebook page.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 03:09:29 +0000
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