WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced updated policy guidance affecting kids born outside of the United States and the dedication of whether children born via assisted reproductive technology (ART) are viewed to have been born “in wedlock.” This policy update will permit a non-genetic, non-gestational legal parent of a infant to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child if the parent is married to the child’s genetic or gestational parent at the time of the child’s birth, and the relevant jurisdiction acknowledges both mother and father as the child’s legal parents.
“USCIS is taking a crucial step towards ensuring fair access and support for all families and their loved ones,” stated USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. “We are committed to removing unnecessary barriers promoting policies for all people as they embark on their journey to citizenship and beyond.”
This practise will additionally be applied to the family-based petitions for determining whether a baby is born in wedlock. Previously, USCIS required that the child’s genetic parents (or the legal gestational parent and one of the genetic parents) be married to one another for a child to be regarded as born in wedlock.
In 2014, USCIS updated its policy to allow a parent who is the gestational and legal parent of a child beneath the law of the relevant jurisdiction at the time of the child’s birth to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child if all other citizenship requirements are met.
