REALLY! One piece of paper.

After many, many months of trying to find some elected official to help us get immigration to mail our daughter's certificate of citizenship our congressman wrote us a letter with an attached letter from immigration stating we needed to drive several hours, stay for 5 minutes and pick up a piece of paper that our child has every right to.

Here's a snapshot of the Citizenship Act of 2000:

House passes Delahunt child citizenship bill

    “WASHINGTON, D.C. — After months of negotiations, the House approved legislation authored by Congressman Bill Delahunt to confer automatic US citizenship on children adopted from abroad, and on other foreign-born children of American parents.
   “The Delahunt bill would eliminate the need for these families to undergo the bureaucratic naturalization process.  This is especially important for families that have already completed the exhaustive documentation required to adopt a child from overseas.
   "After what these parents have been through in bringing their children to the United States, the naturalization process is an extra burden they shouldn't have to bear," Delahunt said.  "Once the adoption is finalized and a child arrives in the US, that child is an American and should be treated as an American."
   “The bill would grant automatic citizenship to all foreign-born children who are under 18 years of age; admitted to the United States as lawful permanent residents; and in the legal and physical custody of at least one parent who is a US citizen.  Parents would no longer be required to submit an application to have their children naturalized.

However, because our daughter's adoption was finalized on U.S. soil in U.S. courts she doesn't automatically get hers.  I think Washington left something out there.  Instead we have to pay hundreds of dollars and then drive several hours to pick it up, in person.  BTW, most other states have realized how crazy it is when the parents are originally U.S. citizens and we've already jumped every other hoop they had to adopt our foreign-born children, that they'be heavily begun mailing them....except ours!  It's really sad when I could give a whole list of names of people and they USCIS offices they used who got their either mailed automatically after approval of application (which shouldn't be necessary anyways) or upon request.  Why does our office have to be such @$!!heads!

On top of that I only got one elected official to even attempt helping us....it was a sad attempt (they just asked...same as I did), but it was an attempt nonetheless.  Senator Kit Bond's office has absolutely NOTHING to be proud of.  They don't return phone calls, emails NOTHING!  They don't even "attempt" to help.  Great public servent!!!!!!!  BTW, you suck!