TITLE 1: GOVERNMENT
DIVISION 2: EXECUTIVE BRANCH
§ 26011. Certificates of Adoption. (a) For each adoption decreed by the CNMI Superior Court, the court shall require the preparation of a certificate of adoption on a form prescribed and furnished by the Registrar. The certificate of adoption shall include such facts as are necessary to locate and identify the certificate of birth of the person adopted or, in the case of a person who was born in a foreign country, evidence from sources determined to be reliable by the court as to the date and place of birth of such person; shall provide information necessary to establish a new certificate of birth of the person adopted; shall identify the order of adoption; and shall be certified by the clerk of court. (b) Information necessary to prepare the certificate of adoption shall be furnished by each petitioner for adoption or his or her attorney. Any health or social services agency or any person having knowledge of the facts shall supply the court with such additional information as may be necessary to complete the certificate of adoption. The provision of such information shall be a prerequisite to the issuance of a final decree in the matter by the court. (c) Whenever an adoption decree is amended or annulled, the clerk of the court shall prepare a report thereof, which shall include such facts as are necessary to identify the original certificate of adoption and the facts amended in the adoption decree as shall be necessary to properly amend the birth record. (d) No later than the tenth day of each calendar month or more frequently, as directed by the Registrar, the clerk of court shall forward to the Registrar certificates of adoption, reports of annulment of adoption, and amendments of decrees of adoption which were entered in the preceding month, together with such related reports as the Registrar shall require. (e) When the Registrar shall receive a certificate of adoption, report of annulment of adoption, or amendment of a decree of adoption for a person born outside the CNMI, he or she shall forward such certificate or report to the Registrar in the state of birth. (f) If the birth occurred in a foreign country, and the child was not a citizen of the United States at the time of birth, the Registrar shall prepare a “Certificate of Foreign Birth” as provided by Section 26012(h). If the child was born in a foreign country, the Registrar shall also send a copy of the certificate of adoption, report of annulment of adoption, or amendment of a decree of adoption to the appropriate registration authority in that country. (g) If the child was born in a foreign country but was a citizen of the United States at the time of birth, the Registrar shall not prepare a “Certificate of Foreign Birth” and shall notify the adoptive parents of the procedures for obtaining a revised birth certificate for their child through the United States Department of State. Source: PL 15-50, § 13, modified. Commission Comment: The Commission deleted figures that were a mere repetition of words in subsection (d) above and changed “Section 14(h)” in subsection (f) above to “Section 26012(h)” pursuant to the authority granted by 1 CMC § 3806.