Intercountry adoption finalized in a foreign country.

The bill was assigned Chapter number 127 and received the authenticated electronic legal material header.

Senate and Assembly passage headers, signature blocks, and blank approval lines were removed in favor of the chaptered format.

Governor approval date of August 24, 2026 and filing with Secretary of State on the same date were added.

Subdivision (e) changed 'the child adoptee may be be' to 'the adoptee may be,' removing the word 'child' (consistent with the bill's allowance for adoptees of any age) and correcting a duplicated word typo.

Standard enrollment formatting added: Senate passage date (August 3, 2026), Assembly passage date (July 2, 2026), Governor receipt line, and Governor approval block at the end of the bill.

New subdivision (h) allows a court to grant a readoption petition without all required documentation if the petitioner proves by a preponderance of evidence that: (1) they are the adoptee, (2) one or more required documents cannot be obtained due to passage of time or circumstances beyond their control (including death or unavailability of adoptive parents, or closure/dissolution of the adoption agency), and (3) they can establish the fundamental facts necessary for the court's findings.

The new provision explicitly allows both documentary and nondocumentary evidence including testimony, declarations, court records, agency records, correspondence, and other corroborating sources. No single category of evidence is required or determinative; the court must evaluate the totality of circumstances.

The human trafficking notification requirement in subdivision (e) was expanded from 'the child may be the subject of human trafficking' to 'the child adoptee may be, or may have been, the subject of human trafficking,' broadening coverage to past victims and clarifying it applies to adoptees specifically.

Assembly Member Mark Gonzalez was added as a coauthor reflecting Assembly amendment sponsorship.

Subdivision (d) of Section 8919 now reads 'An adoptee of any age may file a petition on their own behalf' instead of simply 'An adoptee may file a petition.' This explicitly allows minor adoptees to file, not just adults, removing any ambiguity about age eligibility.

The entire Section 1(a) legislative findings and declarations was removed. This section had stated that tens of thousands of adoptees born before February 27, 1982, are undocumented and potentially subject to deportation, listed specific countries of origin, cited an estimate of 18,000 Korean American adoptees without citizenship, and declared the Legislature's intent to enact legislation for foreign-born adoptees who are now adults. Its removal narrows the bill's stated purpose to the procedural mechanism itself.

The fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now requires fiscal committee review, likely due to the broadened eligibility creating additional state or local program costs.

The bill's short title was cleaned up from 'An act relating to intercountry to amend Section 8919 of the Family Code, relating to adoption' to 'An act to amend Section 8919 of the Family Code, relating to adoption,' removing redundant and awkward phrasing.

A grammatical error in subdivision (c) was corrected: 'If an adoptive parent who has or parents who adopted a child' was changed to 'If an adoptive parent or parents who adopted a child.'

The bill now amends Family Code Section 8919 with detailed procedural requirements for intercountry readoption petitions, including what documents must be filed, court review standards, and State Registrar duties. Previously the bill contained no operative legal changes.

New subdivision (d) allows an adoptee to file a petition on their own behalf if both the adoptive parent or parents AND the adoption agency that facilitated the adoption failed to file a readoption petition as required by existing law. This is the core new right created by the amendment.

Added detailed requirements for what a readoption petition must include: certified foreign adoption decree, foreign birth certificate, certified translations, proof of lawful entry as an immediate relative, postplacement home visit report, and home study report. Court cannot grant the order without receiving the home visit and home study reports.

Added a fallback mechanism: if the adoptive parent fails to file within 60 days of entry or the child's 16th birthday, the adoption agency must file within 90 days of the child's entry. The department may take disciplinary action against licensed agencies that fail to comply.

Added a requirement that if the court finds the child may be subject to human trafficking or may be described in Welfare and Institutions Code Section 300, the court must notify all appropriate authorities.

Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduced potential fiscal impact that requires committee review.