The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that will benefit some 19-thousand Korean adoptees to the U.S. who are without citizenship.

According to the Korean American Grassroots Conference, the America Competes Act was approved in the lower house of Congress on Friday, and it includes a provision to help adopted people acquire U.S. citizenship.

An Adoptee Citizenship Act, introduced by Democratic Congressman Adam Smith in March last year, was combined with the America Competes Act to gain House approval.

The bill's coordination now at the Senate is expected to take anywhere from a month to three months. 

In many cases related to adoptees who do not have citizenship, the parents are believed to have been unaware of required procedures.