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How to Adopt

What is the Immigrant Visa Process

Nov 7th, 2011
by Raz.
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Before you travel to the foreign county to bring back your baby, you need to get ready to file the immigration visa for your baby. Don’t assume that once the baby is your child, you can just bring him/her anywhere. To begin the immigrant visa process, prospective adoptive parents submit forms and documents to USCIS. After USCIS reviews the paperwork, a case is assigned to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where the child resides. All children adopted abroad require an immigrant visa interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate before coming to reside permanently in the United States.

The Embassy or Consulate schedules the final visa interview once all required documents have been provided. The Department of State is committed to processing immigrant visas for adopted children expeditiously. Keep in mind, however, that the time required to issue your child’s visa will depend on the specific circumstances in his or her country of residence.

Such visa application can take a long time, so start early and as soon as possible. It’s an exciting time to you and your spouse, but bringing your baby home is a long process and journey. Many loving parents waited months to get their baby home. The advice is plan ahead and start early.

 

Source: the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. State Department

The adopted child’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States

Oct 7th, 2011
by Raz.
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Many American parents assume that once the child has been adopted from his or her country and brought back to the U.S., the child automatically becomes a U.S. citizen. There are a lot more paperwork involved. The adoption of a foreign-born child does not automatically guarantee the child’s eligibility to immigrate to the United States. It is imperative that all adoptive parents are aware of U.S. immigration law and legal regulatory procedures. For more information about immigration to the U.S., please visit the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website for more information.

International adoption is becoming more and more regulated and prospective parents need to learn as much as possible before beginning the adoption process. You don’t want to be hit with big surprises when you’re falling love with the child in a foreign country.

The Hague Adoption Convention generally forbids prospective adoptive parents from having any contact with the child’s birth parents, and/or the child’s legal guardians before the country of birth determines the child is adoptable according to Convention principles and refers the child for adoption to a family.

 

Source: the Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. State Department

Where and how do I start if I really want to adopt a baby?

Aug 12th, 2010
by Raz.
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If you have decided that you want to adopt, you need to figure out whether you want to adopt an infant or an older child. You also need to decide on where you would like to adopt the baby from.

The first thing you will want to do after making the decision to adopt is to educate yourself about adoption. Read books on how to adopt and search the government adoption gateways.

Requirements for adoptive parents vary depending on the type of adoption and agency involved. In the United States, because there are few infants available, agency criteria for prospective adoptive parents are often more restrictive for infant adoptions than for adoptions of older children.

Many adoption agencies even set age limit for the adoptive parents. In other words, you can’t be too old to adopt infants. In general, it is easier to adopt older children, whether in the US or abroad.

Source: The Department of Health and Human Services