US Immigration Blog

In light of the tragedy in Haiti, many are asking the question these days, how would we adopt a child who has become an orphan?

United States Immigration laws have provisions that allow United States citizens to adopt children overseas and bring them lawfully into the United States.  The adoption provisions envision several scenarios:

1.  You may adopt a child before he or she attains the age of 16 years.  If that child is an orphan, you would file a petition, form I-600 to bring them to the United States.  This process may require you to travel overseas and complete the adoption process in the country where the child was born and you have to follow the adoption laws of that country.  In addition, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will require you provide a home study from your State showing a favorable recommendation that you are a fit adoptive parent.

2.  You may start the adoption process by filing a form I-600A  for Advance Processing where you have not identified a specific child that you will adopt.  The approval of the I-600 A merely means that you meet the criteria for an adoptive parent similar to the I-600 Petition and the adoption process then comes at a later stage.

Non-orphans:  Provision almost assumes in the past you adopted a child under the age of 16 years and resided with that child for at least 2 years.  During those two years you must have had both physical and legal custody of the child and exercised parental control over the child.  This petition is filed on form I-130, the most common Immigration form for establishing family relationships.

Adoption procedures must therefore comply not only with United States Immigration laws, but also with the laws of the country where the child is adopted.  The US consulates will often deny a case where they feel there was non-compliance with local laws in the country where the adoption took place.