Visas for Hague Convention Adoptions Text Size:

According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), there are about 20,000 adoptions by US citizens of children born in foreign countries (sometimes called "inter-country adoptions") each year. It's becoming an increasingly popular way for all sorts of individuals and couples - from the Hollywood jet set to ordinary folks - to start or complete a family. It's an exciting idea.

Don't let the excitement of the adoption blind you, though. An inter-country adoption isn't an easy or short (or inexpensive) process. It involves multiple steps, and the very first one is key: Which foreign country are you looking at for a child to adopt? This is important because the rules you need to follow are different and depend upon where the child is born:

• The Hague Adoption Convention applies to adoptions started on or after April 1, 2008 between the US and other countries that are parties to the Hague Convention ("convention countries")
• The rules for adopting orphans apply when the child's native country is not a party to the Hague Convention

Although the two sets of rules have some similarities, the Hague Adoption rules have some significant differences compared to the old "orphan" rules. The steps you need to take under the Hague rules include:

• Using an authorized adoption service provider (ASP)
• Allowing an investigation of you, your finances and your home, as well as an investigation of your spouse, if you're married
• Filing the appropriate form with the USCIS to make you eligible for the adoption process
• Filing another form with the USCIS to accept the child that the foreign country located for you
• Getting the child a visa
• Possibly having the child go through the naturalization process

Adoption Service Provider

Unlike under the "orphan" rules, the Hague rules require you to use an accredited or qualified ASP to adopt a child from a convention country. These agencies will help guide you through the adoption process and the "red tape." The US State Department provides a list of accredited ASPs.

Investigation

Also known as a home study, this is where you allow a thorough investigation of your ability to provide a home for a child, and particularly your physical, mental and emotional conditions. You and every adult in your home will be interviewed, and your home will be visited at least once. The investigation will look into all sorts of things, including your finances; your background, including any criminal record and any previous attempts at adoption; and your training and education for parenthood. This is also required in non-Hague adoptions. With a Hague adoption, however, you have the benefit of help from the ASP you hired.

Adoption Eligibility

You need to file Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country, with the USCIS. Your home study report should be filed along with it. Basically, the USCIS uses the information on this form and the home study to decide if you're eligible and suitable to adopt a child from a convention country.

This is essentially the same thing as Form I-600A that's used in an "orphan" or non-Hague adoption. The filing requirements and fees are the same for both forms.

Help from the Convention Country

Typically, based on the information in your I-800A and with the help of your ASP, the convention country will try to match you with a child to adopt. If it does so, it will send a report on the child's medical and social history (called an "Article 16 Report") to your ASP. You then have at least two weeks to accept the match.

If you reject the match, attempts will be made to find you another child. If you accept the match, you need to file Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as an Immediate Relative, and the Article 16 Report with USCIS. Basically, it asks the USCIS to make sure that the child is eligible for adoption and to classify her as your immediate relative (IR). Having IR status means that the child will be able to enter the US without having to wait on a visa list like most other immigrants seeking a visa do.

Form I-800 is about the same thing as Form I-600A that's used in a non-Hague adoption, and the filing requirements and fees are the same.

Get a Visa for the Child

This too, is a multi-step process, but your ASP or the US consular office or embassy in the country where the child was born can help you. In a nutshell:

• File an application for a visa at the consulate
• If the consular officer approves the application, he'll send the convention country's Central Authority - it oversees adoptions in the country - an Article 5 Letter, stating that you're a suitable adoptive parent and that the child will be able to enter and reside permanently in the US
• You adopt the child in accordance with the laws of the convention nation. You can't adopt the child before you get the Article 5 Letter
• The consular officer issues you a Hague Certificate, which states that the adoption complies with the Convention; approves your Form I-800, and gives your child a visa

There are two types of visas:

• IH-3 visas are for children who were adopted in convention countries. They automatically give US citizenship to adopted children under the age of 18 as soon as they enter the US. The USCIS will send each child a Certificate of Citizenship without you having to file any forms or pay any fees
• IH-4 visas are for children who will be adopted in the US, such as when the convention country allows adoptive parents to gain guardianship only. So, children with these visas must be adopted in the US according to the laws of the state where the family will live. Also, these visas don't grant immediate US citizenship. Rather, the parents must complete an application for a certificate of citizenship for the child. These visas are basically the same as the IR-4 visas issued in non-Hague adoptions

Questions for Your Attorney

• I started an adoption in a convention country before April 1, 2008. Do I need to re-file all my forms?
• My child was given an IH-4 visa, and we'll be returning to the US shortly. I know he doesn't have US citizenship yet, but what legal status, if any, will he have between the time we enter the US and the time he's finally adopted in my home state?
• How long are my completed Forms I-800 and I-800A good for?
• A convention country has found a child for me to adopt. The US State Department has informed me that it's about to stop processing new adoptions from this country. What can I do?

Related Resources on Lawyers.com^sm