How to bring in your adopted child to the US?

By: Jessica Potter | Posted: 16th June 2011

Adopting a child from another country is called overseas adoption. It is a painstaking process with a lot of procedures and formalities. But once the parents are done with the paperwork, then it is all happiness and joy for them when they begin their life the adopted child.

There are three ways to bring in your adopted child to the US.
(i) Hague Process
(ii) Non- Hague Process
(iii) Immediate Relative Process
Depending on the child’s individual circumstances, any one among the three processes should be adopted.

Hague Process

If the parents who are intending to adopt a child have filed Forms I-800A and I-800, then it indicates that the child is from a country that has implemented The Hague Adoption Convention (Hague). If the adopted child is in a Hague country, then the child will enter the US either with an IH-3 immigrant visa. In case the parents have finalized the adoption in the US then the adopted child will enter the US with an IH-4 immigrant visa

What is I-800?

I-800 is filed by the prospective adoptive parent (US Citizen) in order to determine that the adopted child is eligible to be classified as a Convention adoptee. It is to finalize the immigration proceedings of a child who is habitual resident in a Convention country. In order to file the Form I-800, the petitioner should have a valid and approved, Form I-800A. I-800A is filed to determine the Suitability to adopt a Child from a Convention Country

Non-Hague Process

If the parents who are intending to adopt a child have filed Forms I-600A and/or I-600, then it indicates that the child is from a country that has not implemented The Hague Adoption Convention. If the adoptive parents have finalized the adoption in a non-Hague country and if any of the parents (married) have already seen the child prior to or during the adoption then the child will enter the US either with an IR-3 immigrant visa. If at all the adoption has been finalized in the US, then the child will enter the US on IR 4 immigrant visa.

What is I-600?

I-600 is filed to classify an alien orphan who is to be adopted by a U.S. citizen as an immediate relative of the U.S. citizen. This is to allow the adopted child to enter the country without any unwarranted difficulty. This has to be filed by the U.S. citizen parent who is intending to adopt the child.

What is I-600A?

I-600A is filed to adjudicate the qualifications of the applicant(s) as prospective adoptive parents. Submitting this form will quicken the processing time of the process.

Immediate Relative Process

In case the adopted child does not fall under any of the above given Hague or the non- Hague adoption processes, the US Citizen parent should file Form I-130. It is the petition for Alien Relative. The prospective adoptive parents must accrue two full years of legal and physical custody of the adopted child. Before filing I-130, the parents should have accrued the two years. They must also obtain a full and a final adoption of the child so as to become eligible to file I-130.Legal and physical custody may be accrued at one stretch or carried over several years. The adoption should have been finalized before the child’s 16th birthday. If the child is the biological sibling of a child that the prospective adoptive parents have already adopted or will adopt, then the adoption has to be finalized before the child’s 18th birthday if they are a). In these cases, the child will be issued an IR-2 immigrant visa if found to be eligible.

Citizenship Application,
US Citizenship form

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Tags: circumstances, paperwork, three ways, happiness, petitioner, formalities, suitability, citizen, adoptive parents, immigrant visa