The following are the typical steps of the international adoption process. Completing an international adoption first involves tasks performed here in the United States and then involves traveling to the foreign country to complete your adoption. La Vida will guide you step by step through each of the tasks briefly outlined below. 

A.  Complete La Vida’s application. There is no application fee and we are generally able to review and respond to  your application within one or two business days.

B.  La Vida will provide you with an I-600A (Application for Advance Processing). Complete and forward it to La Vida. We will review it and submit it to your regional United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office. The USCIS was formally the Immigration and Naturalization Services – INS. The USCIS approval (I-171H Notice of Favorable Determination concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) that will subsequently be issued when your application is approved is an advance determination that you have met federal pre-requirements for the completion of an international adoption.

C.  Complete a home study. A home study report is a requirement of your state of residence, the USCIS, your child-placing agency, and the country from which your adoption will take place. The home study must be completed by an agency or independent evaluator (varies by state and country of adoption) that is licensed in the your state of residence. The home study must meet state, federal and sometimes, country specific requirements. For purposes of submittal to the USCIS, the home study must be less than 6 months old at time of submittal.

If you live in Pennsylvania, La Vida will complete your home study. If you live outside of Pennsylvania, we will be happy to provide you with a list of resource agencies and assist you in selecting a home study agency. You are free to choose any agency with whom you feel comfortable, provided it qualifies under the guidelines provided for adoption from a specific country.

D.  Complete a "dossier" -  a packet of documents that make up a country application. Nearly all countries require a dossier and each country's dossier varies, but the basic requirements are similar for each country. A dossier is generally made up of collected documents (such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, etc.) and prepared documents (such as financial statements, health questionnaires, employment verifications, etc.). After collecting or preparing each of the documents required for the dossier, notarization and certification at the state (and sometimes county) level is required. Some countries also require that the documents be submitted to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. for another level of federal certification. After certification, all documents are ultimately "authenticated" or "sealed" by the foreign country's consulate or embassy here in the U.S.

La Vida provides full dossier authentication service in an effort to make each family's efforts as simple as possible.

E.  Wait for referral of a child. After your dossier is submitted and while it is being translated, reviewed, and eventually approved, you will wait for a child to be assigned to you. The time frame for this varies depending upon the country program. In cases where an applicant is adopting a "waiting" child, this period of time will be significantly shortened, if not eliminated entirely. Please see the program descriptions contained elsewhere in this guide for information about current estimated waiting times for each specific international adoption program.

F.  Review and acceptance of a child referral. When a child is eventually assigned, La Vida will receive all available information about a specific child directly from the child’s country. When a child is presented for adoption, all available information is provided to you. The child’s medical and additional information should be reviewed very carefully within the context of the type of information generally provided by the specific country. Care should be taken to understand medical risks inherent in children from the country. For any questionable information, international adoption medical specialists should be consulted for an opinion. A child should only be accepted when you believe that you have sufficient information from which to make a decision.

G.  Submit the child’s legal documentation to the USCIS for child specific approval. Once a referred child has been accepted by you, some countries allow the child’s legal documentation to be submitted to the USCIS here in the U.S. for consideration and processing. These documents generally include a health examination report, a birth certificate, abandonment or birth parent termination information, and documents relating to the legality of placing the child. Some countries and programs require that this be completed here in the United States prior to the applicant’s trip to the foreign country (usually required). Other Countries (such as China) require that the child’s legal documents be submitted to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the foreign country during the overseas trip after the completion of the adoption. The USCIS or the U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate will examine the child’s paperwork and make a determination that the child meets all federal eligibility requirements for intercountry adoption, the adoption was processed properly, and all adoption paperwork is complete.

H.  Travel to the country to receive the child and, in most cases, complete the adoption. Only a few countries permit a child to be escorted to the United States and do not require travel by the applicants. Most countries require travel for one or more trips with in-country stays that vary in length. Some countries place the child under the physical guardianship of the adopting family while the country adoption officials or the child-placing agency retains legal custody of the child. In such cases, the country and/or the child-placing agency must consent to the adoption after a period of satisfactory post placement supervision. Many countries allow legal completion of the adoption under the laws of the country during the trip itself. This adoption is generally fully recognized here in the United States upon your return home. There are only a few countries that allow completion of the adoption by proxy without the adopting parents being present.

I.  Obtain an immigrant visa for the child and return home to the United States. In cases where parents travel to the country to complete the adoption or take placement of the child, the USCIS or U.S. Embassy or U.S. Consulate in the foreign country generally reviews all documentation, the child’s medical examination and relevant paperwork that the adoptive family will prepare or deliver and file. The purpose of this review is to ascertain that the adoption was properly and legally completed, verify that the child is eligible to enter the U.S., and make a determination that the child’s health is sufficient and all information and paperwork is in order. Upon a satisfactory review, the child will be issued an immigrant visa (permission to enter the United States).

J.  Complete post placement supervisory requirements. After placement of the child, post placement supervisory visits are almost always required whether the adoption has already been completed or a guardianship has been established. Post placement supervision is a requirement of the child placing agency and the foreign government. The numbers of visits vary by the requirements of the home study agency, child placing agency, state, and country, as well as by the legal status of the adoption at the time of child placement. They generally involve home visits completed by a representative of the home study agency or independent social worker, an interview with the family, gathering of pictures and medical information, and ultimately the generation of a report which is forwarded back to adoption officials in the child’s birth country.

The post placement supervisory process also provides an opportunity for the family to receive support and guidance should there be any adjustment issues for either the child, the parents, or others in the house. 

K.  Legalization of the adoption in the United States - There are certain intercountry adoption cases in which legalization of the adoption in a U.S. court is required (to complete the adoption and make the child eligible for citizenship). There are also cases when legalization may be required (because the adoption has not yet been completed) or desirable (due to the benefits the process affords).

1. Required U.S. legalization - Legalization in the U.S. is required in cases where an intercountry adoption is not completed overseas. Legalization in the U.S. is also required in cases where only one spouse of a married couple traveled to the country to complete the adoption overseas (where the child is issued an IR-4 visa) before the child can become a U.S. citizen. This is because application for U.S. citizenship for an internationally adopted child may be made only when the adopting parents have personally seen and observed the child prior to the adoption.
   

2. Optional U.S. legalization - In cases where the adoption was completed and legalized overseas and where both parents traveled and personally saw and observed the child prior to the completed adoption, a re-adoption is not required but may still be desirable. There are still many benefits of re-adoption even when the child is issued an IR-3 visa.

L.  Citizenship for Your Child - The Child Citizenship Act (CCA) was implemented on February 27, 2001. Under the law,   all  foreign-born children adopted by U.S. citizens will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship by operation of law as soon as the following conditions are satisfied: At least one adoptive parent is a U.S. Citizen; the child is under 18 years of age; there is a full & final adoption of the child (that is recognized by the U.S. Government); both parents personally see and observe the child prior to the adoption (in the case of married parents); and the child is lawfully admitted to the United States as an immigrant. More information about the Act is available on the USCIS web site found at: www.immigration.gov or www.USCIS.gov

If the child is a citizen by operation of this law, there are two documents that you might wish to receive for your child: (1) a Certificate of Citizenship; and (2) a U.S. Passport. The Certificate of Citizenship is a document issued by the United States Citizen and Immigration Service indicating that your child is a lawful citizen of the U.S. The U.S. Department of State issues the U.S. Passport.

Families wishing to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship currently may continue to file the form N-643 (Application for Certificate of Citizenship on behalf of an Adopted Child), the same form that has been previously used for the naturalization of an adopted child. This form should be completed and submitted to the USCIS along with the proper documentation and application fee. The N-643 form can be obtained at the client’s local USCIS office or downloaded from the USCIS web site:  www.immigration.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/index.htm

A passport can be obtained for your child by contacting the "Passport Office", generally located in the local County Courthouse where you reside, and completing an application for the child.

*NOTE: If a married couple adopted a child and both spouses did not travel to complete the adoption or if the adoption was completed by proxy, the child probably entered the U.S. on an "IR-4" Immigrant Visa. There are other cases where a final adoption does not occur overseas at all and a final adoption decree is entered later in the United States. In each of these cases, the child will not obtain citizenship automatically upon entrance into the U.S. Rather, a re-adoption or an original adoption in the United States will be required. Once this re-adoption or original adoption has been completed the conditions required by The Child Citizenship Act will have been met and citizenship can then be conferred by operation of law.

While working through the steps of an international adoption may seem daunting, the most important thing to remember is that you don’t need to know everything to begin! We will gladly walk you through each step until you bring your child into your family and after you return home.

La Vida International 
150 S. Warner Rd., Suite 144, King of Prussia, PA 19406
Phone: 610.688.8008 Fax: 610.688.8028
Birth parents may call collect
e-mail: info@lavida.org web: www.lavida.org
© 1998 La Vida International