How to Adopt from El Salvador Part 4

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Source: wikipedia.org.

This page is for step 6 of How to Adopt from El Salvador. For steps 1-2 please read How to Adopt from El Salvador. For steps 3-4 please read How to Adopt from El Salvador Part 2. For step 5 please read How to Adopt from El Salvador Part 3.

6. Obtain an Immigrant Visa for your Child and Bring Your Child Home

Now that your adoption is complete, there are a few more steps to take before you can head home. Specifically, you need to apply for three documents before your child can travel to the United States:

1. Birth Certificate

If you have finalized the adoption in El Salvador, you will firstneed to apply for a birth certificate for your child so that you can later apply for a passport. Once the court issues a final adoption decree, municipal authorities will cancel the original birth certificate and issue a new birth certificate naming the adoptive parents as the child’s parents and showing the change to the child’s name. The new birth certificate becomes part of the record kept at the Alcaldia (City Hall). Birth certificates are issued by the Civil Registry (Registro Civil) of the city or village where the adoption was finalized. Requests should be addressed to "Alcaldia Municipal de Registro Civil (name of city or village)”. The average cost of registering a child and obtaining a birth certificate is $6.

2. Salvadoran Passport

Your child is not yet a U.S. citizen, so he/she will need a travel document or passport from El Salvador. Passports are issued by the Department of Migration (Direccion General de Migracion y Extranjeria - DGME). Adoptive parents can apply for their child’s passport by submitting the final adoption decree and newly issued birth certificate at the DGME office closest to where the adoption was finalized. The cost for this service is $25. For office locations, please visit this website.

3. U.S. Immigrant Visa

After you obtain the new birth certificate and passport for your child, you also need to finalize your application for a U.S. visa for your child from the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, El Salvador. After the adoption is granted, visit the U.S Embassy for final review of the case, issuance of a U.S. Hague Adoption Certificate or Declaration of Grant of Custody, final approval of the child’s I-800 petition, and to obtain your child’s visa. This immigrant visa allows your child to travel home with you. As part of this process, the consular officer must be provided the “Panel Physician’s” medical report on the child if it was not provided during the provisional approval stage. Read more about the Medical Examination.

NOTE: Prior to making an immigrant visa appointment, adoptive parents must submit their completed packet for review by the U.S. Embassy. Upon receipt of the packet, the U.S. Embassy will provide a list of panel physicians who will conduct the necessary medical exam of the child or children in question. The Embassy will contact the adoptive parent(s) to schedule an interview date after receiving the medical results from the panel physician.

Since each case is different, it is possible that the Embassy will request additional documents after a preliminary review of the application and documents submitted by the prospective adoptive parent(s). For processing the child’s immigrant visa application, the following original documents are necessary:

1. Child’s original birth certificate with the name of the biological mother;

2. Child’s new birth certificate with the child’s new name and name of adoptive parents;

3. Final court decree of adoption and supporting documents;

4. Decree from OPA;

5. Decree from the PGR;

6. Decree from ISNA;

7. Article 23 Letter (issued by OPA);

8. Certified document in writing by all known parents irrevocably and unconditionally releasing the child for adoption and emigration;

9. Power of attorney designating the Salvadoran lawyer to represent the adoptive parents;

10. Form I-800;

11. Form DS-260 Part I and Part II;

12. Medical Exam Form DS-157;

13. Child’s Salvadoran passport with the adoptive parents’ last name;

14. Two front face photos, 2”x2”, against a white background;

15. Adoptive parents’ most recent income tax forms;

16. Visa fee: $404.

To learn about the Child Citizenship Act please read The Child Citizenship Act of 2000.

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