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We are looking at adopting my wife's nephew from the Philippines. We both are U.S. citizens and live in the US. The nephew is a 10 year old boy who is currently living with other aunts in the philippines right now. The mother can't aford to take care of him and hasn't for some time.
We've talked with a US attorney who has adoptive relatives from the Philippines before. He said what he has done in the past is having the mother sign a consent form to give up the child and bring the child over on a travel visa for adoption. Once the child is here we will do the adoption here in the US and not in the Philippines.
Has anyone heard of this being done this way?
This attorney is one of the founders of an adoption agency in the US and sounds like he knows what he is doing. We will know more after March 2 since we have an appointment with this attorney at that time.
Any suggestions would be helpful and appreciated.
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It depends on the rules of your state.
There are a few agencies that do this in California and work with ICAB. The DSWD gave me a list in California so I could coordinate some court requirements and I went down the list. The first place I called was the Inter-state compact unit in California and they couldn't help me with my requirement but told me they work with families doing you type of adoption. I had a hard time getting what I needed but one of the agencies I called and, helped me, actually has on their web site that they give the money back after the adoption is completed. I'm not resident in the US so you should not run into the same problem I had.
You can go though the list on this site. It is not a comprehensive list but some of the agencies were on the list given to me by DSWD. [url]http://travel.state.gov/adoption_philippines.html[/url] if you call the agencies on the list you can compare the timeline with your budget and more importantly the child's well being to figure out the best approach.
These are the issues you are dealing with for both the Philippines and the US (your State)
1. The best interest of the child.
2. If the child qualifies.
3. Your qualifications to adopt this child.
4. Immigration of the child.
5. Budget (before and after)
If you have money the best timeline I have seen is 8 months although claims are made between 4-6 months but I havent meet anyone yet that it has actually been that fast. The average is less than two years.
The reason for the suggestion to your approach is because, if you adopt in the Philippines, the child is not eligible for immediate immigration and would be put on the preference list. I was told on many occasions that the waiting period is now 4 to 5 years. If the child is qualified as an orphan there is no preference and he can immediate emigrate. Be sure about the relationship because many just say nephew or niece because it's easy. Ask the lawyer about how to count if he is not.
If I were to start the process over again I would go straight to my State agencyҒs office and begin there. Then I would look at public and charity funded agencies and finally at the private agencies and then lawyers.
The good news is that there is a new law already signed. The bad news is the rules are not posted yet and the law wont be implemented until they are. (Expected to take another year) ItҒs called the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000. When you consult with your lawyer ask him about how it would affect the suggested approach to your case.
HTH,
Johnny
BTW: Authorization to travel is the jurisdiction of the DSWD in the Philippines not the lawyers, travel agencies, immigration or the consulate. They can help you get a visa, which is outside of the rules for adoption purposes even though it is done. Protection laws only require that the child have written consent to travel from the parents although I didn't have any problem with my daughter coming to the US and her returning with an Aunt with only my written consent. So I guess the rule is not enforced.
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