Filing at Embassies

I live in the US, but I'm in the midst of completing my own I600A, and the directions say this, "A prospective parent living outside hte United States should consult the nearest American consulate for the overseas or stateside USCIS office designated to act on the application." I found the US CIS website to be really helpful on this kind of stuff. Have you looked there yet? Hope this helps.

The I-600A, if you choose to file one, has to be filed in the jurisdiction in which you live. If you live in the US, then it will be filed at your district office (each one has a designated orphan officer who works on I-600As and I-600s part time). f you live overseas (and only if you live overseas), the I-600A is filed with the nearest overseas USCIS office (there are "satellite" offices in Frankfurt, Bangkok, Cuidad Juarez, etc). The I-600, however, can be filed either at the US embassy, OR at your local USCIS office, if a child has already been IDed. It is usually filed with the overseas embassy/ consulate, but may also be filed locally (who will then cable the approval overseas). The key is to remember what each form is for: The I-600A preapproves the adoptive parent. It looks at your fitness to parent. The I-600 is your request for your child to be classified as an orphan, and to issue the child an IR visa. Hope that helps!

Aye, there's the rub. A case could be made for my living in either place, thereby giving me a filing option...and that is according to my embassy contact (I'm not just making it up ;) ) I'm trying to figure out which would be more efficient. It's going to require a $100 DHL either way, so I just want to cut out as much "travel" time for my documents as possible. Thanks for your input, though!

No experience filing the 600a at an embassy, but have seen the 600 and visa approved and issued the next day when the 600a has been previously. I have friends who have done the 600a thing through an embassy and my understanding is that fingerprint processing takes significantly longer when done abroad and that is the longest part of processing anyways,

Oooooh! Thanks for that information! I didn't even think about the time for fingerprint processing. I finally gave in and made a gajillion dollar call to the embassy in Ghana. Here's an interesting development...it DOESN'T go to the embassy at all! It goes to the Department of Homeland Security...but the money goes to the embassy. But then the embassy says they don't know in what form I can send the money...and on, and on, and on. Good lord! I keep saying that all of this paperwork is just my replacement for morning sickness. :p

Not all Embassies in Africa process orphan visas. I don't think Ghana does. In that case, it has to be forwarded somewhere that does process orphan visas. I know Senegal handles them. If you are talking about the I600A, you can send that to USCIS. If you are talking about the I600, that can be filed directly at an embassy when you pick the child up. But, if the Ghana embassy doesn't handle orphan visas, then you would either have to send your I600 for advance processing OR you would have to travel to the nearest US Embassy that does handle those petitions. My guess is that would be Nigeria (but just a guess given they have a LOT of orphan visas issued for Nigeria in comparision to the rest of W. Afica. I could be wrong, Senegal might be the only Embassy in W. Africa designated for that purpose). Problem with that option is that you have to get the child from Ghana to where you are filing. But, the advantage is that the process is done in 2-3 days versus the 3-4 months that it can take going through the National Visa Center.

Au contraire, mon frere! Though I am adopting in Mali... the I600 is filed in Senegal, but the I600A is filed in Ghana...at Department of Homeland Security, not the embassy (though the directions on the form say at the embassy). Interestingly enough, payment goes to the embassy but the file goes to the DHS. If you send the payment to the DHS, they will send it back to you...even though DHS and the embassy are in the same building :grr: I went to MY embassy here in Mali to talk to a person face to face and he admitted that I know more about the process than he does! :mad: I forced him to make a load of long distance phone calls and figure it out for me, and two weeks ago I surrendered and sent my I600A to be processed in Chicago. Thanks for all your help!