Help! Who has adopted as a non-US citizen?

I think I'm "bumping" this correctly. I'd love to hear more since my DH is Canadian and I'm the Citizen. Anyone have the added complication of 2 foreign birth certs? That is where we are now...

Mommy2twins - that won't work I don't think, my agency orginally did the same thing but I found out from the Listserv that I had to do one of the two options that Becky had listed in the previous post. I chose to do the UK route, but next time for sure I would send it via the Assistant Stork... Good luck

I am copying the directions for 'what to do' with a Canadian birth certificate. These are about a year old, so the names/fees might not be correct...definitely call before mailing anything. First you mail your certificate to: Mario Nunez-Suarez Legal Advisory Division (JLAC) 125 Sussex Drive Ottawa K1AOG2 ONTARIO CANADA 613-995-0119 Mr Nunez-Suarez is certifying that the document is legal and correct. The fee has always been free, but call first to be sure. Then you can also request that they forward the documents to the Guatemalan embassy for you. Sr. Lic. Carlos Humberto Jimenez Licona Embajador Extraordinario y Plenipotenciario 130 Albert Street Suite 1010 Ottawa K1P 5G4 ONTARIO CANADA 613-233-7188 613-230-0135 fax email: embaguate@webruler.com $10.00 per document Send a prepaid self-addressed fed-ex or UPS mailer for him to mail the documents back to you. Good luck!

They were correct in August 05 cause we had to use them. So much fun that paper chase ;)Emily

This has previously worked for us but our current agency said it would not so they made us go through the hassle of getting the foreign b-certificate. anna

Thank you all for your replies -- we ordered new birth certs from the UK today so they should be here later this week. Now we are trying to figure out if we need to send them to Washington DC or if we can just go to our local British Consulate office here is Seattle... any thoughts?? Can you please confirm that all we need is a letter stapled to the birth certs by the British Embassy or Consult and then have them Authenticated by the Guatemalan Consulate that did the rest of our Dossier docs?Also, can you elaborate on who the "Assistant Stork" is and how we can contact them? Many thanks,Shelly

I had to send mine to the Foreign and Commenwealth office in London - where they apositilled it for me, and then my sister actually walked it to the Guatemalan Embassy in London (they Fed Ex'd it back to me) where it was authenticated, once that was complete it went into our file in Guatemala. It is my understanding that the company "Assistant Stork" (you can google them) are able to walk your docs through the British Embassy in Washington and that negates the need to send them to the F&C office in London, check out their website - there is all the info you need on there. I belive it needs to be done in Washington DC, not sure what the reason behind it was now, but I am sure it needed to go there.... also FWIW PGN asked for a copy of my certificate of Citizenship - both adoptions, so I am sure they will want that copy of the green card too, they wanted proof of my legal status in the US. Hope that helps.

Thank you --We will get the adoption stork to usher them through Wash DC for us. We were told earlier on to provide copies of the green card... so we should be ok there. Again, many thanks!

mommy2twins - Becky's instructions have checked out so far for me, even though I'm from Germany. My mom (in Germany) made some calls and found out that the senate office for the state where my BC was issued will do the apostille. I guess I'll have to have her send it to the Guatemalan Embassy in Germany to get the authentication done?Becky - how long did it take for the Guatemalan Embassy in Canada to do the authentication for you? As far as everyone using the US citizen as "the primary" - I know we put down my husband as the petioner on the i600A form. I'm I understanding correctly, is there something the agency fills out or sends with the dossier that lists "primary" or "secondary" adoptive parent / applicant, etc? I guess I'll have to ask my agency about this... Thanks!Nicole

That brings up a good point.... We are still a little confused about the authentication requirement. I was hoping that we could get the certified copies from the UK, send them to the British Embassy in Washington DC for the "letter" (not clear what that will say) and then I would send it to our States Guatemalan Consulate which is San Francisco for the Authentication. It sounds like you're saying that it needs to be Authenticated by the British Guatemalan Consulate .... is that right?

Oh, and to answer your question about the primary applicant... we did this on the I600a and I600 forms

If you have the document certifed at the Brititsh Embassy in Washington, then it will be authenticated at the Guatemalan Embassy in Washington. You cannot get a document authenticated just anywhere...it has to go to the consulate or Embassy that handles that particular state.

Great, thank you Becky. That makes total sense now.

My husband is from Scotland (I'm American), and we had to order his birth certificate and have it sent to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London and then to the Guatemalan Embassy in London.

I forgot about the Canadian question...I think it was about a month to get it all done...