Visas?

I get the 3s and 4s mixed up, but if both parents travel, the child comes into the U.S. as a full citizen and if only one parent travels, the child must be readopted in the U.S.

There are two categories of visas that are normally used for internationally adopted children. The first category is the IR-3. An IR-3 is granted if both spouses in a married couple, or a person adopting as a single, traveled and saw the child BEFORE the issuance of a final decree of adoption in the foreign country. The U.S. government considers such an adoption to be "full and final". The child does not need to be readopted or to have a recognition done in the parents' home state, unless the state requires it or unless the family chooses to do it. The child becomes a U.S. citizen automatically, as soon as he/she enters the U.S., and a certificate of citizenship is sent automatically to the family within about 60-90 days. The second category is the IR-4. An IR-4 is granted under the following conditions: 1. Only one spouse in a married couple travels and sees the child PRIOR to the issuance of a final decree of adoption by the foreign country. 2. The child is NOT seen by either spouse in a married couple, or by a person adopting as a single, prior to the issuance of a final decree of adoption by the foreign country. 3. The child is not given a final decree of adoption overseas. He/she comes to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship for adoption here (the process in Korea and a few other countries). If a child comes home on an IR-4 visa, the U.S. government does not consider his/her adoption to be "full and final." If there was an adoption overseas, the parents MUST either readopt or do a recognition in their home state. If the child came home under a decree of guardianship, the parents MUST adopt the child under the law of their state. The child does not become a U.S. citizen automatically until an adoption decree, readoption decree, or recognition statement is issued. The family may use the N-600 to apply for a citizenship certificate for the child at that point. A third category, the IR-2 visa, is sometimes granted in adoption cases, but only if an American family lives overseas with an adopted child for at least two years before applying for the visa. As an example, an IR-2 may be granted if a person adopts a child overseas, and the child turns out to be ineligible for an IR-3 or IR-4 visa because he/she does not meet the "orphan definition" of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, since he/she was adopted directly from a married couple. If the parent lives overseas with the child for two years after the adoption, he/she may then bring the child to the U.S. on an IR-2 visa. If the parent is unable or unwilling to live overseas with the child for two years, he/she will have to overturn the adoption and release the child. Sharon