Re-adoption in Texas

We re-adopted in Texas in 2006, but we went through an attorney. I will see if I can find out what you have to do if not using an attorney.

I appreciate your sharing any info. I am thinking the main reason is to have a Texas birth certificate....but I am not sure. Thanks again....for any help!

I need to readopt in Texas without a lawyer too! Please, if anyone finds any info, PM me? Love, Crista

I've got all the details. :D Did it myself w/o attorney this last year here in Texas. It's a piece of cake if you do it an "easy" county. I don't know all the "hard" ones, but I do know for sure that Harris county in Houston is awful. Stay clear. You can file in ANY county, even if you don't live there. You might chose to go ahead and do the one I list below. I know for sure it was very easy. You can handle it by mail if you call them and make sure you make your money orders out for the right amount. Otherwise, ask around to see if anyone has tried in your county. It really does make a difference. It is very easy - definitely doable yourself. NOTE: Keep in mind this is for if your child came home on an IR-3 visa with citizenship. I don't know anything about IR-4 visas. Our State fully recongnizes foreign adoptions with the full validity of a natural-born child. It's a mere formality, really. I know that Montgomery County and Waller County (both counties right by Houston) are two "good" ones where you will likely have no problem. This will look long typed out below, but it's really not that bad... here's what we did... 1. Photocopy of daughters birth certficiate in both spanish and english (though technically I think they only need the english) with a top cover sheet with an affidavit that it is an unaltered copy that we had notarized that it is a true copy. You did a hundred of these "true and unaltered" statements when you put together your dossier - no biggie - you're going to do them again and staple them to all these documents I'm about to list. You only need to get your signature notarized. No time consuming state authentication or anything like that. 2. Photocopy of daughter's Adoption Decree in both Spanish and English with top cover sheet with an affidavit that it is an unaltered copy of the original that we had notarized that it is a true copy. 3. Photocopy of our daughter's Guat Passport and US IR-3 VISA with an affidavit saying it is an unaltered copy of the original. 4. Photocopy of our daughter's Certificate of Citizenship with an affidavit saying it is a true copy. (You will get this in the mail after you are home about 8-12 weeks, possibly earlier.) 5. Photocopy of mine and my husband's driver's license with an affidavit saying it's a true copy (I don't recall - it may not have been necessary- but I didn't give them ANY reason to kick my paperwork out!) 6. "Validation Petition to court to recognize foreign adoption and to court-order name change." (The link to this document is below - type out and print) 7. Pre-filled out "Validation Order to recognize foreign adoption and to court-order name change" (if you are changing the name, fill out the bottom - if not, you can leave off the part at the bottom about the name change). (The link to this document is below - type out and print. In a "good" county, this is so all the judge has to do is look at these documents and sign off! They LOVE it when you have it all ready and typed up for them. 8. Cover Letter to the District Clerk stating your petition to have your child's adoption recognized and, if applicable, for the court to order your child's name change so it can appear on a Birth Certificate of Adoption from the State of Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics. Make sure you include this letter if you are doing this by mail. The county clerks work hard, but they aren't mind readers! 9. Copy of State of Texas Administrative Code that pertains to foreign adoptions. This helps out judges who aren't familiar with the process. It is "Texas Administrative Code Title 25, Part 1, Chapter 181, Subchapter B, Rule 181.29" which states the guidelines for this process. Do a google search for that Code, and you will find it online - print it out. I always have problems linking in this particular document on this website. 10. In Waller County, I believe the cost was $221 payable in the form of a money order to to Waller County...it may differ in other counties? I would imagine you call the district clerk and they could tell you what they charge for a "Validation Petition to court to recognize foreign adoption and to court-order name change." We went through Waller County (just northwest of Houston/Cypress) Waller County Clerk's Office Waller County Distric Clerk Patricia J. Spadachene 836 Austin Street, Suite 318 Hempstead, Texas 77445 / Phone 979-826-7735 We showed up on a Friday morning when they opened. The county clerk looked at the forms, took the money order and asked if we wanted to wait. We said sure! About 30 minutes later she came back with the Court Order Recognizing the Foreign Adoption and Ordering the Name Change in her hand - all signed off by the judge. They gave us back 4 certified copies of the court recognition of the foreign adoption and order for her name change. They also gave us the form we needed to submit to the State of Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics to get a new "birth certificate of adoption" issued with her new name. (This Vital Statistics form requires a section of it have the signature and a notary seal made by the County Judge's office - which the Waller County District Clerk already knew I would need and had prepared for me before we even left with the reaffirmation!) I was a bit intimidated with the first page form the Bureau of Vital Statistics requires for the new birth certificate, but I called the Texas Vital Statistics Department - and they transferred me right over to the "adoption department" who helped me fill it out and answer all my questions. It was painless. They are SO helpful on the phone; don't hesitate to call them. I had to pay the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics a filing fee and a fee to receive a copy of the new birth certificate of adoption - combined total for them was $47. (verify cost hasn't changed - you know how it is!) Oh yes, for items #6 and #7, here are the links to the forms you need to fill out to take to your county clerk. Link to Form for APPLICATION FOR ORDER RECOGNIZING VALIDITY OF FOREIGN DECREE OF ADOPTION, NOTARIAL ACT OF ADOPTION, AND FOR CHANGE OF NAME: [url]http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqpr...s/validpet.doc[/url] (We're representing ourselves so we changed "Attorney for Petitioners" to "Petitioners" and made the signature have a line labeled Petitioner, my husband's name, Father and a line labeled Petitioner, my name, Mother Link to Form for ORDER RECOGNIZING VALIDITY OF FOREIGN ADOPTION AND FOR CHANGE OF NAME: [url]http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqpr...validorder.doc[/url] (You pre-fill it out - the judge will sign it!) P.S. I'm not a lawyer. Please do not substitute any of the above information in the place of legal advice from a licensed professional. Any questions about legal procedure should be directed to a licensed attorney. (There...had to cover my tail!:eyebrows: ) In addition to Waller County, Montgomery County (The Woodlands, Texas) is said to be an "easy" county to file in. I do not know their filing fees - definitely check if you go through them. Remember, some counties, like Harris can be a nightmare. Be careful who you go through! The very last step is the easiest - You go to the Social Security Administration website and fill out the form for your child to get a Social Security Number/Card (you will need it for your taxes!) If you wait to do this step last, the card will be issued with your child's final name. There are other threads that give you information about filling out the form and what documents you need for that. But suffice it to say, it was a painless step. You fill out the form, take it in with the required documentation, they look it all over, and finally mail you the card in a few weeks. That last step is very fast and painless! Oh yeah - and FREE. :D Okay, I've written way too much. It probably looks scary. But I promise it's not. You did SO much more paperwork and much harder things to get your dossier ready. You can do this no problem! Good luck!

I knew I'd forget something! One last thing. Here's a sample cover letter for the county when you submit your Petition for them to recognize the foreign adoption.

Thanks so very much for this extremely helpful post!!! We are to submit our petition next week and would like to serve it up cleanly so that it will be easy for our clerk and judge. I would love to see how you wrote your cover letter and also wondered about a couple of the blanks on the Verification form. Seems like it called for the name of the court and the country of the adoption but not too sure.