question: final steps to complete adoption!?

Your child is a Mexican citizen. The act of adopting him/her in Mexico will not make him/her an American. If you both see your child before finalizing the adoption in Mexico, and if the child meets all other requirements -- for example, by being an "eligible orphan" under the terms of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act -- then he/she can travel to the U.S. immediately after the adoption with an IR-3 visa in his/her Mexican passport. In that case, he/she will become a U.S. citizen immediately upon entering the U.S. and will receive a certificate of citizenship automatically in about 60-90 days. You may need to appear at a USCIS office for a brief hearing in order to get it, in some cases, while it may simply come in the mail in others. Readoption in the U.S. is not required unless your U.S. state of residence requires it. If your child meets all the requirements of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, but you BOTH do NOT see him/her before a Mexican court issues a final decree of adoption, or if he/she is given to you under a decree of guardianship for adoption in the U.S., he/she can travel to the U.S. on an IR-4 visa. The U.S. government does not consider an IR-4 child to have had a "full and final" adoption. If an adoption decree was issued in Mexico, you must either readopt the child or do a "recognition" of the foreign adoption in your home state. If the child was given to you under a decree of guardianship, you must adopt the child in your home state. An IR-4 child does NOT become an automatic U.S. citizen until the readoption/recognition or state adoption is complete. At that time, you must apply for a certificate of citizenship for him/her, using the N-600 form. If your child comes home on an IR-3 visa, or if he/she comes home on an IR-4 visa and you do an adoption, readoption, or recognition as specified above, you may obtain a U.S. passport for your child. A U.S. passport CANNOT be issued if your child does not meet citizenship requirements. If you obtain a U.S. passport for your child, the process for taking him/her to a third country -- the place you are planning to live -- is the same as it is for you. The child will travel on a U.S. passport, and may require a visa stamped into it by the foreign country if the country requires visas for Americans. If you cannot obtain a U.S. passport for your child because he/she is not a U.S. citizen, your child will have to travel abroad on his/her Mexican passport. Be aware that some countries may make it more difficult for him/her to get a visa, if he/she is not an American citizen. In the foreign country, your child will not be subject to the protections that an American citizen would have. Most Americans who adopt internationally, but live abroad, try to make a trip to the U.S. to obtain citizenship for their children, before going to the country where they will be residing. If the child travels to the U.S. on an IR-3 visa and becomes a citizen upon entry, getting an expedited U.S. passport for the child should be possible. This will not work for an IR-4 child, since the child will not be a citizen until there is a "full and final adoption" in a U.S. state. In some states, it may be possible to do a recognition fairly quickly. Readoption will generally take considerably longer. Do be aware that an additional layer of complexity will be part of your situation is your child does NOT meet the requirements for either an IR-3 or IR-4 visa, and that this can happen with Mexican adoptions unless you use an extremely experienced and reputable agency. As an example, suppose that you adopt a child who has been living with his/her married parents. While the child may meet Mexican adoption requirements, he/she does NOT qualify as an "eligible orphan" under the terms of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. The child CANNOT be given an adoption visa to enter the U.S. You will have to live overseas with the child for at least two years before you can apply to bring him/her to the U.S. on a regular dependent visa. If the child does not qualify for an adoption visa, he/she cannot become an automatic citizen under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. You will have to go through the naturalization process for him/her. And you will not be able to get a U.S. passport for him/her untiil that process is complete. Sharon

Sharon, you seem so knowledgeable! My husband and I are in the adoption process from Mexico. We are NOT using and agency. We would prefer to take custody, get the child and IR-4 visa and adopt fully here, in Texas. The problem is two fold. 1) we have been told that the US consulate in Mexico refuses to issue IR-4 visas after 911 took place. 2) we can't find an attorney who will touch this or even has any knowledge on how to go about this type of adoption. I know it is done because over 400 kids from India come here and do just that each year. I am trying to get a referral to a lawyer who can help us. I don't think an agency can because we have done everything, I800A, homestudy, dossier,etc. All that is left is our approvals from both countries. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. K

Please go to the U.S. State Department website and read the section on the process of adopting from Mexico. The web address is: [url=http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/country/country_419.html]Intercountry Adoption Mexico[/url]. You will see that Mexican law does not allow a child to leave the country until an adoption is finalized. You cannot bring him/her home under a decree of guardianship. Relatively few countries allow children to come to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship for adoption here. India is one, and so is Korea. But when you look at the countries from which most Americans adopt, you will see that most require finalization to occur under their own legal system. As an example, I adopted from China. I am a single Mom. China requires at least one parent to travel, meet the child, and complete the adoption in-country. That is what I did. I chose to readopt when we arrived home, but that was for such purposes as getting a state birth certificate, for getting U.S. documents that would be easily recognized as valid, and so on. The Mexican adoption process can be long and complicated. Unfortunately, you can't circumvent it by bringing the child to the U.S. for adoption. If you want to adopt a Mexican child, you will simply have to deal with the foreign legal requirements. Sharon

Are you going through an agency? I am curious because I am also trying to adopt in Mexico and I am going to try without an agency. DIF seems very helpful and I am confident that it is the right decision for me. So if you aren't using an agency can you tell me about long each step of the process has taken? Did you apply to USCIS in Mexico or in the U.S.? How long did it take to get a referral from DIF (I'm assuming your adopting from DIF) and how long did it take for the adoption to be finalized in Mexico? Thanks! Jennie

Unfortunately you cannot adopt without the use of an agency now due to changes in requirements by USCIS. An agency must approve your homestudy and must agree to be responsible for your adoption. DIF can be helpful but they can also change any procedure at any time...there is no consistency with them. I don't know how long a referral takes because we knew our child prior to adopting. Depending on how quick you are with paperwork and appointments your I-800A process could take 3-6 months for final approval. We had to have our agency do several addendums to our home study because all of the wording is so particular and new to everyone. We still got everything done and approved in 4 months even with several changes. Mexico can take 6 months to 3 years depending on the child/loss process and the state you are adopting from. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions.

I wanted to just write a quick note regarding my post earlier this year. We successfully adopted our baby and finished getting the Mexican passport with the US visa right before we had to leave and move to our next country. We had a different situation because we were considered residents in Mexico, which I think made the process a bit easier. We went through a small agency in Mexico, and got our homestudy done in Mexico by a Mexican psychologist. It was approved by USCIS at the US Embassy in Mexico City. As far as DIF and the new changes to the process, it is supposed to become easier in many ways to adopt in Mexico now, but I want to share my lawyer's contact info in case she can help you at all with any specific questions. Her name is Liliana Diaz. She and her family worked on our case, and they know about the new regulations.Let me know if you have more questions.Best,Evelyn

Evelyn,That is what they are telling me too; that because I am legally working (on a visa) here in Mexico that I don't have to follow the same requirements as an American with no ties to Mexico. Also, if you don't mind me asking, how long did the process take you from start to finish?I'll update when I return from DIF.Thanks for the advice and the contact for your lawyer!Jennie

Hey, Evelyn. Is this your atty in Mexico? What state/city is she in? I am always having people ask for good Mex adoption attys so I would love her info. Thanks!