Is it possible to Adopt a child while on H1B Visa?

Sharon: You seem very knowledgeable about this. I'm currently in the process of trying to bring my fiance into the U.S. on a K1 visa. His children are very young now, but eventually we'd like to bring them here, at least to visit, and maybe to live. Do they have to be "orphaned" for me to adopt them so they don't have to wait 5-7 years for a visa? Obviously they're not orphaned! Eventually I will have to consult a lawyer on this, but I wondered what you know....Susan

I'm not an expert on relative immigration, but here is my understanding of your situation. International adoption is NOT involved at all. You are talking about the biological children of your fiance. He doesn't need to adopt them, since they are already his. He just needs to immigrate them. (Remember that adoption and immigration are two entirely separate processes.) Whether a person on a K-1 visa is allowed to immigrate his/her biological minor children is not something with which I am familiar. You will need to consult an immigration lawyer on that matter. You, yourself, cannot enter the picture until the children are in the U.S. If you are married to your fiance by then, you can go to court in your state and do a stepparent adoption, so that you will have all the rights and obligations of a biological parent. If you continue to live with your fiance in an unmarried state, you cannot do a stepparent adoption. Remember that, when you adopt a child, you do so under the laws of the child's country of citizenship. Immigration, on the other hand, has a lot to do with the parent's country of citizenship. Very few countries have a concept of stepparent adoption. If you were single at the time you tried to adopt, you would be reminded that a regular adoption requires the termination of birthparent rights; therefore, your fiance would have to give up his rights to the child, in order for you to adopt him/her, and that would make no sense at all. If you were married at the time you tried to adopt, you would be told that your husband is already the parent of the child. Since you must adopt as a couple when you are married, adoption is irrelevant, since the child already belongs to one member of the couple, and you cannot adopt a child who is already yours. As to immigration, you are quite right to point out that to get an adoption visa for a child, he/she must either have one single parent who cannot support the child at a level considered normal in his/her country, or he/she must have lost both parents to death, abandonment, relinquishment, etc. But you would not even get to that point, as you could not do an adoption under the laws of the foreign country. Sharon

Hi, I am currently on I-485 waiting for my Greencard approval. Can I do domestic adoption here in U.S.A. Can I adopt an already adopted kid ?? Kid has been adopted by inter-country adoption couple of years back. Thanks, Sai.

Sai, I do'nt see any reason why you could not. American immigration just prevents a legal status from children adopted internationally when you want to bring them into the U.S.I consulted a top notch immigration attorney and she told me that was told that in November there will be discussions on this topic. The state department is aware that the current regulations violate the Hague agreements but it will take time to straighten out the situation get U.S. immigration on board to fix things. So no changes in the immediate future. In you case, I assume the child has American citizenship and since the child is already in the United States, this would be considered a domestic adopton. That should work!

WizardofOz, Wow. That information is very helpful. So should I go through some agency for doing this domestic adoption??? Can you please PM me if you have any good agencies information. I am from California and the adopted child (whom I want to adopt) is from Colorado. Also do you know how long would this process be?? What would be the total cost involved...just approximately?? Also you mentioned there would be some discussions in November for LPR's , if we can really hear some good news in couple of months, then I would prefer waiting for that as by that time I might get my GC. Please share any latest updates you have on this. Thanks.

Sai, the fact that there will be talks in November is a good thing and I think that eventually they will change the situation with GC holders. But since this involves U.S. immigration, do not expect anything concrete to happen anywhen soon. Instead of two months I expect rather a two years period (or more, LOL) until they get their act together on international adoption by GC holders. I PMed you more info on agencies, costs etc.

There is a certain visa class that will allow for a child adopted internationally to enter the US right after the adoption. My understanding is that the parents must follow the laws governing international adoptions for their home country and for the country from with they adopt. These children do not become US citizens as their parents are not US citizens; however, it is not impossible for the parents to obtain a Green Card and drop their visa status.

Hi maggie_va Can you please throw some light on what visa class you are talking about? rgrds Pr

Could you please provide more information regarding your adoption process .It would be while I become citizen here to adopt from india so looking into adoption here. how long was the process how to even begin this paper work Thanks

MaggieVa: I think you have some issues confused. Yes. There is a visa class that allows a child to come home right after adoption overseas. In fact, there are two such classes -- IR-3 and IR-4. But those designations refer to the CHILDREN's visa status, not the parents'. For a child to obtain an IR-3 or IR-4 visa, at least one spouse in a married couple must be a U.S. citizen. A person adopting as a single must also be a U.S. citizen. The IR-3 and IR-4 visas are NOT given to any children who don't have at least one U.S. citizen parent. The IR-3 visa is given to the child if both parents in a married couple travel and see the child before a final decree of adoption is issued abroad. It is also given in the case of a person adopting as a single, who travels and sees the child before a final decree is issued abroad. When a child comes home on an IR-3 visa, he/she becomes a U.S. citizen automatically and a certificate of citizenship is mailed to the family automatically. The IR-4 visa is given if all relevant parents do not see the child prior to the issuance of an adoption decree overseas. As an example, with China, it is possible for one spouse to travel and complete the adoption while the other stays home. And with Guatemala, it is possible for an adoption to be finalized overseas without either spouse meeting the child first. In both cases, the IR-4 would be issued. An IR-4 is also issued in cases where the child isn't actually adopted overseas, but where the foreign government allows him/her to travel to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship, so that the adoption can be finalized here. This is the model used by Korea, among other countries. With the IR-4 visa, if there WAS an adoption decree issued overseas, the child does not become a U.S. citizen until he/she is readopted in the parents' U.S. state of residence or until a "recognition" is done in the parents' U.S. state of residence. The parents must apply for a certificate of citizenship using the N-600 form. If a child received an IR-4 visa but the parents were given a decree of guardianship instead of a decree of adoption, the child does not become a U.S. citizen until the parents complete the adoption in their state of residence. The parents must apply for a certificate of citizenship for the child at that time. As I said earlier, these visa categories do NOT apply unless at least one of the adoptive parents is a U.S. citizen. Sharon

Friends, I am on L1 A visa & my wife is on L2. My company recently applied for my Green Card. Though I applied on an EB1 category, I dont foresee my permanent residency application to be approved for another 15-18 months as per USCIS website time lines. My wife & I have planned to adopt a girl from India. I read the comments in this tread & would REALLy appreciate if some could guide me. I am confused If I would be able to adopt & bring the child to US or would have to wait for my GC or would have to adopt domestically (that is If I can) etc etc etc. Would appreciate your guidance. Thanls

The current immigration laws of the United States do not allow you to adopt internationally as a green card holder. You have two options available: 1. Give up the idea of getting a green card, leave the U.S., return to India, adopt a child from there and start the whole immigration process again. 2. Stay here and start a domestic adoption process. Good news is: You do not even need a green card for that. PM me if you like and I can tell you more about the process. We had an H1B when we adopted our son domestically. Both options are tough and you have to carefully consider which works best for you.The first one requires leaving everything you have here and return to India which is a huge sacrifice. When you read posts here of some folks who justify the current immigration laws, they belittle it by saying things like "just return to your home country and adopt from there". In reality, we talk about a serious decision which has a lot of ramifications. To move from country to country is always a major and life changing process, even when you just "return to your home country". The second option is the domestic adoption process. Again, those who justify the current laws belittle the issues by saying "no problem, just adopt domestically". Domestic adoption is not easy - I went through it and it was a tough "journey". The main problem is that in domestic adoption you need to get chosen by a birthmother. As a religious/cultural minority, your chances are lower to get chosen in a timely manner so if you decide to go down that route, you need carefully consider your steps. Be sure to chose an agency that has a large diversity in birthmothers, that increases your chances of getting chosen. Also, educate yourself well on the different options you have for available children (ethnicity, substance exposure), do not make any decisions on that until you have thoroughly studied the topic. You might be surprised at your conclusions at the end of the process. The more open you are in your choices, the better your chances for a timely placement.

Hi, My husband and I are here on a temporary work visa ( H1 ) and have not been able to have a child for last 5 years. We are planning to adopt a child from india & i read some past posts on forum regarding this. I understand that only US Citizens or Green card holders have the option of getting adoption visa for their child. As we are still at least 4 years away from getting a green card, I think we would have to wait a lot. If I adopt a child in India and stay with him/her for few months there while my husband is still in US , Can I later join my husband & bring the child also with me on a visitor visa to US for say 6 months? Is the adopted child not eligible even for a visitor visa ? Can we repeat this process for the child over and over until he/she becomes eligible for the adoptive visa ? Another related question - Would the child not be eligible for adopted visa even after 2 years in this case ? Thanks, Geeta

Hi Geeta, We were in the same position as you a few years ago. On H1B visa , applied for green card. 2 years at least from getting it. Firstly you can not bring your child (adopted ) back from India even if you are on a Green card. You are entitled to do so only once you become a Naturalised citizen. That would ofcourse be several years for you sadly. As for a visitor visa, i am not at all sure about this. I do hope some one can clear that for you. You've raised an interesting point though. But i believe post adoption after he/she has lived with you in India for 2 years you can bring him back legally on a dependant visa. We eventually adopted domestically . Our toddler now is 2 year 3 month and of Hispanic origin. All the best to you.

Geeta, we were also in the same position - both of us engineers and on an H1B visa. We were thinking about adopting internationally because we did not like the domestic adoption process (a birthmother choosing you and in general, the idea of being involved with a birthmother did not appeal to us at all). We were told by an adoption attorney that the U.S. does not allow H1B holders NOR permanent residents to adopt internationally - the child has to live with you two years outside the U.S. for you to bring it back to the U.S. and in the meantime you lose your H1B/green card! American immigration crafted this idea very carefully to put people like us in a dead lock. We were shocked, saddened and could not believe that the United States does something that is so non-humanitarian. After learning more about immigration and the dysfunctional system here, I undestand better where it comes from. The main problem is that not only does the general population not understand the difference between "legal" and "illegal" immigration - immigration itself does not understand it either and mistreats us all!You can read posts here on this forum. It will give you some insight on what is going on, and it's not pretty. For example, there was a lady posting here who, in a conversation on why permanent residents cannot adopt, wrote something like "why should people who do not want to accept the duties of the country be given special right?!" or something like this. That is a testimony of profound ignorance on who permanent residents are (same duties as citizens except for jury duty), why we are permanent residents and not citizens (because we either wait for the citizenship or because we cannt carry dual citizenship) etc. Anyway, back to adoption. We ended up adopting domestically, there was no choice. We did not like the "baby buying process" and the politically correct nomenclature, it was hard to find a birthmother because we were not Christians, it was expensive but it happened!!! We have a semi-open adoption where we send letters and pictures which is doable. Kiran is of Cambodian descent (looks quite Indian, could pass as Assamase ...), and he is the most loving, precious little boy. He recently turned three and I just said to a friend yesterday if I could have wished how Kiran would be at the age of three - that's exactly how he turned out! Could not be better, it is a dream come true. All happens for a reason and all is well. It is not the I justify the American immigration policies, on the contrary, I think shame on American immigration. But the way that I see it, we and nobody else on this earth were meant to adopt our sweet boy and that is why things happened the way they did. We just started the process of adopting a sibling for him!!Please PM me if you want agency/attorney recommendations. All the best to you!