? about I800 A

We also started our process in 2005. You may renew your fingerprints and approval ONCE for free if you do so BEFORE they expire (it is two seperate renwals - one for fingerprints and one for the I-600A). If your country has since changed to Hague, you may be grandfathered in only if your I-600A forms are still valid. Otherwise you need to submit the I-800A.We fell into the category of having our I-600A expire, and then a month later getting a referral. We accepted the referral and then had to fill out the I-800A. It is not the process the USCIS likes, but they acknowledge that there are special circumstances and sometimes happens. We are currently still waiting for our I-800A approval. They do not process your application any faster whether you already have a referral or not. Not sure if that answers your question, but feel free to PM me if you have more specific questions. I'd be happy to try to help, although I am by no means an expert.~sarah

Hi - we were pre-approved to adopt a sn child before we did our 1800a and there wasn't any problem. We are adopting from China. Hope you find out...

I need clarification if on the requirements to fill out I800a form .The child I am adopting if 15 years old and will be 16 in April 2009. it states that :1. The child is under the age of 16 at the time the I-800 is filed on his or her behalf (taking into account special rules on filing dates for children aged 15-16), is unmarried, and lives in a Convention country;.. can anybody calrify that a little more for me since I am just going to file I800A ...

We are at the end of a 3 year adoption process, close to a match. We found out,in horror, that our I 600 expired. Anyone knows what CIS is doing with families that already got a match AND that they had their I 600 expired. We want to avoid re-filing everything again (I 800A). Any help? Thanks Max

Did you get any answer? We are in a similar situation.

U.S. immigration law does NOT permit the granting of an adoption visa to a child who turns 16 before the I-800 or I-600 (not the I-800A or I-600A) is filed. The only exception is in the case of a child being adopted by people who have already adopted his/her biological sibling. In that case, an adoption visa may be granted if the child's I-600 or I-800 is filed before the child's eighteenth birthday. There may be some specific rules pertinent to a child who is going to be very close to 16 when the I-600 or I-800 is filed, so please check with your agency and/or the USCIS. It is important to be aware of laws regarding the granting of adoption visas, since you do not want to complete an adoption overseas, only to find that you have legal and ethical responsibility for the child, but cannot bring him/her to the U.S. Sharon

Unfortunately everything I have read says that if the 600 expires then you have to start over with the 800. We are still on the 600 and they stressed to us that we were grandfathered in, but if we let it expire then we would have to start all over again. Plus, you needed the approval before the expiration date, not just the submission. The free extensions and country changes still apply to the 600, but you have to catch it before the expiration. Potentially your USCIS region will be sympathetic, but I don't know how much wiggle room they have. Good luck

My I800A was denied stating that I did not have a writen letter from a accredited adoption agency .it was done by a sperate social worker which is approved by texas law to do home studies but I want to appeal it ,any suggestions

Just because something is allowed by your state does NOT mean that it is allowed by the Hague Convention. Before starting an application to a Hague country, you should always check with your placement agency and/or the State Department (the Central Authority for the U.S.) regarding the rules. If you do not follow the Hague requirements, you will get a denial. Sharon

SAK9645 I definately found out the hard way and misunderstood the whole process about accredited in my state versus accredited by Hague. Any body know since I had filed I-800 also before his 16th birthday and also automatically denied with I800A .If I appeal and get lucky and is reopned will I-800 also be reconsidred and re-opened?

On june 21,2009 I filed I-290B for both I-800A and I-800 forms . 090109 i-800A was re opened, but they did not justify opening the I-800 form because I improperly filed form before I-800A was approved . So, of course now the child I had started the adoption process with back in february turned 16 in 0409. So now I dont know what to do ..