Mexico Adoption

The USCIS would not approve adoption by an illegal immigrant. Illegal immigration is considered a serious federal crime, and your husband could be subject to deportation if the USCIS found out via the homestudy and/or I-600A application. As a result, you could NOT get an approved homestudy, and you could not get USCIS approval. There would be no problem getting approval if you were a U.S. citizen and your husband was a legal permanent resident. However, you have to understand that the USCIS does not allow violators of federal law to adopt, especially if the violation is current and not something that happened in the distant past. Sharon

By the way, the fact that your husband holds citizenship in the country from which you hope to adopt is irrelevant. The fact is that he is in the U.S. illegally, no matter where his homeland is. Any homestudy agency would ask to see your husband's proof of birth and either US citizenship or legal immigrant status. You would be automatically denied if your husband's papers showed that he was in the U.S. illegally. And once you are denied on a homestudy, you probably will never find an agency that will accept you as a homestudy candidate in the future. Likewise, even if someone did a slipshod homestudy and failed to check immigration status, the USCIS would certainly find out. This would result in a denial. Denials often mean that you can never again submit an application to bring an orphan to the U.S. So even if your husband did not get deported, and managed to adjust his status, you might find that you could never again adopt internationally, because the USCIS would not accept his paperwork. And even if your husband did adjust his status and you were somehow permitted to submit an I-600A, the FBI background check would reveal his previous serious violation of federal law, and he would be denied. The USCIS has broad powers to deny anyone who has committed criminal acts, though it sometimes excuses people who committed minor crimes in the distant past, paid the penalty, and never repeated the behavior. There are only a couple of ways that adoption will happen for you: 1. Wait and see if your husband can adjust his status to a legal one. However, don't be surprised if he has difficulty doing so. And you will still face the issue of a possible denial because your husband committed a federal crime. 2. Move to Mexico and adopt domestically there. Just remember that your husband might have difficulty moving back to the U.S. later, since your husband's former illegal entry to the U.S. will be held against him. Be prepared to spend the rest of your life in Mexico with your husband and child. Sharon

And one further comment. Both Mexico and the U.S. have ratified the Hague Convention on international adoption, which means that any U.S. citizen adopting from Mexico must comply with not only state and federal law, but also with Hague requirements. The rules for Hague adoptions are even more stringent than those for non-Hague adoptions, and the paperwork requirements are much greater. There is simply no way to cut corners on a Hague adoption. Sharon

And still another comment. To apply for pre-approval to bring an orphan into the U.S., you must file either the I-600A or the I-800A with the USCIS. Both of these forms ask for proof of citizenship or legal immigration, if you were not born in the U.S. Sharon

And still another comment. To apply for pre-approval to bring an orphan into the U.S., you must file either the I-600A or the I-800A with the USCIS. Both of these forms require proof of citizenship or legal immigration, if you were not born in the U.S. If you do not have such proof, you are automatically ineligible to submit the application. Sharon

Well it's obvious that you have a huge chip on your shoulder about "illegal aliens". You may know more about the adoption process than I, but I can assure you that I know more than you about the immigration process. My husband will be a LEGAL permanent resident as of August of this year. He'll receive an I-601 Waiver of Inadmissibility which pardons entering the US without documents. We really just want to give a child a good home. I would have expected a little compassion on a forum such as this. RUDE STATEMENT REMOVED - Unless your family came here on the Mayflower, you have no right to judge anyone else.Once my husband is legal, I'll remember you and chuckle when I bring my baby home to a loving family.

Sak is actually quite correct in what she is saying. In order to adopt internationally, you will have to pass several gateways. The first will be your homestudy. And the homestudy agency will not approve your homestudy while either of you are violating any kind of law - federal, state, local, etc. Being in the US without the proper visa is a violation of federal law, so you will not be able to get an approved homestudy for adoption. The next is USCIS approval. And the USCIS will not give approval to bring a newly adopted child into the country if either of you are violating federal law. The last is the Hague laws. And they will prevent you from adopting if the Hague requirements are not met, and they include making sure the child will have citizenship in the country to which the child is being adopted. And without USCIS approval, you wouldn't meet that Hague standard and would not get to adopt. Sak is also correct in the options she gave you. You can wait until your husband is in the country legally, and pursue this adoption then. US citizens with legal resident spouses have no citizenship-related problem getting approval from their homestudy agency, USCIS, and Hague. Or, you can move to Mexico and adopt domestically there, live there with the child for the mandatory two years, and move back to the US. Whether or not your husband could join you depends on the status of his visa, of course, but you and the child wouldn't run into citizenship problems if you did it this way. I'm sorry neither of us have websites to refer you to at this time, but you do have enough information to search the relevant sites (USCIS, Hague, etc) to find what applies to your situation specifically.

If you re-read the quote from my original post above, I was already assuming it was impossible to adopt if both parents were not in the US legally. I'm not stupid enough to think they'd give a baby to a couple in which one parent was not at least a legal permanent resident. I also said (twice) that my husband is adjusting his status and will be a legal permanent resident in August. I'm not asking if someone in the country without the proper documentation can adopt - I already knew that was impossible. You people are way too hung up on the illegal thing. Thanks anyway, I'll look elsewhere for my information. Thank you and have a nice life!

Maybe you can think of another way to phrase your question? I think we've both answered it. Your question is "must both parents be in the US legally before we can adopt", and the answer is 'Yes, it is required that both parents to be in the US legally before you can adopt.' And since you're not both in the US legally right now, we've even shown you two ways for you to adopt - wait until August, or move to Mexico temporarially. I'm not at all sure what other options there could be that you think we're ignoring. If you have another option in mind, please spell it out, and we'll let you know if it's possible.

Hi,Sorry that you are having this obstacle. You asked for a website explaining eligibility for international adoption. Here it is (parts of the website are pasted after my comment):[url=http://adoption.state.gov/about/who/eligibility.html]Eligibility to Adopt[/url]The first part of this page explains the citizenship question very briefly, indicating that proof of citizenship is required for both parents. However, at issue in whether you can adopt internationally is not the fact that your husband is a foreign national; only 1 person in a couple needs to be a US citizen. The real issue I believe is going to be the police background check that must be run by US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the FBI to make sure both adoptive parents have no criminal record. I am not a lawyer, so I don't know how your husband's years of living here undocumented will come up on his file when the required FBI/police checks are run on him. The sticking point may turn out to be how the federal government processes his status when it is adjusted - that is, whether they will record on his police file that he has committed some kind of offense by being here "illegally" over the years. Again I really don't know about how that kind of stuff is handled. I assume you are using an immigration lawyer - you should ask them if they can explain this aspect (how the years of living here undocumented will appear on a general police check). I know from previous postings on this board that the police check is comprehensive and brings up all sorts of minor offenses that don't appear at the state level. Recently, some parents have been prevented from adopting because of fairly innocuous legal offenses; still worse are situations where you go abroad to adopt your child and then are told by the US state that they will not issue your child a visa because of something irregular with the parents' or child's status. So, basically, consult a lawyer on this one, the question you ask is fairly technical and will require expertise that most adoptive parents on this board don't possess. Eligibility to AdoptA first step is to file an application with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Your application will consist of a USCIS form, a home study, an application fee, and other supporting documents. The form you use depends on the foreign country from which you would like to adopt. To know which form to file, you will need to know if your adoption is subject to the Hague Adoption Convention (view list). For a Convention country, file Form I-800A. (A Convention country is a party to the Hague Adoption Convention.) For a country not party to the Hague Adoption Convention, use Form I-600A. Form I-800A - Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention CountryForm I-600A - Application for Advance Processing of Orphan PetitionForms I-800A and I-600A allow prospective adoptive parents to demonstrate that they are eligible to adopt and capable of providing proper care to a child. They ask for relevant information about you and, if you are married, your spouse. They request supporting documentation, such as proof of citizenship and proof of marital status (if applicable). If there are any additional adult members residing in your household other than you and your spouse, you will also be required to submit a supplemental form about those individuals.

Thank you Max'smom - that is exactly the information I was looking for. I appreciate your help.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am neither racist nor xenophobic. My own father was an immigrant, and both of my grandparents were immigrants. My daughter is Chinese, and we know many Chinese immigrant families. I am in favor of a total overhaul of the American immigration system, and especially of some changes in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, to make it easier for qualified immigrants, both adopted and non-adopted, to become permanent residents and citizens. Unfortunately, these changes are a long way off, and, as Americans, we must adhere to current U.S. laws and policies. My statements to you are based upon U.S. law as it currently exists. No person who is currently in violation of the law, or who has been in violation of a federal law in the recent past, can adopt and bring a child to the U.S. Once in a while, a person with a non-serious offense that happened a long time ago is allowed to adopt and bring a child to the U.S. That person must have paid a penalty for his/her illegal act, and must have demonstrated, over about ten years, that he/she has never repeated the act. Unfortunately, your husband's violation of U.S. law did not happen years ago. And given the current anti-immigration sentiment in the country, agencies like the USCIS are being extremely strict with people who have violated immigration law. While I certainly hope that your husband will receive an adjustment of status, I have seen too many people apply for status changes and get denied. Right now, there is a lot of pressure on government officials to deport people who are in the country illegally, and there are people who have lived decent lives in the U.S. being forced to leave the U.S. because of their denial. Also, even if your husband is successful in getting permission to stay in the U.S., most states are pretty strict in their homestudy requirements for prospective parents, and the USCIS has extremely broad powers to deny I-600A and I-800A applications. The USCIS has used its powers in cases involving crimes that you and I would view as trivial. I want you to be realistic about your chances of adopting internationally. If it happens, great, but I do NOT have confidence in the USCIS as a humanitarian organization. It tends to stick to the letter of the law, and has been known to issue denials, not only to parents, but also to homeless children adopted in good faith by parents. Sharon

Hi mis2810, if your husband is mexican I'll just post where you can read about the laws for adoption in Mexico, [url]http://www.bibliojuridica.org/libros/4/1794/8.pdf[/url] actually, it is very difficult even for mexicans to adopt a child, also there are only 14 states that are open to international adopting and most of them require that your permanent residence is in Mexico, also you need to go through DIF that is the institute that regulates all the facilities where you can find a child legally and you need all the permits of your country to demonstrate that you are suitable for adopting a child, you also need proof that the child will enter legally to your country in the case of states like Durango where you can take back the child to your country, and another thing you will need is a mexican government permit that allows you to reside in Mexico with the purpose of adoption of a child. you need to have in mind that all the mexican states have individual laws that are below federal laws and these federal laws are below the Constitution of the United States of Mexico. You need a mexican lawyer. The following is meant as something to keep in mind (not saying in anyway that you will do so)... Please don't encourage baby trafficking by "purchasing" a baby, there is NO PLACE that can surrender a child if it is not via DIF and a court order. by contemplating this idea you might be destroying a whole family only to save your time. and I can assure you that you will be spending a lot of money if they give you a child at all, a stolen child. I hope this information helps you and wish you the best of lucks.