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Hi, I am hoping someone can give me some pointers. Here is the situation.
I'm an American citizen by birth. I'm currently in Armenia and am married to an Armenian woman. I have 2 stepchildren that I am wanting to adopt by taking them to my home state of California. When I do research I can only find information on international adoption when the parents have no history with the child. I found the papers I need to file in California and for stepparent adoption its very easy and painless. But I am not sure if I am going to run into problems like I have to go through the same process I would if I were a stranger adopting an orphan. I want the adoption because I love the children as though they are my own. Adopting them from within Armenia is next to impossible, they want me to go to the United States and go through the whole international adoption process as though they were an orphan and we are trying to do something faster and cheaper than that. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Just a few thoughts. My first inclination would be to talk to a lawyer obviously. The I-600 process is for orphans so I don't know if this would even apply to your situation. The other option is an I-130 but if you can't adopt them in Armenia that may not work.
Here's the link to info on an I-130 [url=http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=1d383e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=1d383e4d77d73210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD]USCIS - Family of U.S. Citizens[/url]
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Based on my research so far, as long as you perform a full and complete adoption, then you can get them citizenship. I have the same problem with Viet Nam as they will not allow the adoption because the child in not an orphan. However, luckily we have residency in Macau, so can adopt here.
1) Perform adoption
2) File N-600 or N-600k (living abroad)
[url=http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-45104/0-0-0-48354.html]Interpretation 322.2 Naturalization of adopted minor children.[/url]
[url=http://law.justia.com/cfr/title08/8-1.0.1.3.72.html]PART 322—CHILD BORN OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP :: PART 322--CHILD BORN OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP :: CHAPTER I--DEPARTMENT O[/url]
[url=http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/AFM/HTML/AFM/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-26573/0-0-0-33281.html]Appendix 71-4 Nationality Chart #4: Section 322 Natural or Adoptive Child of a U.S. Citizen.[/url]
N-600k - [url=http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=8554a3ac86aa3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=8554a3ac86aa3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD]USCIS - Biological or Adopted Children Residing Outside the United States[/url]
(f) Parents employed abroad (formerly section 323(c)) . Section 322(c) was added to section 322 by the Act of December 29, 1981 25a/ , in order to permit the naturalization of an adoptive child of a U.S. citizen parent(s) working abroad . Exemption from residence within the jurisdiction of the Naturalization Court are accorded provided the criteria of clauses (A), (B) & (C) of section 319 (b)(1) are satisfied. 25b/ Eligibility for the benefits of section 322(c) should be established in the same manner required by 319(b). ( Added )