I-600 Filing

If you file the I-600 stateside, you can get at least some assurance BEFORE you travel that your child's visa will not be denied. While there will be a final review of the paperwork at the embassy, before the visa is issued, the likelihood of a full-blown investigation, which could keep you in the foreign country for weeks, is lessened. Sharon

Thanks for the reply! That is my biggest fear of being in country for weeks for a full blown investigation. Has anyone had experiences with that?

For me, I guess it is more safe to file the application at a local embassy.

We're in the process of adopting a twin boy and girl infant from DR Congo. Its a private adoption, so we don't have the guidance of an adoption agency. I'm curious as to whether you decided to file your I-600 state-side or in-country? We're trying to decide that right now, though we still don't have I-600A approval yet.

When I adopted from China, there was no choice. I filed the I-600 in China. There was no risk of a turndown at the Consulate in Guangzhou because of something amiss on the Chinese side; the Chinese process was very organized, and my daughter had all the right paperwork, including an abandonment certificate. An occasional parent might have had minor delays because of U.S. paperwork issues, such as an expired homestudy, fingerprints, or I-600A, but good agencies generally didn't let families travel without the necessary updated documents. Today, China has ratified the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption. The I-800 -- the Hague counterpart to the I-600 -- is always filed in the U.S. The Hague rules are designed to make sure that an adoptive family doesn't travel and finalize an adoption, only to find out, at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate, that the child cannot come to the U.S. unless the adoptive parents are able to live overseas with him/her for two years -- which most people can't. Sharon

We are adopting from Ghana, Africa. We just returned from a two week trip there. Social Welfare did not sign the report we needed to go to court. Our original plan was to go to court during the trip and then file I600 in country. Now we've signed a p.o.a. to go to court for us when the report is signed. And we'll file the i600 stateside. Does anyone know if you have to have the adoption decree issued after court to file the i600 or can we go ahead and file it now before our case actually goes to court? Thanks for any advice or info you have.

you must have the adoption decree before filing the i600. your application will be denied and you will lose time. just wait until you have all of the necessary docs and then file.