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I am going to say some things that may strike you as very harsh. Please understand that I’m not trying to offend, and not trying to stop you from adopting. I am an adoptive parent and the former head of a well-known adoption advocacy organization. But I strongly believe that the only successful adoptions are those where the prospective parents are very well prepared, both for the adoption process and for raising an internationally adopted child.
Frankly, I am very worried that you are being nave about adoption in general, and adoption from Jamaica, in particular. You do not seem to understand either Jamaica’s laws or the U.S. laws governing adoption and immigration, and even after I sent you both the link to the U.S. State Department’s authoritative information about Jamaican adoption and the name of a U.S. based agency that can give you practical advice about adopting from Jamaica because the director has outstanding contacts there, you have asked questions that would have been answered in these sources. You seem to think that you can have a homestudy and get USCIS approval in a few days or weeks, and be on a plane to get a child soon thereafter.
Adoption is not something that takes days or weeks. Most adoptions take at least a year, and many adoptions take much longer. Some identified adoptions can be done more quickly, but some actually take longer because they are challenged either on the foreign county side or on the U.S. side. It’s not just a matter of the orphan definition. Some countries don’t like situations where the child is not in an orphanage, but is living with a relative or friend of the birth family, for example. So while, in theory, you might be able to bring home a child in about eight months, things often go wrong. And if you use the adoption license process in Jamaica, you have to wait at least that long and then actually do a domestic adoption in the U.S., adding another six months or so to the process.
First off, the homestudy. You said it was “scheduled for next week”. A homestudy cannot be “scheduled for next week”. It may BEGIN next week, but it is likely to take one to three months or more to complete, depending on things like your state laws, your ability to secure all the documents that the social worker will need, the ability of the social worker to schedule appointments with you, the need for preadoption classes, and so on.
With a homestudy, you start by doing an intake, where the agency determines whether it would be a waste of its time and your money even to start one, because you could not possibly be approved. As an example, you can’t adopt if you are on public assistance, if you are homeless, if you don’t have a stable source of income, if you have a life-threatening illness or a serious psychiatric condition, if you have been convicted of child abuse or domestic violence or other felonies, etc., so there would be no point in beginning the homestudy process. And most homestudy agencies won’t let you have a homestudy for at least a year after marriage or divorce or starting a first job or other huge lifestyle changes.
The homestudy, itself, usually requires at least three visits with a social worker, including at least one in your home. Before the first visit, the social worker will want you to have ready a large number of documents, which you may have to struggle to get – like birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, bank and investment account statements, police clearances, child abuse clearances, letters from your employer verifying income and tenure of employment, and so on. You may also be asked for the names of three non-relatives, to whom the agency will send letters, requesting that they write a letter of reference, commenting on your fitness to parent. The social worker will need to inspect the documents and cannot approve you without them. The social worker may also ask you, prior to your first visit, to write an autobiography, which will guide his/her first session with you.
During your remaining visits, you will be talking about things like the challenges of parenting transracially (if that will be the case), helping a child to deal with issues involving birthparents, celebrating your child’s birth culture, dealing with unexpected medical issues and the medical risks of international adoption, how you plan to educate your child, how you plan to discipline him/her, etc.
One visit will involve a home inspection to make sure that it is safe and welcoming. It’s usually no big deal; if you would feel comfortable inviting your boss or in-laws over to dinner, it’s probably just fine. Still, there may be some requirements regarding bedroom size, fire exits, a fence around a pool, a handrail on a staircase, etc. In some cases, you will have to make some improvements before you can be approved – as an example, putting in a railing. In a few states, there may be a requirement for something like a fire department inspection.
Use the homestudy as a way to learn more about the challenges of parenting an adopted child. Ask about childproofing, if the child you want to adopt is young. Talk about what immunizations and medical tests the child should have, and some of the common health issues (such as parasites) seen in newly adopted kids. Talk about how you decide what grade to put a child in, if he/she is of school age, but has had little or no schooling. Talk about attachment and bonding. And so on.
But even if you do these things, remember that some states, some countries, and some agencies require pre-adoption classes, either in person or on-line. Jamaica is not a Hague country, but many agencies now require all clients, not just those adopting from Hague countries, to take such classes – often at least ten hours’ worth.
As to the I-600A, some USCIS agencies will NOT allow the form to be submitted without an approved homestudy report, and will send your I-600A back to you if it is missing. Others will keep the I-600A on file, but will not process it until your homestudy report is received. The reason is that there’s no point starting to review the I-600A, if you wind up not getting an approved homestudy.
Once the USCIS receives your I-600A and your homestudy report, it will send you an appointment, possibly several weeks away, for you to have your fingerprints done at a site it specifies. You will then have to wait for the fingerprints to clear before the USCIS can actually approve your I-600A and issue you a letter of approval. I’ve seen families anywhere from a few weeks to a few months for that letter. In my case, I waited about 12 weeks, but that was quite a while ago.
At that point, you will begin putting together a dossier for your placement agency. And I want to make something very clear, here. If you look at the State Department website, it says that ONLY the CDA is authorized to serve as a placement agency in Jamaica. If you use any other Jamaican agency, the Jamaican government could well refuse to allow your adoption. And since the Jamaican government has made that a matter of law and policy, the U.S. government will not issue an adoption visa for a child who is not adopted through the approved process, even if you manage somehow to get an adoption decree or decree of guardianship for the child.
The placement agency will tell you what documents, besides your homestudy report and USCIS approval, to send to Jamaica. While many of the documents will be the same ones given to your homestudy agency, there could well be some additional ones, and you may have to put them through a notarization, certification, and authentication process before they can be accepted by the Jamaican authorities.
Jamaica recognizes two forms of adoption, and you will have to decide which one to use. The adoption order process actually results in a finalized adoption within Jamaica. However, you have to stay in Jamaica for at least four months, living with the child you hope to adopt, before you can go to court and finalize. This process is often difficult for American families to use, since you must be away from work and home responsibilities for at least four months, if not more.
The adoption license process does not result in a final adoption. All you get is a decree of guardianship that lets you take the child to the U.S. and finalize the adoption here. You need to make two trips to Jamaica – one to meet with the CDA and one to pick up your child, get certain documents needed by the U.S. Embassy before a visa can be issued, and obtain a visa in the child’s foreign passport. Remember that, with this process, you are not finished with paying fees when you get home. You first must do a domestic adoption of the child, which means an updated homestudy, post-placement visits, legal fees, and so on. The in-Jamaica process can be completed in about four months, but the U.S. process could take another six months or more.
If you use the adoption order process, and both you and your spouse (if you are married) travel, your child can come home on an IR-3 visa, which will mean that he/she becomes a U.S. citizen automatically and a Certificate of Citizenship will be sent to you in the next few months. If you use the adoption order process and only one parent travels (if that is allowed by Jamaica), your child will come home on an IR-4 visa. You will need to readopt the child or do a recognition in your home state, and your child will become a citizen only after the readoption or recognition. You will have to file the N-600, and pay fees, to get a Certificate of Citizenship for the child.
If you use the adoption license process, and your child will be coming to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship, your child will be issued an IR-4 visa. You will have to do a domestic adoption in your state. Once you do so, your child will become an automatic citizen, but you will have to file the N-600 and pay fees to get a Certificate of Citizenship for your child.
I wish you well with your adoption, but urge you to become thoroughly informed about the adoption process before you even begin your homestudy.
Sharon