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The bottom line is that, if you plan to adopt while living abroad and will want to bring your child home to the U.S. soon afterwards, it is important to go through either the I-600A/I-600 process or the I-800A/I-800 process, depending on whether the country from which you are adopting has ratified the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.
If you do not, then you will have to live overseas for two years with your child before he/she is allowed to obtain a visa in his/her foreign passport. The I-600 and I-800 processes determine that the adoption process has been legal, that you qualify to bring an adopted orphan into the U.S., and that your child qualifies under the Immigration and Nationality Act as an "eligible orphan". If you go throughone of these processes and everything is OK, your child can get an IR-3, IR-4, or IH-3 visa immediately.
Remember that an adopted child is not considered a U.S. citizen, just because two U.S. citizens adopted him/her. Some adopted children (IH-3 and IR-3) will become citizens as soon as they enter the U.S., because their adoptions are considered "full and final" overseas and the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 applies to them. Other adopted children (IR-4) will become citizens only after they are readopted in the U.S., because, even if a final decree was issued abroad, the child was not seen by both parents before the decree was issued. If you get a visa for your child OTHER than an adoption visa, your child will NOT become an automatic citizen, either immediately upon entering the U.S. or after readoption, and you will have to naturalize him/her. Again, adopted children do NOT get automatic citizenship just because their adoptive parents are U.S. citizens.
When you file your I-600 or I-800, you will need to supply the child's birth certificate, adoption decree, and foreign passport or, if the child is being brought to the U.S. under a decree of guardianship for adoption here (only a couple of countries allow this), the birth certificate, guardianship order, and foreign passport. These items will be given to you by the foreign country, at the time of the adoption or granting of guardianship. The child's birth certificate will list you as the parents, and the child's country of birth as his place of birth.
If you live IN the U.S., and your child comes home on and IR-3 or IH visa, you will not need to readopt unless your state requires it or unless you wish to do so. Your child will become a citizen as soon as he/she passes through Immigration, and he/she will get a Certificate of Citizenship in the mail within a couple of months. You can use that to obtain a U.S. passport for your child.
If you live IN the U.S., and your child comes home on an IR-4 visa, you are required to do a readoption or "recognition" in your state of residence. Your child becomes an automatic citizen as soon as the readoption or recognition is done, but you will have to file the N-600 with the USCIS, and pay the required fees, in order for him/her to get a Certificate of Citizenship.
If you live outside the U.S., but are U.S. citizens, there is a process by which you make a trip to the U.S. (usually to Hawaii) to apply for your child's citizenship, and it is handled on an expedited basis. Consult an expat adoption board or the U.S. Embassy where you are living for full details.
I hope this is clear.
Sharon