Residing in and adopting from non-Hague country

Yes, you will need a homestudy. You will need to find a provider who can conduct it in your country of residence. The U.S. Embassy in the country often keeps a list of providers acceptable to the U.S. who can do homestudies where you currently reside. If you go through the I-600 process, it will be easier to get U.S. citizenship for your child. Remember that a foreign born child does NOT acquire citizenship automatically, just because he/she has American adoptive parents. Although the Child Citizenship Act doesn't apply, you may be able to get citizenship via an expedited process in which your child is allowed to travel to Hawaii or certain other states with you and complete naturalization there in a couple of weeks. Check with your local U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Sharon

Thanks.We're leaning away from the I-600 process because, to be quite frank, I doubt any American social worker is going to approve us because of the country we live in. But of course we want to make sure we are doing everything legally (and ethically too!) so just trying to understand what all the options are.Appreciate your reply!

BTW, I believe I have heard that you will not be able to travel to the US with your child during the two year period, using a visitor's visa, indeed I have heard that would be seen as visa fraud (not that I mean to imply that you are committing visa fraud, what I mean is that the "visa system" as it is set up does not allow use of visitor's visas for such situation).

Thanks, Max'smom, that's one of the big questions we have. Is that something you've had experience with or just heard through the grapevine?I've heard that once you wait two years, it still takes months to process the visa request. I can't imagine not visiting home for 2-3 years, especially because we have young kids and all of our family lives in the States.

Americans have gotten approved homestudies while living in many different countries. It's not all that difficult. If the U.S. Embassy can't help, try International Social Services (ISS). My understanding is that it can arrange for a homestudy acceptable to the U.S. and other countries, through a network of providers, and works in 140 countries. I have no personal experience with it, however. Sharon

By the way, most countries, nowadays, require homestudies for adoption. Don't be surprised if the country in which you reside also requires one, even if you do not go through the I-600 process. Also, be VERY careful to get foreign documents acceptable to the USCIS, if you go through the I-600 process. Often, the USCIS will deny a visa if there are any perceived irregularities in the paperwork. As an example, in some countries, there is concern about the authenticity of birth certificates. In addition, if you are living in a Muslim country, be VERY sure that what you get from the courts will be an acceptable decree of adoption or a decree of guardianship that recognizes your plan to do a full and final adoption in the U.S. Shaaria, or Islamic law, does not recognize adoption as we know it; its view of adoption is more like what we call foster care or guardianship. The child retains his/her birthparents' surname, retains inheritance rights from the birthparents, and may be returned to the birthparents at any time if their circumstances permit and it is determined to be in the best interests of the child. The adoptive parents are expected to consult the birthparents, where feasible, on issues such as how the religious education of the child should be conducted. On the other hand, Westerners, including the U.S. government, regard adoption as a process that ends with the total relinquishment of the birthparents' rights and with the child assuming the same status as a child born to the adoptive parents. You are unlikely to get a final decree of adoption in a Muslim country. You will get a decree of guardianship, but not all decrees of guardianship are acceptable to the USCIS, because they don't recognize the permanence of your relationship to the child. In countries that follow Shaaria strictly, such as Saudi Arabia, you will not be able to get a decree of guardianship that meets requirements for an I-600 visa. In more liberal countries, such as Pakistan, some delicate negotiations may be needed, but an acceptable decree of guardianship may sometimes be issued. Sharon

Thanks again for the reply.I'll look into the ISS about the home study options and requirements, although seeing as the US embassy recently evacuated and has travel warnings for our country, I can't imagine a social worker will want to come here. But I'll look into it! Our country does not require a home study to adopt.We are in a Muslim country but family courts settle all domestic issues. Since we are Christian, we go through the Christian family court and can adopt children abandoned in "Christian orphanages." Only abandoned children are allowed to be adopted here, so that should satisfy the US requirements of what an orphan is, if I'm understanding that correctly. Thankfully we are good friends with the supreme judge on the family court and he is helping us through the process on this side of things, so we are confident that we are following all local laws to a T.If we legally adopt the child here, the USCIS will recognize that, right?We're getting in touch with a lawyer to make sure we know exactly what we need to do from the US side, but this thread is helping me a lot to make sure I'm asking all the right questions, so thanks again!

Unfortunately, it is NOT a given that the USCIS will recognize any adoption that is legal in the foreign country. In fact, the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act makes it very clear that certain legally adopted children are NOT eligible for a visa -- for example, if you adopt a child who does not meet the legal definition of an orphan that is used in the Act. In non-Hague adoptions, a visa will NOT be issued in if a child was living with two birthparents, or a birthparent and stepparent, at the time of the adoption, for example. You also can't get a visa if you legally adopt a child who has reached the age of 16 (or 18 if you have already adopted one of his/her bio siblings). In addition, the USCIS requires proof that the child has either had a full and final adoption that meets U.S. standards, including full termination of parental rights, or was given a decree of guardianship that explicitly allows the prospective parents to take the him/her to the U.S. for adoption in a U.S. state court. Adoptions from certain Muslim countries simply do not qualify because the judges are not permitted to issue documents with that sort of language. In addition, the USCIS reserves the right to investigate any case where a visa is requested, even if a local adoption has occurred, and has issued "NOIDs" (Notices of Intent to Deny) if it believes that there may be forged paperwork, cases where the birthmother was not informed about the finality of the adoption, any bribery or corruption, and so on. Some of the investigations, at least in the past, were a bit heavyhanded, and resulted in improper denials that required long legal processes. As an example, shortly before Vietnam and Cambodia closed to Americans in 2001 or so, a number of families who had already completed adoptions were denied visas for various reasons. The USCIS was reluctant to reverse the denials, and after families went through a lot of heartache, time, and money, lawyers were able to convince the President to admit some of the children to the U.S. under humanitarian parole, a rarely used option where the children enter the country without a visa. This solved the immediate problem, though it made getting state birth certificates, naturalization, and so on difficult. In one case, to show you that investigations were occasionally botched, a visa was denied to a family because the birthmother was believed to be living with the birthfather, a man named Yamaha; this would mean, of course, that the child was NOT qualified for adoption under the orphan definition. In fact, it was later shown that the birthmother had a female housemate named Dameha, who was obviously NOT the birthfather. All in all, if you are adopting a non-Muslim child who qualifies for an adoption visa, follow the country's laws, observe ethical adoption practices, obtain a decree that explicitly grants a final adoption or that explicitly grants permission for the child to be taken to the U.S. for finalization of an adoption, have paperwork that is clearly authentic, and go through the I-600 process, you should not have difficulty bringing your child to the U.S. The U.S. State Department says, however, that you can expect the length of time required for processing and I-600 to be longer than average, when Islamic countries are involved, because of Shaaria issues. I would recommend that you go to the adoption website of the U.S. State Department, at adoption.state.gov, and read the section on adoption from the country in which you are living. There is also a general document on the site, pertaining to the adoption of children from Muslim countries. Sharon

Do remember that you will not usually be able to complete your adoption or obtain a visa in a country that is in a chaotic state following a war or natural disaster. As an example, if the country's courts are closed, or clogged with cases involving looting, violence, and so on, an adoption cannot be finalized and a decree of guardianship cannot be granted. If the U.S. does not have an Embassy in the country, and there are no arrangements in place for American adoptive families to have I-600s processed in another country, you will not be able to obtain a visa for your child. If there is any indication that a child has become separated from his/her biological parents because of the turbulent situation, and may still have biological family members looking for him/her and willing to parent him/her, then an adoption should not be permitted and an immigrant visa will not be issued. Sharon

Thanks so much for all your help, Sharon. We've met with the judge here in our country today and we're clear now on the laws on this side of things. It's actually quite straight-forward, thankfully. He seems to believe we can apply for an IR-3 at the embassy here without an I-600....? We have a consultation with an adoption/immigration lawyer in the States (that you recommended :)) next week, so we'll know for sure what our options are. We're hoping to be able to go the I-130 route if that is an option for us.