Bring child home options

Not quite sure what you mean. Once you get your child's paperwork, you will apply for a Filipino passport for her. I assume that you have researched Irish immigration law, and that an internationally adopted child can be brought into the country. If so, you will then apply at the Irish Embassy for a permanent resident visa for her. You will then follow Irish laws as to obtaining Irish citizenship for your child. Sharon

Hi Sharon. I read some of your posts. It appears you are very knowledgeable on the issues of foreign adoption. In one post, you mentioned an immigration layer who is good at dealing with such cases. I just wonder if you can get his/her contact to us. Here is our situation: My wife and I adopted a baby from China just recently. It was a foreign local adoption because my wife is a Chinese citizen. Both of us is working and living in US with green card. I am getting US citizenship soon. We are able to convince the visa officer to give the baby a B2 (visiting visa). Right now the baby is living with us in US. However the visa is only valid for a year and each stay is limited to 6 months. Renewing his visa is unlikely. We are in need of finding a good layer to help us keep the baby in US or immigrate to US ASAP. Many thanks.

Unfortunately, although I can recommend a good lawyer, I must tell you that your situation is not a positive one. Your adoption did not conform to Chinese or American laws, or to the rules of the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.1. Adopting via domestic Chinese adoption law does NOT qualify a child for international adoption. Both the U.S. and China have ratified the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, which means that you MUST go through the Hague adoption process in China, in order to qualify a child for international adoption. Unless you have proof that the child went through the Hague adoption process, you will not be able to get an adoption visa (IH-3 or IH-4) for bringing the child to the U.S. permanently.2. Under U.S. immigration law, you cannot bring a child to the U.S. on an adoption visa unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen. Basically, you should have waited until you were a U.S. citizen before trying to adopt from China. At that point, you could have had a homestudy and filed USCIS paperwork called the I-800A, to prove that you were qualified to adopt a child from China and bring him/her to the U.S. At that point, you would have had to select a Hague-accredited adoption agency in the U.S. to go through the Chinese adoption process with you. If you went through the process correctly, you would complete your Hague adoption in China and then file the I-800 (a companion document to the I-800A) with the U.S. Consulate, to determine whether the child qualified for an adoption visa and have a final review of your own qualifications to bring a child to the U.S.3. Chinese law, U.S. law, and Hague requirements do not allow adoptions from China without use of a Hague-accredited U.S. licensed agency. You are also not allowed to pre-identify a child, except in the case of children with special needs who are on lists prepared by the Chinese government. For adoption of a healthy infant, you must be assigned a child, and the wait is likely to be at least five years, even for a person of Chinese origin or citizenship; most agencies don't even accept families to the healthy infant program any longer. For the special needs program, you can use either a list that is agency specific or one that is open to all families. ALL of the children must be current residents of an orphanage or foster home and meet Chinese requirements for international adoption. And Hague requirements prohibit you from identifying a child on your own by contacting a pregnant woman in China or by going to an orphanage. The child MUST be officially referred to you by the Chinese government, even if you pick him/her from a list.4. Frankly, the visa officer should never have given your child a visitor's visa. Visitor's visas are given only if there is a clear indication that a person will go back to his country of citizenship before the visa expires. It is considered an attempt to circumvent the law -- and thus, illegal -- if there is an intent to stay in the U.S. permanently. If you already have an adoption decree -- even one that is not considered consistent with Chinese law on international adoptions, it is assumed that you have an intent to keep the child in the country and do not actually plan to obey U.S. immigration laws. You could be jeopardizing your green card status if you are seen as doing something illegal.5. U.S. immigration law will honor foreign laws and Hague regulations; thus, you will not be able to get a visa for a child you adopt in China, unless you go through the Chinese international adoption process and the Hague process. In addition, you will have to follow various laws concerning whether the child is an "eligible orphan" under U.S. immigration law. If you have adopted directly from a two-parent family, there is no way that you would get a visa, even if you were adopting from a non-Hague compliant country, as such children are not considered orphans under the Immigration and Nationality Act.6. Adoption must occur under the laws of the child's country of citizenship. In a few countries, like Korea, children are not actually given an adoption decree; they receive a decree of guardianship, under which they can travel to the U.S. and complete their adoptions under U.S. law. China does NOT grant guardianship. You MUST finalize your adoption in China under the Hague international process.All in all, you have circumvented so many laws and processes that I'm not sure that an attorney can help you. However, if any attorney can, there's one woman I know who may be able to help. She is a leading authority on the Hague Convention, has advised the U.S. government and foreign governments on adoption policy issues, has educated lawyers and physicians about adoption issues, and has helped to bring many children home after they were wrongly denied visas. She is an adoptive parent, and handles domestic, international, and surrogacy cases. I will send you contact information by PM. I have no personal or professional connection with the woman, but I came to admire her work when I was the director of a well known adoption advocacy organization some years ago. Still, I must warn you that even she cannot work miracles; she must uphold the laws of our country, though she can certainly look for loopholes.Sharon

Unfortunately, although I can recommend a good lawyer, I must tell you that your situation is not a positive one. Your adoption did not conform to Chinese or American laws, or to the rules of the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption. 1. Adopting via domestic Chinese adoption law does NOT qualify a child for international adoption. Both the U.S. and China have ratified the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, which means that you MUST go through the Hague adoption process in China, in order to qualify a child for international adoption. Unless you have proof that the child went through the Hague adoption process, you will not be able to get an adoption visa (IH-3 or IH-4) for bringing the child to the U.S. permanently. 2. Under U.S. immigration law, you cannot bring a child to the U.S. on an adoption visa unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen. Basically, you should have waited until you were a U.S. citizen before trying to adopt from China. At that point, you could have had a homestudy and filed USCIS paperwork called the I-800A, to prove that you were qualified to adopt a child from China and bring him/her to the U.S. At that point, you would have had to select a Hague-accredited adoption agency in the U.S. to go through the Chinese adoption process with you. If you went through the process correctly, you would complete your Hague adoption in China and then file the I-800 (a companion document to the I-800A) with the U.S. Consulate, to determine whether the child qualified for an adoption visa and have a final review of your own qualifications to bring a child to the U.S. 3. Chinese law, U.S. law, and Hague requirements do not allow adoptions from China without use of a Hague-accredited U.S. licensed agency. You are also not allowed to pre-identify a child, except in the case of children with special needs who are on lists prepared by the Chinese government. For adoption of a healthy infant, you must be assigned a child, and the wait is likely to be at least five years, even for a person of Chinese origin or citizenship; most agencies don't even accept families to the healthy infant program any longer. For the special needs program, you can use either a list that is agency specific or one that is open to all families. ALL of the children must be current residents of an orphanage or foster home and meet Chinese requirements for international adoption. And Hague requirements prohibit you from identifying a child on your own by contacting a pregnant woman in China or by going to an orphanage. The child MUST be officially referred to you by the Chinese government, even if you pick him/her from a list. 4. Frankly, the visa officer should never have given your child a visitor's visa. Visitor's visas are given only if there is a clear indication that a person will go back to his country of citizenship before the visa expires. It is considered an attempt to circumvent the law -- and thus, illegal -- if there is an intent to stay in the U.S. permanently. If you already have an adoption decree -- even one that is not considered consistent with Chinese law on international adoptions, it is assumed that you have an intent to keep the child in the country and do not actually plan to obey U.S. immigration laws. You could be jeopardizing your green card status if you are seen as doing something illegal. 5. U.S. immigration law will honor foreign laws and Hague regulations; thus, you will not be able to get a visa for a child you adopt in China, unless you go through the Chinese international adoption process and the Hague process. In addition, you will have to follow various laws concerning whether the child is an "eligible orphan" under U.S. immigration law. If you have adopted directly from a two-parent family, there is no way that you would get a visa, even if you were adopting from a non-Hague compliant country, as such children are not considered orphans under the Immigration and Nationality Act. 6. Adoption must occur under the laws of the child's country of citizenship. In a few countries, like Korea, children are not actually given an adoption decree; they receive a decree of guardianship, under which they can travel to the U.S. and complete their adoptions under U.S. law. China does NOT grant guardianship. You MUST finalize your adoption in China under the Hague international process. All in all, you have circumvented so many laws and processes that I'm not sure that an attorney can help you. However, if any attorney can, there's one woman I know who may be able to help. She is a leading authority on the Hague Convention, has advised the U.S. government and foreign governments on adoption policy issues, has educated lawyers and physicians about adoption issues, and has helped to bring many children home after they were wrongly denied visas. She is an adoptive parent, and handles domestic, international, and surrogacy cases. I will send you contact information by PM. I have no personal or professional connection with the woman, but I came to admire her work when I was the director of a well known adoption advocacy organization some years ago. Still, I must warn you that even she cannot work miracles; she must uphold the laws of our country, though she can certainly look for loopholes. Sharon

Thanks a lot, Sharon, for explaining the law to us. We understand it is not a Hague adoption. But the waiting time is so long, uncertain and painful for the Conventional adoption. We did some research on foreign domestic adoption before we decided go ahead. To our understanding, based on a memo issued by US Department of State, after one fulfils two years of physical and legal custody, a family based immigration I-130 petition could be filed for the child. We prepared to work a couple of years in China in the event we could not get a visitor visa for the little one. When we took an interview with the visa officer, to our greatest joy, he agreed with us and granted a H1B visa for the child. We really appreciated his understanding. Of course, as promised, we will bring the child back to China when his legal stay expires. At the same time, we are looking for a layer to guide us go thru the immigration process. Please PM us her contact info and we appreciate your help.

I will PM you the name of the lawyer I mentioned.I hate to say it, but many people on this board have waited five or six years to adopt through the normal NSN process. And others on this board have decided to switch to the SN process, but had a significant wait till they found a child they could parent, and then a wait to bring him/her home. Still others left this board because they did not want to wait or do an SN adoption, and switched to another country or gave up on plans to adopt. The whole purpose of China's adoption laws, U.S. adoption and immigration laws, and Hague rules is to create a clean, transparent system that applies to everyone. There are going to be a lot of upset people if one family can circumvent the system, so please understand that you may get some "flames".

I will PM you the name of the lawyer I mentioned. I hate to say it, but many people on this board have waited five or six years to adopt through the normal NSN process. And others on this board have decided to switch to the SN process, but had a significant wait till they found a child they could parent, and then a wait to bring him/her home. Still others left this board because they did not want to wait or do an SN adoption, and switched to another country or gave up on plans to adopt. The whole purpose of China's adoption laws, U.S. adoption and immigration laws, and Hague rules is to create a clean, transparent system that applies to everyone. There are going to be a lot of upset people if one family can circumvent the system, so please understand that you may get some "flames".

Hi Fortutu, we are in similar situation, trying international adoption as non-citizen resident. I was reading about ur adoption but did not find any updates after that. Could u give us an update as to where ur in the adoption process, is the process complete? and did you have to go back to ur home country to renew the B1 visa at the time? Thanks, any information will be appreciated

International Adoption is a 3 component processHome Study or ' Incoming ' AgencyPlacement AgencyImmigration Services Legally , if you do not do all 3 or if you ignore Immigration Services.You are Legally and Financially Responsible for this Child . Whilst they are residing in their ' Homeland or Birth Country '.,,

Clny:Please understand that, under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, the ONLY people who can get approval to bring a child to the U.S. on an adoption visa IH-3, IH-4, IR-3 , or IR-4) are those who are U.S. citizens or married to a U.S. citizen. And adoption visas are the ONLY way to immigrate an adopted child or a child placed with you under a decree of guardianship, except in the case of some people who live overseas with the adopted child for two years and then apply for an IR-2 visa for him/her. I say "some", because there are some cases where living overseas for two years with the child isn't satisfactory. As an example, some Hague countries won't give passports to children adopted via the domestic process instead of the Hague process, even after two years, and without a passport, a child can't get a visa to enter the U.S.Many of us have called for a comprehensive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws and policies, including those related to the adoption of internationally adopted children. Unfortunately, as you probably know, there simply isn't the will in Congress right now to make such changes happen. And even if Hillary Clinton, who is pro-immigration reform, is elected, it is unlikely that the process would be quick. There are major legal issues to review, and it could take a few years for the entire Immigration and Nationality Act to be reviewed and amended.While you may be able to adopt a child in the U.S., it will be difficult. And it will be impossible to adopt one overseas without giving up your current visa and returning home to do the adoption, then reapplying for a visa later. It's a terrible solution, I know, but I cannot be optimistic about your chances. Have you consulted a competent adoption/immigration attorney? If you need one, I can recommend someone to you.Sharon