relative adoption pakistan please help.

I'm going to PM you the name and contact information for one of the top immigration/adoption attorneys in the U.S. If she can't help you or refer you to someone who can help you, no one can. Aside from being one of the leading experts on the Hague Convention on international adoption, she is well known for her successful efforts to appeal visa denials back when Cambodia and Vietnam were open for adoption.Normally, it is extremely difficult to adopt a child from an Islamic country. As you probably know, Islamic law -- Shaaria -- defines adoption very differently from the way it is defined in Western countries. There is no termination of the birthparents' rights and, in fact, the adoptive families are more like guardians, who must consult with the birthparents, if possible, on important matters such as a child's religious education. The child does not take the adoptive family's surname, or acquire inheritance rights from the adoptive family, and he/she may actually return to living with the birthparents if their situation changes and it is deemed to be in the best interests of the child.Even if an Islamic country permits a Western family to take guardianship of a child -- and many do not -- the USCIS cannot grant an adoption visa, in most cases. The reason is that U.S. law is predicated on the Western definition of adoption; there must be a termination of the birthparents' rights, and the child must either have a final decree of adoption from his/her birth country or a decree of guardianship that allows the child to be taken to the U.S. FOR ADOPTION under the laws of the adoptive parents' state of residence. Unfortunately, the guardianship decrees of most Islamic countries do not meet USCIS requirements, in that they do not specify the fact that the child must be adopted under the laws of the adoptive parents' state of residence.The good news is that, for adoption purposes, Pakistan is one of the more liberal Muslim countries. If a Muslim adoptive family works with an experienced agency, it can sometimes get the Pakistani courts to issue a guardianship decree that meets USCIS requirements, without actually violating Islamic law. My assumption is that you did NOT get a guardianship decree that had the appropriate wording. If that is the case, I'm not sure how you can get a decree that will satisfy U.S., as well as Pakistani, law.From what you said in your post, I also don't know whether the USCIS had any other objection to your visa request. As an example, even in the case of a relative adoption, the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act requires that a child from a non-Hague country meet the definition of an "eligible orphan" in order to get an adoption visa (IR-3 or IR-4). Basically, the child must not have been living with two parents prior to the adoption, although if you are willing to live overseas with the child for two years, you should be able to bring him/her home on a regular dependent visa.Also, I'm not quite sure why you needed to use the I-130 or the N-600K. The N-600K is The I-130 is NOT used for normal international adoptions, as I understand it. It is used for bringing relatives to the U.S. It does not allow a family to bring a relative home immediately. Once the I-130 is issued, the overseas relative must wait until a visa number is available, which may take a few years. On the other hand, once you get I-600 approval, you can bring the child home immediately. Normally, in international adoption from a non-Hague country, you file the I-600A before you complete the adoption. This gives the USCIS a chance to determine whether you, as the prospective adoptive parent, meet the requirements for bringing an orphan into the U.S. Then, once you finalize the adoption or get an approved guardianship petition, you go to the U.S. Embassy in the foreign country and file the I-600, which allows the USCIS to confirm that you still meet all adoptive parent requirements AND verifies that the child is eligible for an adoption visa. Assuming that your paperwork is in order, you will receive an IR-3 or IR-4 visa. (In your case, it would have been an IR-4, which is given when the child does not have a full and final adoption in the foreign country, but the guardianship decree meets USCIS requirements.) The new parent can then bring the child home immediately and begin the work of finalizing in the U.S. Once the child is given a final decree of adoption in the new parent's state, he/she becomes a citizen automatically, but the N-600 (NOT the N-600K) needs to be filed to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship for him/her.The N-600K is not normally used to obtain citizenship for internationally adopted children. It is used only for certain cases in which children live outside the U.S. and have a U.S. citizen parent. Your child would not qualify for citizenship via the N-600K, as you did not become your child's parent overseas; you became his/her guardian. You cannot get citizenship for your adopted child unless you have a final decree of adoption overseas or unless you have already brought the child to the U.S. and adopted him/her in your state court. With children who received IR-3 visas, they become a citizen as soon as they enter the U.S. and receive a certificate of citizenship in the mail automatically. With children who received IR-4 visas, they become citizens automatically once they are adopted in a U.S. state court, and they must obtain aSome people who adopt relatives do not file the I-600A, but wait and file the I-600 after obtaining guardianship or an adoption decree. The USCIS then verifies the eligiblity of the children and the parents at the same time. This usually means a little longer time in-country for the new parents, and a little greater risk that there will be a denial.All in all, it seems as if you got some bad advice concerning the adoption of the child for whom you are the guardian. Right now, your best bet will be to consult a reputable immigration/adoption attorney to figure out how to untangle your current situation. As I mentioned above, I'll PM you the name of one who is highly experienced.Sharon

I'm going to PM you the name and contact information for one of the top immigration/adoption attorneys in the U.S. If she can't help you or refer you to someone who can help you, no one can. Aside from being one of the leading experts on the Hague Convention on international adoption, she is well known for her successful efforts to appeal visa denials back when Cambodia and Vietnam were open for adoption. Normally, it is extremely difficult to adopt a child from an Islamic country. As you probably know, Islamic law -- Shaaria -- defines adoption very differently from the way it is defined in Western countries. There is no termination of the birthparents' rights and, in fact, the adoptive families are more like guardians, who must consult with the birthparents, if possible, on important matters such as a child's religious education. The child does not take the adoptive family's surname, or acquire inheritance rights from the adoptive family, and he/she may actually return to living with the birthparents if their situation changes and it is deemed to be in the best interests of the child. Even if an Islamic country permits a Western family to take guardianship of a child -- and many do not -- the USCIS cannot grant an adoption visa, in most cases. The reason is that U.S. law is predicated on the Western definition of adoption; there must be a termination of the birthparents' rights, and the child must either have a final decree of adoption from his/her birth country or a decree of guardianship that allows the child to be taken to the U.S. FOR ADOPTION under the laws of the adoptive parents' state of residence. Unfortunately, the guardianship decrees of most Islamic countries do not meet USCIS requirements, in that they do not specify the fact that the child must be adopted under the laws of the adoptive parents' state of residence. The good news is that, for adoption purposes, Pakistan is one of the more liberal Muslim countries. If a Muslim adoptive family works with an experienced agency, it can sometimes get the Pakistani courts to issue a guardianship decree that meets USCIS requirements, without actually violating Islamic law. My assumption is that you did NOT get a guardianship decree that had the appropriate wording. If that is the case, I'm not sure how you can get a decree that will satisfy U.S., as well as Pakistani, law. From what you said in your post, I also don't know whether the USCIS had any other objection to your visa request. As an example, even in the case of a relative adoption, the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act requires that a child from a non-Hague country meet the definition of an "eligible orphan" in order to get an adoption visa (IR-3 or IR-4). Basically, the child must not have been living with two parents prior to the adoption, although if you are willing to live overseas with the child for two years, you should be able to bring him/her home on a regular dependent visa. Also, I'm not quite sure why you needed to use the I-130 or the N-600K. The N-600K is The I-130 is NOT used for normal international adoptions, as I understand it. It is used for bringing relatives to the U.S. It does not allow a family to bring a relative home immediately. Once the I-130 is issued, the overseas relative must wait until a visa number is available, which may take a few years. On the other hand, once you get I-600 approval, you can bring the child home immediately. Normally, in international adoption from a non-Hague country, you file the I-600A before you complete the adoption. This gives the USCIS a chance to determine whether you, as the prospective adoptive parent, meet the requirements for bringing an orphan into the U.S. Then, once you finalize the adoption or get an approved guardianship petition, you go to the U.S. Embassy in the foreign country and file the I-600, which allows the USCIS to confirm that you still meet all adoptive parent requirements AND verifies that the child is eligible for an adoption visa. Assuming that your paperwork is in order, you will receive an IR-3 or IR-4 visa. (In your case, it would have been an IR-4, which is given when the child does not have a full and final adoption in the foreign country, but the guardianship decree meets USCIS requirements.) The new parent can then bring the child home immediately and begin the work of finalizing in the U.S. Once the child is given a final decree of adoption in the new parent's state, he/she becomes a citizen automatically, but the N-600 (NOT the N-600K) needs to be filed to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship for him/her. The N-600K is not normally used to obtain citizenship for internationally adopted children. It is used only for certain cases in which children live outside the U.S. and have a U.S. citizen parent. Your child would not qualify for citizenship via the N-600K, as you did not become your child's parent overseas; you became his/her guardian. You cannot get citizenship for your adopted child unless you have a final decree of adoption overseas or unless you have already brought the child to the U.S. and adopted him/her in your state court. With children who received IR-3 visas, they become a citizen as soon as they enter the U.S. and receive a certificate of citizenship in the mail automatically. With children who received IR-4 visas, they become citizens automatically once they are adopted in a U.S. state court, and they must obtain a Some people who adopt relatives do not file the I-600A, but wait and file the I-600 after obtaining guardianship or an adoption decree. The USCIS then verifies the eligiblity of the children and the parents at the same time. This usually means a little longer time in-country for the new parents, and a little greater risk that there will be a denial. All in all, it seems as if you got some bad advice concerning the adoption of the child for whom you are the guardian. Right now, your best bet will be to consult a reputable immigration/adoption attorney to figure out how to untangle your current situation. As I mentioned above, I'll PM you the name of one who is highly experienced. Sharon

Hi, I am in desperate need of help regarding adoption from Pakistan.Could you please help me?Thanks.