Who Can Adopt from Sierra Leone

A busy street in Freetown.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

To bring an adopted child to United States from Sierra Leone, you must be found eligible to be an adoptive parent by the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government agency responsible for making this determination is the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Read more on Who Can Adopt.

In addition to these U.S. requirements for prospective adoptive parents, Sierra Leone also has the following eligibility requirements for prospective adoptive parents:

Residency

Under Sierra Leonean law, adoptive parents are currently required to be resident in Sierra Leone for six months and to attend the court hearing for the adoption. Although in the past the High Court of Sierra Leone would sometimes waive either the personal appearance of prospective adoptive parents at adoption proceedings or the six-month residency requirement, this was always at the Court's discretion and should not be considered the norm. The High Court is currently reviewing its application of the Adoption Act and practices may change without notice.

Age of Adopting Parents

Unless related to the child, one of the adoptive parents must be at least twenty-five years old and twenty-one years older than the child. A relative of the child need only be twenty-one years old. Sierra Leonean law allows adoption by a father or mother (either alone or jointly with a spouse), and has no age requirement at all in this case.

Marriage

A single male may not adopt a child unless there are exceptional circumstances or the child is a son of the prospective adoptive father, Only married couples may adopt jointly.

Income

None.

Other

None

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