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Who Can Be Adopted from Japan

Kyoto 's.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Japan has specific requirements that a child must meet in order to be eligible for adoption. You cannot adopt a child in Japan unless he or she meets the requirements outlined below.


In addition to these requirements, a child must meet the definition of an orphan under U.S. law for you to bring him or her back to the United States. Learn more about these U.S. requirements.


ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:

Requirements for a child to be adopted under Japanese law:


Abandonment Requirements: For a child to be adopted under the special adoption law, the child must be under the age of 6 at the time the petition to adopt is filed. However, the adoption can still proceed if the child is under the age of 8 and the prospective adoptive parents have had custody of the child and continually cared for the child since before the child was 6 years of age.

Abandonment/Relinquishment Requirements: Japanese law does not specify that the child must be an "orphan" (i.e., as defined in U.S. immigration law) in order for the adoption to proceed. According to Article 817-7, a special adoption can be granted when:


  1. It is extremely difficult for the biological parents to take care of the child;
  2. It is considered inappropriate for the biological parents to raise the child; and/or
  3. It is in the interests of the child.


Please note: The family court uses these guidelines to determine whether or not to grant the adoption, taking the specific circumstances of each case into account. Please note that it is possible for the Japanese court to issue a final adoption order, but for the child to still be ineligible for an IR-3 immigrant visa because he or she does not meet the U.S. definition of "orphan" in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA 101(b)(1)(F)).

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