Japan and the Hague Convention

Tokyo Dome, downtown Tokyo.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Japan is not party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention). Therefore, when the Hague Adoption Convention entered into force for the United States on April 1, 2008, intercountry adoption processing for Japan did not change for American citizens.

Please note: Japan does not have a comprehensive national law on intercountry adoption.

Japan has two distinct procedures for intercountry adoption:

1. American citizens can complete a full and final adoption in Japan under Japanese law. However, since Japanese law requires the adopting parents and the child to spend at least six months together before the adoption can be finalized, this option is generally only feasible for American citizens who are already resident in Japan.
2. (2) American citizens may obtain legal custody of the child in Japan for the purposes of the child's emigration and a full and final adoption in the United States.

Both alternatives require that the child meet the definition of "orphan" in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 101(b)(1)(F) in order to qualify for issuance of an immediate immigrant visa to enter the United States in either category IR-3 (option 1) or IR-4 (option 2).

"Special" and "Regular" Adoptions

For adoptions that are finalized in Japan, there are two types of adoptions under Japanese law - regular and special.

"Regular" adoptions are not considered an option for American citizens wishing to adopt in Japan as they are based on Japanese cultural and family traditions and do not legally sever the ties between the child and his or her birth family. To date there have been no known cases of Americans applying for immigrant visas for children adopted under the Japanese "regular" adoption process. To be a valid adoption for U.S. immigration purposes there must be an irrevocable termination of the biological parent(s) - child relationship.

"Special" adoptions in the Japanese context are an option for Americans who are resident in Japan. The law on special adoptions went into effect on January 1, 1988, having been created to protect children. Special adoptions more closely resemble Western-style adoptions. As in U.S. adoptions, a special adoption legally severs the child's ties, rights and privileges with regard to the birth parent(s) and any prior adoptive parents.

Back to Adopting from Japan.