Lithuania and the Hague Convention

Island castle of Trakai.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Lithuania is party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention). Therefore all adoptions between Lithuania and the United States must meet the requirements of the Convention and U.S. law implementing the Convention.

According to Lithuanian law, only children whose parents are deceased or whose parents have had their parental rights taken away are eligible for adoption. There are few such children and the Lithuanian families interested in adopting are given precedence.

Two U.S. embassies play complementary roles in the immigrant visa process for Lithuanian citizens, including adopted orphans. The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, Poland ultimately issues all immigrant visas for citizens and residents of Lithuania. The U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania conducts the mandatory I-604 Orphan Investigation interview for all orphan cases.

NOTE: Special transition provisions apply to adoptions initiated before April 1, 2008. Learn more.

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