Peru and the Hague Convention

The historic city center of Lima.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Peru is party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption(Hague Adoption Convention). Intercountry adoption processing in Hague countries is done in accordance with the requirements of the Convention; the U.S. implementing legislation, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA); and the IAA’s implementing regulations, as well as the implementing legislation and regulations of Peru.

All adoptions between Peru and the United States must meet the requirements of the Convention and U.S. immigration law.

Peru’s Central Authority for Adoptions is the Dirección General de Adopciones (DGA) in the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP). Only DGA can certify cases as Convention compliant. “Direct” adoptions in which a birth parent places a child directly (or via an intermediary) to specific prospective parents for adoption cannot be certified as complying with the Convention per Peruvian law, and therefore prospective adoptive parents may not search on their own for children to adopt.

Instead children must have been declared legally abandoned and wards of the state, and the adoption must be processed through DGA in order for it to be certified by DGA. Adoptions processed through the Peruvian judiciary, while legal in Peru, cannot be Hague certified. As a result, children adopted through the Peruvian judiciary/family court system rather than DGA cannot be issued Hague Convention visas and generally will be unable to immigrate to the United States. Prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt a blood relative in Peru should contact DGA prior to beginning the adoption process.

NOTE: Special transition provisions apply to adoptions initiated before April 1, 2008. Read about Transition Cases.

U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS

To bring an adopted child to the United States from Peru, you must meet eligibility and suitability requirements. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), determines who can adopt under U.S. immigration law.

Additionally, a child must meet the definition of Convention adoptee under U.S. law in order to immigrate to the United States on an IH-3 or IH-4 immigrant visa.

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