Adopting from Lithuania

The official flag of Lithuania.
Source: cia.gov.

Map of Lithania.
Source: cia.gov.

Map of Lithuania.
Source: cia.gov.

St. Catherines Church, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Source: pixabay.com.

Island castle of Trakai, Lituania.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Collage of capital city Vilnius, Lithuania.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Vilnius Old Town, Lithuania.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Old Town Kaunas, Lithuania.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

The Hill of Crosses, Lithuania.
Source: Wikipedia.org.

Hague Convention Information

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.

Who Can Adopt

Adoption between the United States and Lithuania is governed by the Hague Adoption Convention. Therefore to adopt from Lithuania, you must first be found eligible to adopt 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). Learn more.

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

Residency

There are no residency requirements for prospective adoptive parents in Lithuania.

Age of Adopting Parents

Prospective adoptive parents generally cannot be over 50 years of age. There must be a minimum age difference of 18 years between the prospective adoptive parents and the child.

Marriage

Intercountry adoptions are usually limited to married couples. A single parent may be considered in exceptional cases when 1) the individual has been the foster parent of the particular child to be adopted, 2) the child has extremely serious health problems and no married couple wishes to adopt the child, or 3) the child is eight years of age or older and unable to be placed with another family.

Income

N/A

Other

Certain medical conditions can disqualify prospective adoptive parents. The Government of Lithuania publishes a list of medical conditions. The list is maintained on the State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service website. Some of the conditions are dipsomania (alcoholism), drug addiction "absent steady remission," mental diseases (not specified), AIDS, HIV positive status, infectious tuberculosis, chronic kidney insufficiency when dialysis is obligatory, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's chorea, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), epilepsy with mental and personality changes, multi-system degeneration and third or fourth stage cancers.

After Adoption

SOURCE

Intercountry Adoption, Bureau of Consular Affairs. U.S. Department of State Country Information