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How to Adopt from Ethiopia
Source: flickr.com.
Adoption Authority
The Children and Youth Affairs Office (CYAO) operating under the Ministry of Women's, Children’s, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA) is the primary adoption authority in Ethiopia.
The Process
The process for adopting a child from Ethiopia generally includes the following steps:
- Choose an adoption service provider
- Apply to be found eligible to adopt
- Be matched with a child
- File the Form I-600 with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to initiate the Pre-Adoption Immigration Review prior to filing an adoption case with the courts
- Adopt the child in Ethiopia
- Receive final approval of Form I-600
- Obtain a Visa and bring your child home
1. Choose an Adoption Service Provider
The recommended first step in adopting a child from Ethiopia is to decide whether or not to use a licensed adoption service provider in the United States that can help you with your adoption. Please note that U.S. citizens adopting from Ethiopia are required by the Ethiopian government to use a U.S. adoption service provider that has been authorized by the Ethiopian Government to provide adoption services. Adoption service providers must be licensed by the U.S. state in which they operate. The Department of State provides information on selecting an adoption service provider on its website.
Intercountry adoptions from Ethiopia are handled by the Children and Youth Affairs Office (CYAO), a part of the Ministry of Women's, Children’s, and Youth Affairs (MOWCYA). There are currently more than 20 U.S.-based adoption agencies authorized by the Ethiopian Government to provide adoption services for American adoptive parents. For a current list, contact MOWCYA (see Contacts section below) or the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
2. Apply to be Found Eligible to Adopt
In order to adopt a child from Ethiopia you will need to meet the requirements of the Government of Ethiopia and U.S. immigration law. You must submit an application to be found eligible to adopt to the Ministry of Women, Children, and Youth Affairs, MOWCYA of Ethiopia. This is also called the dossier. U.S. prospective adoptive parents resident outside Ethiopia may request pre-approval to adopt prior to receiving a match. If not done prior to the match, the determination on the U.S. prospective adoptive parent(s) eligibility to adopt under Ethiopian law will be made by the MOWCYA at the time of the best interests review during the court process (see step 5 for more details). U.S. prospective adoptive parents resident in Ethiopia seeking a private adoption are required to go through the pre-approval process before receiving a match. The Embassy of Ethiopia in Washington, D.C. provides a list of required documents for the application to adopt an Ethiopian child on their website.
Prospective adoptive parents must take or send all of the required documents, certified and authenticated, to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, D.C. for additional authentication. Once it has completed its authentication, the Ethiopian Embassy returns the documents to the parents and the parents forward them to MOWCYA, Children and Youth Affairs Office (CYAO). You can find their address in the Contacts section of this information sheet.
MOWCYA reviews the documents for completeness and creates a dossier on the adoptive parent(s). The Claims and Authentication Section of the Protocol Office at the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa authenticates the dossier and returns it to the Children and Youth Affairs Office (CYAO) for approval.
Note on private adoptions: In general, only U.S. citizens who currently reside in Ethiopia and have done so for two years are eligible to complete a private adoption. Most U.S. prospective adoptive parents, therefore, will be required to use a licensed adoption service provider.
Note on relative adoptions: Ethiopian-Americans who are adopting orphaned relatives do not have to come to Ethiopia to process their adoptions. They can have a representative with a power of attorney represent them in court. Married adoptive parents need to make sure that both parents have given the representative a power of attorney so that both parents' names appear on the adoption decree.
3. Be Matched with a Child
If you are eligible to adopt, and a child is available for intercountry adoption, the central adoption authority or other authorized entity in Ethiopia will provide you with a referral. Each family must decide for itself whether or not it will be able to meet the needs of and provide a permanent home for a particular child. The child must be eligible to be adopted according to Ethiopia’s requirements, as described in the Who Can Be Adopted section. The child must also meet the definition of orphan under U.S. immigration law.
At this time Ethiopian authorities publish in the local press a notice seeking any other claimants to the child, stating the child's name and the name of the prospective adoptive parents. The notice advises that any parties opposed to the adoption must appear at MOWCYA by a certain date and time.
Prospective adoptive parents have the option to either accept or refuse the referral. Upon acceptance of the referral, a Contract of Adoption is signed by the child's legal guardian, usually the orphanage, and the adoptive parents or the agency representative. The contract is taken to the Inland Revenue Administration office to be stamped. A nominal fee of 5 Ethiopian birr is charged.
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