Introduction to International Adoption and Immigration
Adoption Issues
A. Children Born Out of Wedlock
The prospective adoptive parent(s) should be aware that although a child may be born out of wedlock, that child may still have two parents.
A child born out of wedlock in a country that has not eliminated all legal distinctions between “legitimate” and “illegitimate”.
B. Legitimated Children
Most countries have legal procedures for the legitimation of children by their natural fathers. Accordingly, Adoptive and prospective adoptive parents of children born out of wedlock should become familiar with the laws of a foreign country to determine how children become legitimated.
A legitimated child has all the same rights as a child born in wedlock.
A legitimated child from any country has two legal parents and cannot qualify as a orphan unless only one of the parents is living or both of the parents have abandoned the child.
C. Abandonment
A child abandoned by both parents may qualify as an orphan under U.S. immigration law. INS regulations state that a child who has been unconditionally abandoned to an orphanage is considered to have no parents.
D. Intra-Familial Adoptions
Most will find it difficult to prove that the child meets the definition of an orphan under U.S. immigration law.
E. Some Problems Faced by Adoptive and Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) of Foreign-Born Children
The adoptive and prospective adoptive parent(s) of foreign-born children face complex requirements which appear in the law itself. BCIS has kept the documentary, regulatory and procedural requirements to a minimum, while conforming with the intent of the law. In addition to BCIS requirements, petitions for orphans must also comply with state and foreign adoption laws. The laws of some countries do not permit adoption. Laws of other countries restrict persons eligible to adopt children. The evidence must be in the form of documents. This evidence may vary, depending on the facts of the case.
Investigation Issues
The officer will make every effort to expedite the investigation, but the process may take a longer time. Before arranging the trip, the adoptive parents who are going abroad to complete the formalities, please contact the appropriate U.S. embassy or consulate,
or the foreign office of the BCIS to request information about the terms of the process.
The objective of this research is to confirm that the child is an orphan under the Immigration Law of the United States, and that the child has no illness or disability that has not been specified in the solicitation of an orphan. Some diseases cause the child to be inadmissible.
For example, if a child has a contagious disease, the child may be inadmissible.
Just have to agree with sources recommended for children in adoption and ensure that the entire procedure is legal.
There is also a market for fraudulent documents for children who may be beneficiaries of petitions for orphans.
There are unscrupulous individuals that attract customers saying that they have a faster, economical and easy to adopt children.
The investigation may delay the completion of the case whenever done as quickly as possible. Protects them from any painful situation that might occur when an adoption is illegal.
