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Originally Posted by amal
Dear Sharon:
Thanks so much for taking the time to provide such a detailed reply (and congratulations on your successful adoption :-)).
Actually, I am familiar with the Tunisian requirements for adoption. My husband and I are actually from Tunisia. He is a U.S. citizen (which a U.S. requirement for adopting). My aunt, who lives in Tunisia, has adopted two babies in Tunisia and it was a breeze. The major difference for us is that we would be trying to adopt from Tunisia and bring our baby to live with us here in the U.S. Since there is no agency in the U.S. that has a program for Tunisia, we are looking to doing an independent adoption. I actually have the list of requirements from the national orphanage in Tunisia, which I recently visited with my husband. We both think that we will meet these requirements. We have also educated ourselves on the U.S. requirements for international adoption. Needless to say, it feels like a daunting task, and that's why we are looking for people who adopted from Tunisia before us. We were told by the U.S. embassy in Tunisia that there have been recent cases of successful adoptions from Tunisia. We are looking for people who have gone through this, meaning who have adopted in Tunisia and brought the baby to the U.S. in the last few years.
As a Muslim country, Tunisia only allows babies to be adopted by Muslim parentsHowever, to make this process friendly to adoptive parents, babies are relinquished to the national orphanage and from that moment on, they become eligible for adoption. Once the orphanage approves your adoption application, a court hearing takes place in Tunisia, and if you are deemed acceptable as adoptive parents, an adoption decree is issued by the court. Notice that among the documents required by the orphanage as part of your "dossier" is a home study from an approved social worker in your U.S. state of residence. Basically, the orphanage wants to make sure that U.S. authorities have already visited your home, conducted interviews with you, conducted a background search on you, and found you eligible for adopting a baby in your state. On the Tunisian side, you need other documents, including your birth certificate, marriage licence, tax returns, letters of employment, the equivalent of an FBI report, etc... to make sure you are eligible for adopting a baby FROM Tunisia. Basically, they ensure that you are screened by both the U.S. and the Tunisian systems, and found to be a good candidate for adoption...
Once an adoption decree is issued by a Tunisian court, you will need to go to the U.S. embassy in Tunisia, provide all the required documents to process the baby's visa to come to the U.S. Because the adoption has been completed in Tunisia, through a court decree, the baby will need to come on an IR -3 visa.
As someone who has successfully gone through international adoption, I am sure you know how important it is to identify someone who has gone through the process before you. I am hoping that someone sees this post and can think of someone else who has gone through this... Otherwise, getting support from people like yourself is also welcome :-).
Thanks again for all the information. You made my day!
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