[rusty824]

Can someone please explain readoption to me. If you adopt a child, why do you need/want to readopt them in your state? One agency I found charges $750 if we want them to do readoption services. Is that a standard amount? Do you need an agency to do readopt in your state, or can you go it yourself? I'm in California, I don't know if that makes a difference.

[becky]

There are several reasons to readopt:
1. If your child comes home on an IR4 Visa then you must meet the requirments of your state for your child to become a US Citizen...in many states that is readoption or recognition/domestication of a foreign adoption. Without doing this you will not be able to apply for a Certificate of Citizenship for your child.
2. Readoption ensure all inheritance rights for your child.
3. Readoption allows you to do a formal name change.
4. Readoption allows you to obtain a state issued birth certificate in your child's new name.

[sak9645]

If your child comes home on an IR-3 visa, meaning that both spouses in a married couple, or a person adopting as a single, have seen the child prior to the issuance of an adoption decree in the foreign country, the USCIS considers the foreign adoption to be "full and final". Readoption is not needed unless your state requires it. And your child becomes an American citizen immediately upon arriving in the U.S.

However, many parents of IR-3 children DO choose to readopt in their state, even when they do not need to do so. There are many reasons. One is to get a state-issued certificate of foreign birth, as some states require readoption before one will be issued.

Another is to do a legal change of name, if needed. Remember that the name on your child's foreign documents is your child's legal name and will appear on your child's U.S. certificate of citizenship, certificate of foreign birth, and (usually) Social Security card, among other things, if you don't change it.

While your state probably has some mechanism for doing a name change without readoption, many families find readoption an easy way to do it. The judge's readoption order simply has to state that the child, formerly known as "X", will now be known as "Y".

Another reason to readopt is to acquire documents that can be replaced if they are ever lost or accidentally destroyed. It is not always going to be possible to get a foreign country to send you a copy of your adoption decree, for example, even if you need it for some purpose.

Still another reason is to acquire documents that don't single your child out as "different" when you present them at school registration or for other purposes. For example, suppose you show a Guatemalan adoption decree, even with English translation, when you go to enroll your child in kindergarten. Can't you just picture the clerk inspecting the document upside down and sideways, consulting with a superior to see if it's "OK", etc., all in the view of a long line of parents who wonder what your child's problem is?

Some people also feel that readoption can help preserve inheritance rights. Although the risk is low, attorneys describe a hypothetical situation where a dead parent's cantankerous sibling tries to persuade a court that he, not the adopted child, should inherit the estate of the deceased, despite what the will says, because the child's foreign adoption isn't a "real" adoption. If you have substantial assets, and a difficult family member or two, this argument may be compelling.

On the other hand, if at least one parent does NOT see the child prior to the issuance of an adoption decree overseas, or if your child travels under a decree of guardianship for adoption in the U.S., your child will come home on an IR-4 visa.

The USCIS does NOT consider an IR-4 child as having had a full and final adoption, even if the foreign government has issued an adoption decree. You must adopt or readopt the child in your state, or, if your state permits, you may do a "recognition" of a completed foreign adoption. Your child does NOT become a U.S. citizen until the adoption, readoption, or recognition is completed.

Even in states where recognition is permitted, some people prefer to readopt for reasons mentioned above. However, not all states permit readoption if they allow recognition.

Sharon

[sak9645]

As to whether you can readopt without using an attorney, the answer is, "It depends on the state." In some states, readoption without an attorney is easy. You go to the courthouse, file some papers, pay a modest fee, go home, and await a call to appear before a judge for a brief hearing.

In other states, use of an attorney is either required or strongly recommended because of the complexity of the process. The attorney's fees will depend, in part, on how many hours of work he/she must do. Some attorneys charge a flat fee plus expenses, rather than a per-hour rate, based on what the average readoption requires. Call some members of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys in your area to see what the prevailing rate is.

When I readopted my Chinese daughter in DC, I used an attorney because Superior Court there is a zoo at the best of times, and I feel that it was well worth the expense, especially after the Court lost part of my daughter's file. Even an attorney friend of mine from DC did the readoption of her first child using an adoption attorney, though she did her second child's readoption "pro se", meaning without using one.

Whether you need to pay your agency any fees depends on what readoption entails in your state. Some states require post-placement visits by a social worker,an updated homestudy, and a new child abuse clearance. Obviously, if yours is one, you will need to pay some fees to your homestudy agency. However, even without readoption, some states and some foreign countries require post-placement visits, so you may need to spend some of the money anyway.

I hope some folks from California will "weigh in" and let you know if your state permits recognition instead of readoption, what readoption entails in your state, and what the average readoption costs.


Sharon

[malteselove]

I just wanted to bump this because I live in California also and am interested in the answer.

It was my understanding that you don't have to readopt in California if you entered on an IR4 Visa as your Certificate of Citizenship will be sent to you automatically. If you want the birth certificate with your baby's new name and the social security card to have the new name you have to either adopt or do a legal name change. I know in Southern California it runs about $200 to do a legal name change and around $600 to readopt, but would love input from someone else.
Thanks,
Kim

[laura-jean]

anyone from California that has re-adopted or recognized an adoption want to jump in?

good topic, would like to know more myself...

thank you...

lj

[becky]

You absolutely will not received a Certificate of Citizenship automatically if you come home with an IR4 Visa...doesn't matter what state you live in.

[Mia's Daddy]

We got an IR3 visa and we are choosing to readopt in NC to change our daughter's name officially from Maria to Mia as well as to give her a state issued BC. The cost for readoption for us here is $600

[adoptingdoc]

I live in California too and want to re-adopt when Mia gets here early next year. Can anyone tell me HOW you do it???

[annaguat]

Things might have changed but we did a readopation on two Guat. born children about ten yrs ago. We needed one post placement visit from the social worker(the state of California required one but the agency tried to tell us we needed 3) and a post placement report agreeing to the readoption. I filed the paperwork at the court house myself with the help from other adoptive parents. It had to be done in a specific way for our county. I think I went in about 2 times and then we had our appointment in front of the judge. Anna

[scgal]

I am going to call the San Mateo superior court tomorrow. From what I've been reading on my holiday break the past couple days, there are several questions I have about CA:
1) to readopt you don't need an attny (read this - it explains the twelve hundred forms you need to fill out: How to Adopt in CA ) but you do need a social worker "report" as it is referred to on the ADOPT-210. What the contents are of this study I don't know. My agency is supposed to do a post-placement study at 6mos home so I'm going to ask if that is sufficient from the court's perspective or if this HAS TO be specific to readoption.
2) According to CA Family Code section 8919, a "state resident who adopts a child through an intercountry adoption which is finalized in a foreign country may obtain a birth certificate in the State of California in accordance with the provisions of Section 103450 of the Health and Safety Code." Section 103450 is completely greek to me. I think it basically says the superior court can "establish" someone's birth, but the specifics are not mentioned. To me, the birth certificate is the key. Once that's done you're golden.
3) Changing the name is a mystery also. Yes readoption is one way to do that since the ADOPT-200 form specifically gives a place for current and new name, but people change their names every day without having to adopt so somehow it's possible. I'm hoping the Clerk's office can tell me how to do it outside readopting. I read this too but am not sure if this can be done at the same time as 2. How to change name
4) I also stumbled across the "The Adoption Process" publication on the CA dhs website. The Adoption Process
Very interesting reading but mostly focused on IR3 situations - needing adoption in Ca.

Oh, and I did get a Certificate of Citizenship automatically. It came with a nice letter from George Bush, as well as a form letter that basically says every IR3 gets one (not IR4!!). It also says how to get an amended one if you change the name. Very helpful indeed.

Hopefully I'll post more tomorrow after talking with the Clerk's office.
Cheers!
sc


Oh yeah, and lest I forget, our agency wants to charge us $300 for the readoption. Based on my conversation tomorrow I may just pay that and get it over with. The other agencies sound like they're trying to rip you off.

[chrisa]

Hi,
we are also having problems with how to do a readoption in CA but, we have other challenges.

We are CA residents and we are currently stationed overseas. Our homestudy was accomplished here in Germany a American social worker but, she is licensed in FL & NJ....so from what I have found or being told is that I would have to hire a CA agency to review our homestudy to do a readoption
(the qoute I got was $600 and then another $1000 for the attorney) can you believe that...almost $2000!!!!
I know we need one post placement visit for CA law and our social worker here (same that did our homestudy) can do that....but, still unsure what to do about the readoption.
Our son did come home on the IR-3 and he already has his COC but, we would like to do a name change too.
So if any other CA families has more info on readoptions and or just name changes...can you let me know. I would hate to put this off until the end of 2007 when we hopefully return to the states. and if we do have to wait that long, I'm sure that state we move to will want a whole new home study accomplished

Thanks,
chris

[kelleymac]

Okay folks, here's the scoop on CA: we did not readopt there but we did do all the research and got all the paperwork prior to our relocating out of state.

You do NOT need to readopt in CA if your child already received his COC. CA recognizes all foreign adoptions which means that your child'd inheritance is protected. HOWEVER, we moved to SD and SD does NOT recognize foreign adoptions. That means that although Jonah is a citizen, he is not recognized as our son legally and thus has no inheritance rights, etc.

You need to contact the court in your county to get the paperwork to complete the readopt. You will have to fill that out, include a copy of your post-placement (required in most counties) and the original BC, etc. The forms tell you which papers are required.) You do NOT need an attorney, and I'm sorry, I don't remember the cost.) In our case, we lived in Contra-Costa county and our court of record was in Martinez CA.

You can PM me and I'll help with any additional details. I would recommend that if you EVER consider moving out of state you consider doing the readoption due to varying inheirtance laws. I would also recommend that if you want your child to have a US BC and passport that you readopt regardless of your state. Just my 2-cents.

One other particular: your name change is part of the readoption. On the forms you're asked if this is a readoption and if you're requesting a name change. A new BC (US) is issued when the readoption is complete in whichever name you specify.

Kelley

[scgal]

I spent about a half hour on the phone with a woman in the Juvenile Court clerk's office. She was very very helpful and explained the options. There are basically two things you can do in CA to get a birth certificate:

1. Readopt. This is the process referenced earlier and most people do this because the agencies tell them to. You can generally start the process when your child has been in the US for 6 months. The person I spoke with told me not to bother earlier because it will just sit there. At 6 mos, you start by filing a ADOPT-200 with the Juvenile Court. They will assign a case number. You then file (or you can do it at the same time) the 210, 215, and 230. Readoption requires a social worker report (aka home study followup) with a recommendation filed with the court. This is basically what the agency is charging us for and why the fees vary so much from person to person or agency to agency. I'd say shop around since it doesn't matter if the social worker was/is the same one you used to adopt in the first place. Once the report is received you call the court clerk back and they set a hearing date, which in my county she said is generally 2-3 weeks out. This will vary from county to county. Then you have your court appt and the judge does her thing and you get a new birth certificate with your names, your baby's new name, etc. Then you can get a SSN and US passport and the rest is history. The process is fairly straightforward but more expensive because you need the home study.

- OR-

2. You can request a Court Order Delayed Registration of Birth. This is a potentially far less expensive process, but is more complicated so you have to make sure you get all the moving parts in order yourself. No social worker report is needed so you're basically paying court fees. There is also no waiting for the 6 month mark. This process is done through the Probate office of the county court. There is no form to do this so you have to create one from scratch. There are a billion "california pleading templates" on the web that you can start from. You basically put in several statements about yourselves, your adoption, the facts and info you have, and that you want the court to issue the DRB. In my county the fee is $43.50 to file a petition needing a hearing. You file it with the court, get a hearing date set, and the judge hears your case and typically (unless someone objects but who on earth would do that!) establishes the birth record which you can subsequently use to get the office of Vital Statistics to issue the bc. I think their fee is $20. I just looked it up but now I forget. Sorry.

Then, once you get the bc, you can petition to change name. In CA it is form NC-100 and NC-110 and a couple others, and in my county the "civil motion requiring a hearing" filing fee is $40. This is also done in the Probate court.
Lastly, you petition a change of name to be reflected on the bc and that gets you a new one with the new name. You do that step through the CA Vital Records office for $20.
So, all in all, you're looking at maybe a hundred bucks instead of a few to several hundred.

For me, since that 6 month mark is about 4 months away, I may just try the 2nd option first and see if I get it done. It totally seems worth the money to get it over with sooner.

Anyway, I hope that wasn't too confusing. The clerk I spoke to said she got a copy of the 2nd step instructions from BAAS, and that the Santa Clara County court website had some better info but I haven't checked those out yet. Gotta jam - sick and crying baby calling!!

Cheers!
S