[tanusiva]

We are from India and are looking to adopt an Indian child.

Would anyone of you be able to tell me if we can adopt without being citizens? If you know of any agencies that process adoptions for non-citizens, could you please share that information.

Thank you.

[Sienna3]

If you are residing in the US and neither spouse is a US citizen, then you will not be able to adopt a child from any other country and bring him or her to the US. It is not an agency requirement, but a US government requirement, specifically the USCIS (formerly Immigration and Naturalization services). At least one spouse(who would be the prospective petitioner) is required to be a US citizen.

If you reside in a country other than the US and are a citizen of that other country and will be bringing the child to a country other than the US, there may be a few US agencies that would work with you.

[lhatchett]

Does anyone have any advice as to a situation in which one parent is an American Citizen the other is not but the other does not have a green card yet?

[Jeanne21]

My husband is an American citizen and I am a Canadian citizen. When we looked into international adoption (through a US agency), we were told that my husband would have to adopt the child alone (at first). Then, when the child comes to the US, I would be able to adopt the child as well. Also, in this way, the child would have both Canadian and American citizenship right away...

[sak9645]

... I'm afraid you may have been given some bad advice.

The U.S. -- and most foreign countries -- won't allow one member of a married couple to adopt as a single. If you are legally married, you must adopt as a married couple. If you are single, but cohabiting, you cannot adopt as a married couple, but must adopt as a single if the foreign country allows it.

If you are a U.S. citizen living in the U.S., and your husband is a non-citizen living legally in this country, you CAN adopt as a couple and immigrate a child to the U.S.

Choose a country that allows U.S. citizens and their non-citizen spouses to adopt from there. There will be quite a few to choose from. Then choose an American agency that works in the country of your choice. That agency should be able to navigate the rest of the process with you.

You will need a homestudy done by a provider licensed to do them in your state, regardless of the country from which you adopt. You will also need to complete the I-600A, and submit it to the USCIS with various documents, including your homestudy report and proof that one spouse is a U.S. citizen. The I-600A satisfies the USCIS that you are unlikely to bring a child to the U.S. for illegal or immoral purposes, that you can offer a safe and welcoming environment for a child, and that you can provide for the child so that he/she does not become a public charge.

You will usually need a dossier of documents for the foreign country, which must be authenticated and certified in various ways -- for example, by being notarized and then having the Secretary of State's office where the notary practices indicate that the notary's stamp is valid.

The provider will work with the foreign country to identify an adoptable and immigratable child. Do remember that not all children living in foreign orphanages or with birth families meet either the foreign requirements for adoption OR the legal requirements for obtaining an adoption visa. For example, if a child has been living with a two-parent family, he/she is not eligible for an adoption visa. And if a child is living in an orphanage, but is visited regularly by the birth family and has not gone through total relinquishment or abandonment, he/she is not eligible for an adoption visa.

Once you have accepted a referral, the agency will work with you on the process for completing the adoption overseas (or the guardianship process, if that's what the foreign country does) and bringing the child home. When you have legally adopted or gotten guardianship, you will file the I-600, which ensures that the child is eligible for an adoption visa. Once the child has the visa, he/she can be brought to the U.S.

There are two types of adoption visa, depending on whether or not all relevant parents saw a child before an overseas adoption was finalized. If all relevant parents saw the child prior to the overseas adoption, and meets all the requirements of the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, he/she will travel on an IR-3 visa, and become a U.S. citizen as soon as he/she sets foot in the U.S. Otherwise, he/she will have to come in on an IR-4 visa and will not become a U.S. citizen automatically until he is adopted/readopted in the U.S., unless the law in his/her home state allows it to "recognize" the foreign adoption without full readoption.


Sharon

[Jeanne21]

Wow, and I was told that by an adoption agency... I guess I will have to be more careful as to where I get my info from (you would think that they would know?!)