[petersonsuri]

We filed I 600a and got the I171H letter. Now we have received a referral for a child. How and where and when do you file the I 600 for that child?

[sak9645]

With most countries, you file it at the U.S. Embassy, where you go to get your child's visa, after you travel and complete your adoption, and have custody of your child.

In some cases, where an adoption is completed before you travel, or when the child is being escorted, you file it once you are legally responsible for him/her. Your agency can give you details.

The USCIS has a pilot program called "adjudicate orphan first", in which people adopting from Haiti, Honduras, the Philippines, Poland, and Sierra Leone can obtain a determination of whether the child qualifies for a visa BEFORE completing the adoption.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to obtain such a determination before adopting children from other countries. This can sometimes be a problem, if you are not working with a reputable agency, which knows the "orphan definition" and won't refer a child who doesn't qualify. Families have been denied adoption visas for the children they have adopted under foreign law, meaning that, to bring the children home, the parents would have to live overseas for two years with them to qualify for a non-adoption visa.

Sharon


Remember that you will need your newly adopted child's birth certificate, adoption decree, and foreign passport. Depending on the situation in the country, you may need other documents to prove that the child qualifies as an "eligible orphan" under the terms of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. If your child doesn't qualify, he/she will not be able to get a visa


Sharon