[stefani.smit]

Hello,
I hope someone has experience with this because I haven't been able to find any info. I am a US citizen. My husband is a Dutch citizen (Netherlands). We currently live in Europe (luxembourg) but are planning on starting the adoption process (intl) when we move back to the US in about 3 years. We were married in Lux. We have our marriage certificate in French and also an international version which looks like it was made in Microsoft word but I'm guessing this is the one we should use.
My husband's birth certificate is also different bc he was born in Lux.
Will this be a problem when we go to adopt? What about background checks? We will have lived here for 6 years - will we need background checks from here too?

Anyone have any experience with a non-US citizen parent?
Thanks in advance!

[ippichic]

Hi Stefani - my DH and I are in the US, but he is not a US citizen. We are adopting from Russia. We've just started but so far there are a couple things that are unique for us/him. The foreign birth certificate will need to be translated and certified, and so will your marriage certificate. When you select an agency, they will be able to "look up" any foreign country that you have lived in to determine whether they participate in the background investigation. I, for example, lived in France, Italy & Spain, but none of those countries participate, so there will be no investigation for the time that I lived there. Also, if the country you adopt from is a Hague country, then your investigation will go all the way back to when you were 18 years old. If not, then the country will have its own requirements. Russia, for example, is not Hague yet, so they investigate back only 5 years, but my agency requires address history back to the age of 18, just in case there is a change in requirements during the process of adoption.

I guess I would just suggest that you get your official documents (including any divorce decrees or other children's birth certificates) translated into English and certified (they will eventually be translated and apostiled into the language of the country you adopt from). I also suggest that before you leave the country, you collect several ORIGINAL copies of every document that will be hard to collect after leaving the country. Many times you will be required to supply one or more originals for your dossier.

I hope this helps...

[sak9645]

For some purposes, you may need birth certificates, marriage certificates, and divorce decrees that were sent out by the appropriate authority within a certain recent time period -- e.g., no more than six months ago. So once you get started and find out the requirements, you will may need to contact the overseas entities to get certified copies. I know that it sounds silly, since your birth didn't expire, and neither did your marriage or divorce, but I think that recent issues are required so that it's easier for the foreign government to authenticate the signature of the issuing person and the seal on the document.

With Hague adoptions, at least, you will need clearances from every place you ever lived as an adult. If you lived overseas, you need to provide clearances IF those countries do them. Your agency should be able to help you identify which countries provide clearances and which don't, and also help you get the appropriate paperwork.

Plenty of American adoptive parents have foreign born spouses, whether or not those spouses are U.S. citizens. Plenty of American adoptive parents have also lived abroad for some period of time during their adult lives. If you work with an agency that has a good deal of experience working with such couples, as well as with expatriates, it should be able to give you guidance regarding what you need and how to get it. As a result, choose your homestudy and placement agencies carefully; ask lots of questions. Actually GETTING the documents can be time-consuming, but you should be able to get the information on what you need and how to get it, without much difficulty.

Sharon

[stefani.smit]

Thank you both very much!