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U.S. Law

To complete an international adoption and bring a child to the United States, U.S. citizens prospective adoptive parent(s) must fulfill the requirements set by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. Department of State, the foreign country in which the child resides and any additional requirements of the U.S. state in which the prospective adoptive child will live. This two-step process, first petitioning to classify an orphan as an immediate relative, and then applying for that child’s immigration to the United States, is designed to protect the child, the birth parent(s) and the adoptive parent(s). Simply locating a child in a foreign country and going to the U.S. embassy to apply for a visa for the child will not meet these requirements.

United States law establishes that in order to obtain an Immigrant visa for the child to live in the U.S., the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security must determine that the prospective adoptive parents are suitable to adopt. A lengthy screening process is required before such a determination can be made. Parents must submit to CIS a home study, or report based on interviews and meetings with a social worker licensed in their state, which assesses the family’s ability to parent an adoptive child. All prospective adoptive parents must submit copies of birth, divorce and marriage certificates and proof of citizenship. Each prospective adoptive parent, and all other adult members within the household, must be fingerprinted, and those fingerprints must be checked for any criminal record by state and United States Federal police authorities (i.e. the Federal Bureau of Investigation- FBI). Police authorities must confirm that the prospective adoptive parents have no record of child abuse. Prospective adoptive parents typically must submit a physician’s report concerning each parent’s medical condition and letters verifying their employment and moral character. Furthermore, additional documentation bearing on the parent’s fitness to adopt may be required by the state governments and the adoption agency as well. Much of the parent’s screening can be done prior to identifying a specific child for adoption by filling an Advance Processing Petition (I-600A) with USCIS.

After demonstrating that they are qualified to adopt, parents may submit a petition (I-600) to have an Immigrant visa issued to an adoptive child. Additionally, as a part of the Immigrant visa application process, a legally binding Affidavit of Support (I-864), complete with specific, mandatory-supporting documents is required in cases where a child is immigrating to the United States to be adopted in a state court.

The Government of the United States has specific requirements regarding the status of the adoptive child which ensure that the child is an orphan under U.S. law, or that the child has been legally and irrevocably released for emigration and adoption in a manner provided for under local foreign law. The U.S. Government is particularly concerned with the identity of the child; that the child meets the U.S. definition of an orphan (see below); and that any release by a sole surviving parent is unconditional and voluntary. Most important, U.S. immigration law includes a specific prohibition against granting a visa for an adoption if any individuals received payment for the child or as an indictment to release the child. This provision is designed to provide a strong check against child buying and to ensure that a child adopted abroad and planning to enter the U.S. is truly a child eligible for adoption.

The U.S. Government abhors fraudulent adoption procedures and the harm they cause children and families. The Department of State consistently takes a strong stand against fraudulent intercountry adoption procedures. This policy flows from our general obligation to respect host country laws, to discourage any illegal activities and to facilitate the appropriate international movement of adoptive children. The Department of State has unfailingly expressed its support for measures taken by foreign states to reduce adoption abuse.

Child Protection Laws

In many cases, the adopted child of U.S. citizen parent(s) automatically becomes a U.S. citizen upon entry into the U.S, with all of the rights and protection of citizenship. In other cases, the child is granted legal permanent residency upon entry, and becomes a citizen when the adoption is finalized in the U.S. In any case once the child enters the U.S. he/she enjoys a right of residency. He/she also automatically benefits from a variety of child welfare laws.

Child protection laws in the U.S., at both Federal and State levels, apply to all children whether they are U.S. citizens or not, and whether they are in the U.S. for the purpose of being adopted or they have already been adopted. Although child protection laws vary from State to State, they all provide certain basic protections.

These protections include:

• Persons in specified occupations are identified as “mandated reporters” meaning that they must report to the local authorities any evidence or reasonable suspicion of either child neglect or child abuse. Typically, mandated reporters include: nurses, physicians and other medical personnel; school teachers and guidance counselors; law enforcement personnel; and others who regularly come in contact with children and may be expected to observe abuse if it occurs or to learn of neglect or abuse. The reports are made to the local public child welfare agency or, in some instances, to the police. Reporters’ names are kept confidential.
• Local public child welfare agencies maintain a 24 hour-a-day, 365 day-a-year capacity to receive allegations of child abuse or neglect. They publish the agency’s phone number or special “hotline” numbers and ensure that the phones are staffed around the clock or that calls are forwarded to a designated person after hours. Child abuse investigators are designated to be on call after hours and on weekends. In some jurisdictions the police receive calls of child abuse, or abuse or neglect.
• Allegations of abuse are acted on promptly; if there is danger of harm to a child agencies will respond to a report immediately. It is not uncommon for police and social services officials to go together to visit the family. As appropriate, children are taken to medical facilities for examination and necessary treatment. All jurisdictions in the U.S. have a minimum period of time -- usually 48 to 72 hours -- in which non-emergency investigations are to begin. Not all reports of abuse or neglect actually require a field visit, of course, but agencies take every report seriously and analyze each for its urgency.
• When social workers/child abuse investigators get involved in a case, they first determine whether the allegation is “founded” or “unfounded”. Where it is determined that there is no basis for the allegation of neglect or abuse, the case will be closed without action. If the allegation is determined to be founded, the local public child welfare agency may decide on one of a number of options. These include: 1) Counseling the family and closing the case; 2) Providing in-home services to assure the child’s safely while working with the family to resolved the underlying problem(s); 3) Removing the perpetrator from the family; or 4) Removing the child from the family and placing the child in foster care.
• When a child is removed from his/her family, efforts are made to work with the family to resolve problems and correct dangerous behaviors or situations, in order to reunite the child with his/her family. In cases in which the child cannot be reunited with his/her family, the agency may then seek to terminate the parents’ legal rights, in order to free the child for adoption. Children whose adoptive parents are found to be unfit may be placed for adoption.

  These same procedures apply to protect all children – both birth children and adopted children (regardless of where they were adopted). In the U.S. every placement in foster care must be approved by a court, and the public agencies must return to court periodically so that the child’s case may be reviewed and a judge may determine whether the child is being well cared-for, and whether there are other actions the agency should take to hasten the time a child will be returned home or another permanent placement found.

Child welfare funds proved by the Federal government to the State include (for fiscal year 2003):

• For Child Welfare Programs                                  337 million
• For Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program   404 million
• For Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention                 89 million

The States and localities, in the aggregate, spend much more than these amounts on child protection and child welfare services. In addition, the Federal government in FY 2003 will provide 6.8 billion in financing for foster care, adoption assistance, and independent living services for adolescents in foster care. Again, the States and localities expend considerably more than this in support of child welfare.

Post-Adoption Services

Post-adoption services, which States are encouraged to provide, are among the child welfare services for which Federal funds may be expended. In certain cases, children are eligible for post-adoption financial subsidies and medical assistance.

If an adopted child is seen to be at risk of harm or neglect, public child welfare agencies will respond without regard to whether the child was adopted domestically or internationally, and without regard to whether an adoption has been completed. If it is necessary to remove a child from the custody of his family or other legal custodians, and the child is not a U.S. citizen, the child welfare agency will seek the best placement for the child, usually in the U.S. (In some cases, the child’s relatives are in another country and the best placement for that child is with his relatives in that other country.)

Similarly, in the event an adoptive placement disrupts, the local public child welfare agency will take responsibility for the child, and provide a safe environment, whether the child is a U.S. citizen or not. If the child cannot be reunited with his/her adoptive parent(s), the agency that placed the child is encouraged to take responsibility for finding another placement home for that child. Since the child benefits from legal permanent residence or citizenship upon entry to the U.S. he/she is entitled to remain in the U.S. even if the adoption is disrupted.

There are many public and private nonprofit post adoption services available for children and their families. There are also numerous adoptive family support groups and adoptee organizations that are active in the United States and provide a network of options for adoptees who seek out other adoptees from the same country of origin.

These groups sponsor many social and cultural activities:

Center for Adoption Support and Education : http://www.adoptionsupport.org
Families for Russian and Ukranian Adoption : http://www.frua.org
Latin American Parents Association : http://www.lapa.com
Adoptive Parents China : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/a-parents-china
Korean Adoptees : http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/proed/korfindings.html

April 2004