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Issues in U.S. Immigration

International adoptions

by Heather Hummel

The Law: American immigration law allows for three different processes for children to immigrate based on intercountry adoption. They may only immigrate under one of the three processes and are required to meet all of the requirements for the selected process. These processes are listed her and noted in further detail under “Background.”

U.S. citizens adopting children internationally have the option to use either the Hague or the Orphan (non Hague) process. Under these two processes, a child may immigrate immediately after the adoption or may immigrate to the U.S. to be adopted here.
The third process applies to U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have the option to petition for their adoptive children through an Immediate Relative Petition.

Date: The Hague Adoption Convention entered into force in the United States on April 1, 2008. All cases filed on or after April 1, 2008, seeking to adopt a child who habitually resides in any country outside of the United States that is a party to the Convention must follow the Hague process.

Immigration Issues: International adoption has long been a solution for parents who are either unable to have their own children or who choose to adopt to bring an unwanted child into their lives. The red tape adopters go through is laid out in international adoption laws.

Significance: According to a list put out by the Office of Children's Issues under the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, the most common countries resulting in international adoption by parents in the United States for fiscal year 2012 were: China (2,697), Ethiopia (1,568), Russia (748), Republic of Korea (627), Ukraine (395), Democratic Republic of the Congo (240), Uganda (238), Nigeria (197), Colombia (195), Taiwan (177), Ghana (171), India (159), Haiti (154), and Philippines (125). Additionally, their statistics show that for the most part, the United States adopts more girls than boys. From the years of 1999 to 2012, approximately 62 percent of adoptees by families in the United States were girls, versus only 38 percent of male adoptees.

Background

As noted in the 2012 fiscal year sample, every thousands of United States citizens adopt children through intercountry adoptions. These children must also go through an immigration process. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) determines both the eligibility and suitability of prospective adoptive parents wanting to adopt. They also examine the eligibility of the children being adopted and who will immigrate to the United States.

As noted above, United States immigration law provides three options for processes through which someone may immigrate on the grounds of an intercountry adoption. However, they may immigrate under one of these provisions only if all requirements of that specific process are met by the individual.

Hague Process

The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) serves as an international treaty that provides certain standards that are in place to protect what is in the best interests of children, birth parents, and adoptive parents alike.

In the U.S., the Hague Adoption Convention entered into force on April 1, 2008. Therefore, the Hague process must be applied to every intercountry adoption case filed on or after April 1, 2008. Alternatively, for those who filed prior to April 1, 2008, specifically the I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, or the I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative, are grandfathered in and may continue to process their adoptions under the current orphan regulations. The only limitations would be if the laws of the country of the child's origin allowed for continuation under the current orphan regulations.

An Adoption Service Provider(ASP) are available to help parents with the process of intercountry adoption. However, they must be accredited or otherwise authorized with the Hague adoption process in order to assist. Additionally, an adoption service provider cannot provide legal advice or legal services to their clients, nor can they represent them before USCIS.

A preschool orphanage in Kyrgyzstan.

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(U.S. Air Force)

The Steps of the Hague Process include:

Choose a Hague Accredited ASP.
Obtain a home study from an authorized person to complete a Hague adoption home study.
Apply to USCIS prior to adopting a child or accepting a placement for a determination that one is suitable for intercountry adoption.
Upon USCIS's approval of application, collaborate with the adoption service provider to obtain a proposed adoption placement.
File a “petition” with USCIS, prior to adopting the child, to have the child found eligible to immigrate to the United States based on the proposed adoption.
Adopt the child, or obtain custody of the child, in order to adopt the child in the United States.
Obtain an immigrant visa for the child.
Bring the child to the United States for admission with the visa.

Orphan Process

Alternatively, adopting parents can immigrate an adopted child via the Orphan Process under these circumstances:

Applicant is a U.S. citizen.
If the adoptive parent is married, the spouse must also sign Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative and must also adopt the child
If the adopting parent is not married, they must be at least 25 years old when they file their Form I-600 petition
Establish the ability to provide proper parental care to the child
Establish that the child to be adopted is an “orphan” as defined in U.S. immigration law
Establish that either:
The parent (and spouse, if married) have adopted the child abroad, and that at least one parent personally saw and observed the child before or during the adoption proceedings

Adopt the child in the United States after the child arrives in the United States (permission must be granted to bring the child to the United States for adoption)

Who is an Orphan?

Under U.S. immigration law, an orphan is a foreign-born child who:

Does not have parents due to death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents

Has a sole or surviving parent whose inability to is unable to care for the child, consistent with the local standards of the foreign sending country, and who, in writing, has irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption

Adopting parents must file an orphan petition prior to the child's 16th birthday or prior to the child's 18th birthday if the child is a birth sibling of another child whom the parent has also adopted and who immigrated (or will immigrate) as either:

An orphan based on a Form I-600 petition filed before the sibling's 16th birthday

An “adopted child” as defined in Section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provided the actual adoption took place before that sibling's 16th birthday

Home Study: Establishing Proper Parental Care

Adopting parents must establish their ability to provide proper parental care of the child(ren) they wish to adopt. This is done through submission of a home study course that is to be completed by someone authorized to complete an adoption home study in the adopting parents' home State (or anywhere in the United States, if they adopt the child while residing abroad). The home study preparer must complete the home study according to the standards established in DHS regulations.

Filing a Petition for Your Child

Simultaneously, USCIS will review the potential adopting parents' suitability as an adoptive parent as well as the child's status as an orphan. If a child is already identified by the adopting parents, they can file Form I-600, Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative. hey would then submit Form I-600 with their home study course and any other relevant evidence that showcases them as suitable adoptive parents. They would also submit evidence that the child is an orphan and that they have adopted or intend to adopt the child.

Advance Processing

For those who want to start the process prior to finding the child they want to adopt, they can use advanced processing. This means they benefit by beginning the orphan process even before they have identified the child they want to adopt. By using Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition and by submitting the home study course with Form I-600A, they are on their way. The benefit is that it allows the process to start while they search for their future son or daughter, making the process is quicker and easier when USCIS approves a Form I-600A. When approved, this means USCIS found the adopting parents to be suitable, making it unnecessary to address this issue again when the adopting parents decide on a particular child. At that they, they file Form I-600 for that particular child.

Celebrities and Their Adopted Children

Several celebrities have made adoption almost “hip” and in some cases, controversial. These are just some of the A-List celebrities who turned to adoption to create their families:

Katherine Heigl along with husband Josh Kelly adopted a baby girl named Nancy Leigh in 2009 from South Korea. Then, in 2012, they adopted another baby girl, named Adalaide Marie Hope, from the US.
Michelle Pfeiffer adopted daughter Claudia Rose in 1993 prior to her marriage to David Kelly.
Sharon Stone has three adopted sons: Roan Joseph, Laird, and Quinn.
Sandra Bullock adopted a baby boy, Louis, in 2010.
Charlize Theron adopted baby Jackson in March 2012.
Nicole Kidman along with ex-husband Tom Cruise adopted daughter Isabella Jane and son Connor Antony. However, after the couple's divorce in 2001, Nicole lost the custody of her kids.
Angelina Jolie along with partner Brad Pitt adopted son Maddox from Cambodia in 2002, daughter Zahara from Ethiopia in 2006 and son Pax from Vietnam in 2007.

Legislation: 114 STAT. 826 PUBLIC LAW 106–279—OCT. 6, 2000

(1) the international character of the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (done at The Hague on May 29, 1993); and (2) the need for uniform interpretation and implementation of the Convention in the United States and abroad, and therefore finds that enactment of a Federal law governing adoptions and prospective adoptions subject to the Convention involving United States residents is essential. (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—(1) to provide for implementation by the United States of the Convention; (2) to protect the rights of, and prevent abuses against, children, birth families, and adoptive parents involved in adoptions (or prospective adoptions) subject to the Convention, and to ensure that such adoptions are in the children's best interests; and (3) to improve the ability of the Federal Government to assist United States citizens seeking to adopt children from abroad and residents of other countries party to the Convention seeking to adopt children from the United States.

Citation Types

Type

Format

MLA 9th

Hummel, Heather. "International Adoptions." Issues in U.S. Immigration, edited by Carl L. Bankston III, Salem Press, 2015. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=IUSI_0120.

APA 7th

Hummel, H. (2015). International adoptions. In C. Bankston III (Ed.), Issues in U.S. Immigration. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.

CMOS 17th

Hummel, Heather. "International Adoptions." Edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Issues in U.S. Immigration. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2015. Accessed September 15, 2025. online.salempress.com.

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