Overview
Various U.S residents desire to adopt children from overseas countries. To be qualified to do that, the child must have a legal immigrant permit to arrive and reside in the U.S with the adoptive. There are diverse forms of U.S immigrant visas which permit U.S nationals to adopt in this means, but the main ones are the IR-4 and the IR-3 visa. The IR-4 visa permits parents to get custody of the child in the overseas country and then take the child to the U.S to accomplish the adoption. With the IR-3 permit, the parents from the U.S should finalize the adoption procedure in the overseas country before the child can obtain the permit. The IR-4 visa permits the parents to bring the child to the U.S, complete adoption and then the child can continue in the U.S lawfully. The child can join the school and when capable, can also be employed without requiring an Employment Authorization Document (EAD).
Moreover, when qualified, the child can also apply for a U.S nationality. The IR-4 visa is advantageous since it does not have a yearly boundary on the number of visas delivered. That is why those people apply for it can finish processing much quicker and be able to reside in the U.S as a household member.
Eligibility
To be qualified for the IR-4 visa, there are necessities for equally the child from the overseas nation being adopted and the adoptive parents who are U.S residents. These provisions are as follows:
- The child should reach the adoption standards from the U.S Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)
- The child should be under 21 years old and unwedded
- The child should be from either a Hague or Non-Hague Agreement Country
- The U.S residents should be eager to get custody of the child in the overseas nation and then adopt in the U.S
- The U.S inhabitants should overcome an eligibility check by the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
- The U.S residents should plan to bring the child to the U.S to reside with them
- The U.S residents should have a legal U.S address
If the U.S residents kneen to adopt the child while in the overseas nation, then they must appeal for the IR-3 visa. Also, if the U.S residents have adopted the child and resided in the foreign country with the child for minimum two years, then they are qualified to appeal for an IR-2 visa.
How to Apply
Taking into consideration that there are two sorts of intercountry adoptions for the IR-4 visa, the application measures and stages that claimants require to take are diverse. Below will be the procedure for both the Hague and Non-Hague Country Agreements.
Hague Country Agreement Appeal Processes:
To adopt from the Hague Agreement Countries, you should select the U.S Attributed or Permitted Adoption Service Provider in the overseas nation in which you desire to adopt. This law lets you adopt from an agency which is within stringent rules and guidelines.
- Submit Form I-800A, Determination on Suitability to Adopt a Child from an Agreement Nation to USCIS. This form, if permitted, will make you qualified for adoption. USCIS will verify your filled form, do a background check, thumbprint check, and a home study. Grounded on this, they will forward endorsements on the age range and number of children that you are allowable to adopt. Moreover, they will also stipulate whether you are permissible to adopt children with special needs.
- Apply to be suited with a child in your chosen foreign nation which is part of the Hague Agreement. The administration of the country will evaluate your papers, and you must check with them for a list of what you require to arrange. They will also need your USCIS sanction and then recommend children who reach the eligibility standards. Each child will have a file which covers their background data, medicinal and special needs, and agreement forms from the required parties (biological parents, adoption centre, etc.).
- Submit Form I-800, Petition to Classify Convention Adoptee as a Direct or Immediate Relative to USCIS. This form, if accepted, will mean that the child you want to adopt is qualified to immigrate to the U.S. Also, you should confirm that you have not yet gained custody of the child. This is to avoid U.S residents from getting custody or adopting children who are not qualified to arrive in the U.S.
- Later all the forms have been permitted, you can start the visa appeal for the child you expect to adopt in the U.S. Apply Form DS-260, Online Immigrant Visa Application to the U.S Embassy or Consulate of the overseas nation from where the child will be adopted. The DS-260 will need the background data of the child and other particulars. The form is applied online, and later you will receive a confirmation memo and number.
- If all your documents are in order, the U.S Embassy or Consulate will provide a letter called Article 5/17 Letter which indicates that the child you desire to adopt is qualified to arrive at the U.S. Only at this point when you get this letter, you are then permitted to get a custody order for the child. For the IR-4 permit, you cannot adopt the child in the overseas country but should take them to the U.S. If you wish to adopt the child in their nation of living, you should apply for the IR-3 visa.
- When you get the custody instruction, submit the secondary documents to the U.S Embassy or Consulate. This contains the child’s birth certificate, passport, medical reports, etc. Also, book an interview at the U.S Embassy and appear in due time and date. Throughout the interview, you will submit your final custody instruction to the officers to have the application finished. At this step, after the processing, the U.S Embassy will determine whether to issue the IR-4 visa to the child or not.
Non-Hague Convention Application Procedures:
For the Non-Hague Agreement countries, there are different application processes as follows:
- Select an adoption centre in the country where you want to adopt the child. Since the nation is not part of the Hague Agreement Countries, you will not get endorsements on the U.S permitted centres, but must make a choice yourself.
- Apply Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of an Orphan Appeal to USCIS. This form along with the background and biometric check, and the home study will decide your suitability to adopt a child from a foreign nation. USCIS will not make any endorsements on the child’s classification, however, which is diverse from the measures of the Hague Agreement.
- Get parental custody instruction from the country where you plan to adopt the child. This signifies that you should meet the preconditions of that specific country regarding supportive documents and the processes you must follow.
- Submit Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate or Direct Relative to USCIS to decide whether the child you want to adopt is qualified for immigration to the U.S. The ensuing supportive documents must be conformed:
- Child’s birth certificate or written clarification about the identification and age of the child if the birth certificate is not available
- Proof that the child does not have parents or that the biological parents are incapable of giving suitable care and have agreed to give up their child for adoption
- Proof that you have attained custody of the child and you intend to finalize adoption process once the child reaches in the U.S
- After that, USCIS or a Consular Officer in the country you are adopting the child form will submit Form I-604. If the form has been permitted, the National Visa Center (NVC) will inform you of the next stages, you must proceed.
- File the IR-4 visa appeal by submitting Form DS-260, Online Immigrant Visa Application as well as book your visa interview. At the interview, give your complete file of documents for the child’s adoption.
IR-4 Visa Fees
Conditional on which application process you will follow, you must pay the fees related with filing the forms as well as other auxiliary fees. The amounts are fixed by USCIS, but overall, these are the fees that apply:
- Form I-800A filing fee
- Form I-800 filing fee
- Form DS-260 processing fees
- Form I-600A filing fee
- Form I-600 filing fee
- Translation fees
- Fees to get supporting documents
