Inter-Country adoption describes the immigration process by which a US citizen seeks to adopt a child from another country, with a view to having the child live with the new family in the U.S. on a permanent basis. It is the administrative and judicial transfer of parental rights from a biological or custodial parent to another person meeting qualifying criteria of both the foreign state and the United States. Once completed, the adoption terminates the legal parent-child relationship between the adoptive child and the biological parent(s).

Traditionally, the adoption is granted to an "orphan" child under the laws of the foreign country and provided the child is under sixteen (16) years of age, application is made to permit the child, to enter the child as a lawful permanent resident. Upon application and in certain circumstances, a replacement birth certificate is granted and naturalization to U.S. citizenship is accorded after entry into the U.S.

The Hauge Convention

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-Country Adoption, otherwise cited as The Hague Adoption Convention, is an international agreement to safeguard inter-country adoptions. The Convention governs all adoptions between the United States and other countries also party to the Convention. The United States became a signatory to the Convention in 1994.

(The Office of Children's Issues at the U.S. Department of State is the point of contact for U.S. citizens wishing to adopt a child from a foreign state. More details on adoption and on The Hague Convention implications for prospective adoptive parents can be found at http://adoption.state.gov/)

To talk to a lawyer about an inter-Country adoption, call our offices in New York City at 212-401-4040 or Toll-Free in the U.S. at 866-746-0137. You can also contact us online.