Adoptions

"Direct" or "Private" Adoptions

In a "direct" or "private" adoption, the child is never placed in an orphanage, but is entrusted directly to the adopting parents or their representatives by the birth parent(s). BCIS does not consider the parental decision to place the child with a specific family to be "abandonment." A child "directly" adopted, therefore, only meets the U.S. definition of an orphan and may be eligible for a U.S. immigrant visa if he/she meets the definition of orphan due to having been relinquished by a sole or surviving parent as described in the previous section. Before considering "direct" adoptions in any country, please contact the State Department's Office of Children's Issues (details in 2nd paragraph of this page).

The Embassy often cannot approve the I-600's of "directly adopted" children and must forward them to BCIS Vienna for adjudication. If the BCIS determines that an adopted child does not qualify for immigration as an orphan to the U.S., the adoptive parents can appeal that decision through a BCIS administrative appeals process. As an alternative, one or both parents can reside outside the U.S. with the adopted child for a total of two years. The adopted child would then be eligible to emigrate to the U.S. under a different immigrant visa category.