Adoption requirements...

CavLancer

This aint fertilizer
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Messages
4,298
Location
Oregon or Philippines
Adopting two Filipino kids and want them to be US citizens. Any idea what's required? They are brother and sister, and are the kids of her cousin.
 
Whose cousin? :confused:
 
If you're living in the Philippines, then you need to find out what the adoption laws there are. Then maybe contact the US embassy to see how that squares with your US citizenship.
 
Valka, my wife's cousin. Sorry, wasn't clear.

Cutlass, thanks. Yes that's pretty much the plan. We have a lot on our plate right now but as soon as we get caught up we'll start the process. I started this thread to get some small idea of what's in store for us.

Farm Boy, that's a great link! Thanks...:) Off I go to see what's in store for us at that site. :b: I'll keep news in this thread but...might be 6 months to a year before we get anywhere on this. Got business related construction to finish and a business to start.
 
Beware the process could take at least 6 months (if really lucky) to several years.
I haven't adopted internationally, but did sponsor two immigrants, my wife and her daughter. And looking over what's involved, my guess is it will take you 1-2 years from when you first send the first required document. Looks like that article 5 letter is one of the first and most important steps.

I would read the whole thing before taking any action. It looks like you want to get approved to be eligible to adopt and get approval for the children to immigrate to the US before you actually adopt them. Sounds like the same mistake couples could make where they find out (sometimes not until later) that a fiancée visa is easier and quicker to obtain than a spousal visa.

You don't need to hire a lawyer, but I would recommend it if money isn't really an issue. We went through the immigration process with no lawyer. And I'm just a warehouse grunt, but I did have 4 days off every week and living alone.....you may have a busier schedule.

Wow, from Farmboys link I see a requirement that I am surprised to see.

Obesity is an unacceptable medical condition for prospective adoptive parents. ICAB previously defined obesity as a BMI of 35 or above. A more recent addition to the list of unacceptable health conditions is “metabolic syndrome,” which is defined as a medical disorder that, when occurring together with a high BMI, increases a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A prospective adoptive parent’s BMI is still taken into consideration along with other health and lifestyle factors.

Wouldn't affect me as my bmi is closer to 25 than 35.

But I would be interested in info on adopting step children. All I can seem to find is "hire a lawyer" and "every state is different". Yes, I can understand every state is different in the little details, but there should be a general guideline that applies to all/most states.
 
Intercountry adoption at least Federalizes the interaction giving you one base set of guidelines from the USA. Within the USA every state has its own laws, and they vary drastically. Some states have laws that were updated in the 21st century. Some are operating largely on common-law from the 19th. Some state statutes give directly conflicting requirements. Periods of revocation of birth parent consent and the finality of that consent vary drastically. Details and even the existence of a putative father registry vary. I would not attempt without years of experience to pretend to know anything about interstate domestic US adoption. Even with that experience I would probably only be able to speak definitively about how one US state interacts with others, not how they all interact with each other. It's a mess.

The international obesity requirement is pretty widespread these days though. Especially with countries in Asia. Income requirements are rising pretty fast too. Non-skinny-well-to-do Americans need not apply.
 
An obesity requirement? Sounds ludicrous, although 35 is pretty high. For example a 5'10" man would need to weigh 245 lbs to hit 35. That is pretty darn heavy. I think the governments want you to have money so they can extort a bunch of money out of you as fees.
 
An obesity requirement? Sounds ludicrous, although 35 is pretty high. For example a 5'10" man would need to weigh 245 lbs to hit 35. That is pretty darn heavy. I think the governments want you to have money so they can extort a bunch of money out of you as fees.

Or so the new immigrants won't be a drain on social services. If my wife or stepdaughter were to receive food stamps, theoretically the government can go after me to pay them back for it since I am their sponsor. I don't know how they would do this or if it's more of a scare tactic. I've been told that our state's food stamp program does not have a procedure from recouping the costs from immigrant's sponsor, but that perhaps the immigration people have such a procedure. I kind of doubt it since immigration isn't connected to the food stamp program, but you never know.

I would have to look up my notes, but IRC it was about $800 for the first process to get my wife here, then 2 years later another $1500 (total) to get their 2 year green cards extended to 10 year green cards. So another couple grand in 10 years unless they get their citizenship by then.

245 pounds is big, but doesn't seem too ridiculously large. It depends if it's mostly muscle or mostly fat.
 
Beware the process could take at least 6 months (if really lucky) to several years.
I haven't adopted internationally, but did sponsor two immigrants, my wife and her daughter. And looking over what's involved, my guess is it will take you 1-2 years from when you first send the first required document. Looks like that article 5 letter is one of the first and most important steps.

I would read the whole thing before taking any action. It looks like you want to get approved to be eligible to adopt and get approval for the children to immigrate to the US before you actually adopt them. Sounds like the same mistake couples could make where they find out (sometimes not until later) that a fiancée visa is easier and quicker to obtain than a spousal visa.

You don't need to hire a lawyer, but I would recommend it if money isn't really an issue. We went through the immigration process with no lawyer. And I'm just a warehouse grunt, but I did have 4 days off every week and living alone.....you may have a busier schedule.

Wow, from Farmboys link I see a requirement that I am surprised to see.



Wouldn't affect me as my bmi is closer to 25 than 35.

But I would be interested in info on adopting step children. All I can seem to find is "hire a lawyer" and "every state is different". Yes, I can understand every state is different in the little details, but there should be a general guideline that applies to all/most states.


I brought my wife over with a fiancee visa and then when she was a US citizen we petitioned her father with an immigrant visa. So been there done that. The kids, brother and sister, are relatives of my wife and my understanding is that this makes it easier.

I'll have to come out of retirement and get a job for 3 years to meet the requirements for income. Rather get poked in the eye with a sharp stick but I don't think they accept that as a viable alternative. Got an opening in that warehouse? ;) Worked in an electrical warehouse for a while so I know what its like.

My state is Oregon. :dunno:.

Here they say you have to hire a lawyer and the expense is a concern. However this will be down the road a ways, perhaps a year. I'm not looking forward to the nightmare of paperwork and expense again, but it must be done so...:dunno:

Take it as it comes I guess.
 
Thanks Narz. :)
 
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