CavLancer
This aint fertilizer
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.
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 persons risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. A prospective adoptive parents BMI is still taken into consideration along with other health and lifestyle factors.
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.
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.