No matter which foreign country you are wishing to adopt from, you are going to have to go through the US Department of Justice's Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). No children may enter the country from abroad without the INS approval.In order to start the process with INS you must either call them (800-870-3676) to receive the I-600A form, OR visit their website. The I-600A form is for advance processing for approval. For Ukraine adoptions, you will not know the age or name of your child until AFTER you are in Ukraine, so you need to complete the I-600A and be approved before you travel. Once in Ukraine, you will then need to complete the I-600 form for the INS.
There are a few requirements that the INS asks that you meet in order to begin the adoption process. If you are single and hoping to adopt, you must be a citizen of the United States and at least 25 years of age. You are allowed to be 24 when you start the paperwork, as long as you are 25 before you travel to bring your child home. If you are married, you must be a citizen of the United States, and your spouse must be in the United States legally. There is no minimum age requirements for married couples.
The INS also requires that the child you are adopting be classified as an orphan. This classification, as listed on the INS website, is as follows, "Under U.S. immigration law, a foreign-born child is an orphan if he or she does not have any parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents. A foreign-born child is also an orphan if his or her sole or surviving parent is not able to take proper care of the child and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption. For such a child to gain immigration benefits, an orphan petition must be filed before his or her 16th birthday."
When filing your I-600A form with the INS, you will need to provide the following information:
- Proof of your United States citizenship
Note: birth certificate
- Proof of your spouse's citizenship or lawful immigration status
- Proof that you are married
Note:copy of marriage license
- Completed homestudy
Note: you can submit your I-600A before your homestudy is completed, BUT you must have submitted your homestudy before you will be approved from INS to adopt)
- Fingerprints
Note: You may only be fingerprinted at a approved FBI office. INS will send you an invitation letter to be fingerprinted. The FBI will then forward your fingerprint results to the INS for you.
- Your filing fee for your I-600A application.
Once you have located the child you are going to adopt in Ukraine, you will need to submit the I-600 form to the INS. You do this when you get to Warsaw, Poland getting the VISA for your child.
You will need the following information to process your I-600 form.
Note: If you are adopting more than one child, you must file a separate I-600 for each child.
- Proof of age of the child you are adopting - usually a birth certificate
- Certified copy of the adoption decree with a certified translation
- Death certificates of child's parents, if relevant
- Evidence that the sole or surviving parent is not able to provide for the child's care and has in writing irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption
- Evidence that the child has been unconditionally abandoned to an orphanage, if the child has been placed in an orphanage by his parent(s).
- Evidence that your state's preadoption requirements have been met if you will be adoption requirements have been met if you will be adopting the child here.
If you are adopting one child or sibilings, you will not need to pay another INS registration fee. However, if you are adopting more than one child and they are not sibilings, you must pay an INS registration fee for each additional child.
Since you will be in Ukraine when you are able to complete the 1-600 form, you will submit the completed form to the US Embassy in Warsaw, Poland.
For more information on the INS process, please visit the INS Website.
