India: Adopting a Tsunami orphaned child

Thanks to our reader for pointing this article out which gives details about how foreigners can adopt indian orphans.

Excerpts:

1. Indian law has no provisions for foreigners to adopt Indian children, but under the Guardian and Wards Act of 1890, foreigners may petition an Indian district court for legal custody of a child to be taken abroad for adoption.

2. Following a 1984 Indian Supreme Court decision, non-Indians are required to work through an adoption agency in their home country that is licensed in accordance with local law and appears on a list of agencies approved by the Indian government.

3. Only an Indian agency recognised and listed by the Indian government may make children available for adoption by foreigners.

4. US citizens desiring to adopt Indian children have to file an I-600A petition before the Immigration and Naturalisation Service office in America. They have to submit the following documents before INS: (a) Court order regarding legal custody of the child; (b) Evidence that the child is an orphan; (c) Birth certificate of the child; (d) Two photographs of the child; (e) Payment of required fees.

5. In India, the foreign adoptive parents have to submit the following documents: a. Fingerprints of petitioner (and spouse, if married); b. Home study documents from an authorised agency in the US where the child will be adopted; c. Proof of petitioners' US citizenship (passport or birth certificate); d. Evidence of financial support; e. Payment of the filing fee.

6. Once the petition has been approved by INS and forwarded to the consular section at the US embassy or consulate, the adopted child must apply for an immigrant visa. The child must appear in person, but there is no requirement that the adoptive parents appear as well. Often someone from the child welfare agency will bring the child to the consular section for the visa and subsequently accompany the child to the US.

Read the Full Article on Rediff