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A. Advance Processing
A. 1. A Faster Procedure
A. 2. Eligibility for Advance Processing
A. 3. Forms Used for Advance Processing
A. 4. Necessary Documents
A. 5. Decision
A. 6. Filing an Orphan Petition After an Advance Processing
Application Has Been Filed
A. 7. Where to File an Orphan Petition After an Advance
Procesing Application Has Been Filed
A. 8. Abandonment of Advance Processing
B. Orphan Petition
B. 1. What is an Orphan Petition?
B. 2. Two Types of Processing
B. 3. Forms Used for an Orphan Petition
B. 4. Necessary Documents
B. 5. Filing an Orphan Petition for a Known Child Without
All Proof About the Child or the Home Study
B. 6. Decision
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A United States citizen who plans to adopt a foreign orphan but does not yet have a specific child in mind can have the immigration paperwork done much faster by using a procedure called advance processing. That means that this Service will do the part of the procedure on the prospective adoptive parent(s) first so that later only the part of the procedure on the child is necessary.
Advance processing can also be done in the following case: the child is known, and the prospective adoptive parent(s) are traveling to the country where the child is located. In such a case the petitioner may file an orphan petition at an overseas Service office or at an American consulate or embassy if there is no Service office in the country. There are Service offices in Austria, England, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Panama, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand.
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An application for advance processing may be filed by anyone who is eligible to file an orphan petition. It may also be filed by an unmarried United States citizen at least 24 years of age as long as he or she will be at least 25 when an orphan petition is filed in behalf of an actual child and when the child is adopted. The prospective adoptive parent who signs the "certification of prospective petitioner" on the advance processing application is called the prospective petitioner.
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a. Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, with the filing fee shown in the instructions to the form. This form is salmon or peach-colored. The instructions to this form contain important information and should be read carefully.
b. The fingerprints of each prospective adoptive parent on Form FD-258. It is a good idea to submit two Forms FD-258. for each prospective adoptive parent in case the first set of fingerprints turns out to be illegible. See Section III, E of this publication for more information about fingerprints.
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a. Proof of the prospective petitioner's United States citizenship. The types of proof are explained in detail on Form I-600A.
b. Proof of the marriage of the prospective petitioner and spouse, if married.
c. Proof of termination of any prior marriages of the prospective petitioner and spouse or unmarried prospective petitioner, if applicable.
d. A favorably recommended home study. This is a report on the ability of the adoptive or prospective adoptive parent(s) to care for a child or children. If the home study is not yet available, it must be submitted within one year from the date of filing the advance processing application or the application will be considered abandoned. See Section III, D of this publication for details about the home study.
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The Service must decide whether the prospective adoptive parent(s) are able to take care of one or more orphans properly, depending on the number of children they want to adopt. Form I-171H, Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, is sent to the prospective petitioner if the prospective adoptive parent(s) appear to qualify for further processing. This decision, however, does not guarantee that the orphan petition(s) to be filed will be approved. An orphan petition may still be denied because the child does not qualify as an orphan or for other proper cause.
When there is unfavorable information about the prospective adoptive parent(s) and the Service concludes that proper care could not be given to a child or children in that case, the Service makes an unfavorable decision. The prospective petitioner is notified about the reasons for the unfavorable decision. The prospective petitioner may appeal the decision.
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A separate orphan petition must be filed in behalf of each child with the documents on the child. An orphan petition or petitions can be filed either when an advance processing application is pending or within one year of the date of completion of all advance processing in a case with a favorable decision. This date is shown on Form I-171H, Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition.
No filing fee is necessary if only one orphan petition is filed and if the petition is filed while an advance processing application is pending or within one year of a favorable decision on an advance processing application. A filing fee is required, however, for any additional orphan petition.
If there has been an unfavorable decision in an advance processing case and the prospective adoptive parent(s) file an orphan petition anyway, a filing fee is necessary. Furthermore, the orphan petition will be denied unless the prospective adoptive parent(s) can prove that the grounds for the unfavorable decision no longer apply and that they can take care of a child or children properly.
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Normally an orphan petition is filed at the same Service office where the advance processing application was filed. In fact, when an advance processing application is still pending, the orphan petition must be filed at the same office.
If the prospective adoptive parent(s) travel abroad, the orphan petition may be filed abroad. In that case, the decision to file the petition abroad, instead of in the United States, is up to the petitioner, but all advance processing must be completed first with a favorable decision.
If the child lives in a country where there is a Service office in a case where the petitioner wants to file the petition abroad, the petition is filed at the Service office. Otherwise, the petition is filed at the closest American consulate or embassy. As mentioned in Section II, A of this publication, there are Service offices in Austria, England, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Panama, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, and Thailand.
The prospective petitioner must state on the advance processing application where he or she wants to file the orphan petition. Accordingly, the application can be sent to the correct overseas Service office or American consulate or embassy when all advance processing is completed, if there is a favorable decision and if the orphan petition is to be filed in a foreign country.
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If an orphan petition is not filed within one year from the date of completion of an advance processing application in a case with a favorable decision, the application is considered abandoned and the prospective petitioner is notified in writing. After an advance processing application is abandoned, the prospective petitioner must file a new advance processing application or an orphan petition if he or she later decides that he or she wants to petition for an orphan. In that case, a new fee is necessary.
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An orphan petition is a form which is filed for immigration benefits in behalf of an actual child. The child's name, date of birth, and other information about the child must be known in order for such a petition to be filed.
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An orphan petition can be filed when:
a. an advance processing application is p e n d i n g or it is within one year of a favorable decision in a completed advance processing case, or
b. no advance processing application has been filed.
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a. Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative. This form is blue. The instructions to this form contain important information and should be read carefully.
The filing fee, which is shown in the instructions to the form, must always be paid except when an advance processing application is pending or when it is within one year of a favorable decision in an advance processing case. When more than one petition is submitted at the same time by the same petitioner in behalf of orphans who are brothers or sisters, however, only one fee is necessary.
b. The fingerprints of each adoptive or prospective adoptive parent on Form FD-258, unless an advance processing application is pending or unless it is within one year of a favorable decision in a completed advance processing case. It is a good idea to submit two Forms FD-258 for each adoptive or prospective adoptive parent in case the first set of fingerprints turns out to be illegible. See Section III, E of this publication for more information about the fingerprints.
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a. Proof of the orphan's age. The petitioner should submit a certificate of the orphan's birth if it can be obtained. If it cannot be obtained, the petitioner should submit an explanation along with he best available evidence of birth.
b. Death certificate(s) of the orphan's Parent(s) if applicable.
c. Proof that the orphan's sole or surviving parent cannot give the orphan proper care and has in writing forever or irrevocably released the orphan for emigration and adoption, if the orphan has only one parent.
d. A final decree of adoption, if the orphan has been adopted abroad.
e. Proof that the orphan has been unconditionally abandoned to an orphanage, if the orphan is in an orphanage.
f. Proof that the preadoption requirements, if any, of the state of the orphan's proposed residence have been met, if the child is to be adopted in the United States. These requirements are the conditions under state law and/or regulations that have to be met before a child is placed for adoption in a home. If it is not possible, under the laws of the state of the child's proposed residence, to submit this proof when the petition is first filed, it may be submitted later. The petition, however, will not be approved without it. See Section III, C of this publication for more information about preadoption requirements.
g. All proof relating to the petitioner which is described in Section II A of this publication unless this proof was submitted with a pending advance processing application or unless it is within one year of a favorable decision in a completed advance processing case.
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If any proof about the child or the home study is not yet available, the orphan petition may be filed without that proof or the home study. The fingerprints on Form(s) FD-258 and all other proof must be submitted with the petition.
If the necessary proof about the child or the home study is not submitted within one year from the date of submission of the petition, the petition is considered abandoned, and the fee is not refunded. If the petitioner later decides that he or she wants to petition for the same child or a different child, he or she must file a new advance processing application or orphan petition and pay a new fee.
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The Service must decide whether the adoptive or prospective adoptive parent(s) are able to care for the child properly, whether the child is an orphan as defined in immigration law, and whether all other requirements in the law and regulations have been met. If the petition is approved, Form I-171, Notice of Approval of Relative Immigration Visa Petition, is sent to the Petitioner.
If the petition is denied, the petitioner is notified about the reasons for the denial. The petitioner may appeal that decision.
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