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Requirements for the Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative

The Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative is filed after an adopting parent has legal custody of the child. The child must then wait in his/her country until the petition is approved. If the adoption took place abroad, then the child must continue to wait in his/her country while the IR-3 immediate relative status is being processed. For children who will be adopted in the U.S., adoptive parents may apply for the IR-4 immediate relative status. 

The definition of an orphan is very important in allowing a child to immigrate to the U.S. Under immigration law, an orphan is an alien child who has no parents because of death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from both parents. Those seeking to adopt a child with a surviving parent must show evidence that the surviving parent is unable to care for the child, and they must release the child irrevocably in writing for emigration and adoption purposes. A child that does not meet the legal definition of an orphan mentioned above will not be able to immigrate to the U.S.

The following documents are required to file the Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative:

  • A Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative for every child that will be adopted, signed by petitioner and spouse adopting the child jointly.
  • Proof of an orphan’s age, birth certificates for every child being adopted (child must be under the age of 16 unless two children that are siblings are being adopted, than child must be under the age of 18).
  • Proof of the petitioner’s U.S. citizenship.
  • Proof of the lawful immigration status of petitioner’s spouse.
  • If married, a marriage certificate.
  • Termination of all prior marriages for all parties.
  • Proof that an unmarried petitioner is at least 25 years of age.
  • A certified copy, with full English translations, of the final adoption decree if the child has been adopted abroad, or proof of legal custody for the purposes of immigration and adoption.
  • Proof of orphan status (ex. evidence of abandonment, written relinquishment, death certificates, etc.).
  • Proof that pre-adoption requirements, if any, of the state of the orphan’s proposed residence have been met if the orphan is to be adopted in the United States.
  • A favorable recommendation from a home study completed by a licensed agency.
  • Proof that the adopting parents have seen the child prior to or during adoption proceedings.
  • Certified English translations of all foreign documents.
  • Unexpired fingerprints taken at a local USCIS office of each adult that will be living in the prospective adoptive parent’s household.

* If the child was not seen prior to adoption, or has not been adopted abroad, the adopting parents must establish that the all pre-adoption requirements of the state have been met, and that the child will be adopted in the United States.

In addition to the requirements above, sometimes even after a Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative is approved, an orphan investigation is also required.

 

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