Adoptions

News

• New Adoption Regulations in Effect - December 5, 2008
• Notice on SDAPRC Unused Quotas - October 23, 2008
• Warning for Adoptive Parents: Expired Fingerprints, October 17, 2008
• Public Notice - Additional Information on New Adoption Law, July 31, 2008
• Notice on Ukraine's legislative changes regarding single parents and age restrictions - April 25, 2008
• Public Notice Regarding Adoption Quotas in Ukraine - January 15, 2008
• Notice on Adoption Quotas - December 12, 2007
• Adoption documents checklist
• Update on Ukraine's Adoption Program, October 31, 2007
• Change in the procedure to submit the documents for visas for adopted children at the U.S. Consular Section in Kyiv, Ukraine - August 13, 2007
• Update on Ukrainian Passport Issuance - August 3, 2007
• Important Notice to the Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine - New Information on Passports for Adopted Children - July 25, 2007
• Resumption of Acceptance of the New Dossiers on April 16, 2007
• Notice on New I-604 Form - April 6, 2007
• Public Notice - Resignations at the SDAPRC - April 5,2007
• Public Notice - Ukraine Limits the Numbers of Adoption Dossiers from Foreign Countries - March 26, 2007
• Important Notice to the Adoption Community Interested In Ukraine - March 05, 2007
• Public Notice - Resumption of New Adoption Dossiers in Ukraine - December 19, 2006
• U.S. Urges Parental Follow-up Reports for Intercountry Adoptions
• Ñhanges in the Department of State policy on validity of fingerprints.

News Archive

INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION - UKRAINE

GENERAL: The following is a guide for U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child in Ukraine and apply for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. This process involves complex foreign and U.S. legal requirements. U.S. consular officers review each case carefully to ensure that the legal requirements of both countries have been met, for the protection of the prospective adopting parent(s), the biological parents(s) and the child. Interested U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to contact U.S. consular officials in Ukraine before formalizing an adoption agreement to ensure that appropriate procedures have been followed, which will make it possible for the Embassy to issue a U.S. immigrant visa for the child.

AVAILABILITY OF CHILDREN FOR ADOPTION: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to orphans (IR-3 and IR-4 combined):*

FY-1999 ... 312
FY-2000 ... 653
FY-2001 ... 1233
FY-2002 ... 1104
FY-2003 ... 702
FY-2004 ... 784
FY-2005 ... 821

*Immediate Relative (IR)-3 visas are issued to orphans adopted in Ukraine. IR-4 visas are issued to orphans adopted or re-adopted in the United States. The visa requirements and paperwork are substantially the same.

Ukrainian children who have been registered with the Kyiv-based State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child for one year are available for international adoption. The one-year waiting requirement may be waived only if children suffer from a disease listed with the Ministry of Public Health Protection.

According to the State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child, only 16% of all adoptable Ukrainian children are under five years old and relatively healthy. At the same time, 50% of all the U.S. prospective adopting families have indicated specific interest in this category of children.

Adopting parents who have registered with the SDAPRC may receive information about adoptable children only after they receive an invitation from the SDAPRC to travel to Ukraine. Under Ukrainian law, Ukrainian officials may not disclose information on adoptable children to agencies or other private citizens.

ADOPTION AUTHORITY:

State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child
14 Desyatynna street
Kyiv, Ukraine 01025
Tel/Fax # (380)(44) 278-4045
http://www.kmu.gov.ua/sport/control/uk

The SDAPRC, a part of the Ministry of Family, Youth and Sports, is the only legal Ukrainian authority for adoptions. It maintains the database of adoptable children available for both domestic and international adoptions. The SDAPRC is involved in the international adoption process from the moment prospective parents apply for registration until an adoption hearing is held in court. The State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child has a policy of direct contact with prospective adopting parents. Translators or interpreters are available on the staff of the SDAPRC.

AGE AND CIVIL STATUS REQUIREMENTS: Married and single people may adopt from Ukraine. Prospective adopting parents have to be of legal age (18 years old and older), and the difference between the age of the adopting parent and adopted child must be at least 15 years, although this can be waived if circumstances warrant. If the child is adopted by a relative, the age difference is not considered.

Please note that according to the new Family Code of Ukraine (Article 213), if several candidates wish to adopt the same child, preference will be given first to a Ukrainian citizen, second to foreign couples who are married, and finally to foreign single parents. Hence, single foreign parents now have the last preference in adoptions and, although they can still submit their adoption dossiers to be registered with the State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child, the waiting time for an appointment is unknown and may exceed validity of the documents.

However, each adoption application is considered by Ukrainian adoption authorities on an individual basis.

RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: There are no residency requirements to adopt in Ukraine.

TIME FRAME: It takes anywhere between three to twelve months after adopting parents submit their dossier to the State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child until the appointment date. Parents can also expect a three to four week wait between the initial filing of the adoption in the local court and issuance of the final adoption decree (see also ADOPTION PROCEDURES/ Court Hearing).

ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS: Since the current Ukrainian law does not allow adoption intermediaries, no private interpeters/facilitators will be allowed to interpret during the meetings of prospecting parents with the SDAPRC. You can still use the private interpreters/facilitators for other stages of the adoption process.

Prospective adopting parents can protect themselves by openly discussing all fees and expenses in great detail before hiring a facilitator or interpreter. Discuss recommendations with adoption agencies and with other families who hired these individuals in the past. Prospective adopting parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services. For U.S.- based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adopting parents contact the Better Business Bureau and licensing office of the Department of Health and Family Services in the state where the agency is located. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has a list of translators known to work in Ukraine. These are general translation service providers and do not necessarily have experience with adoptions. Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the Department of State can vouch for the efficacy or professionalism of any agent, facilitator, or interpreter.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv has received reports of questionable practices during the adoption process by adopting parents. Please see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at the Web site for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at http://travel.state.gov.

UKRAINIAN ADOPTION FEES: There are no Ukrainian fees except those for court filing, notarial, translation and similar services.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv notes that adopting parents pay anywhere from $2,000 to $20,000 lump sum fees to their adoption agencies for services rendered. This can include lodging, transportation, authentication of Ukrainian documents, fees for expedited services and interpreter's services. Adopting parents have also reported being charged additional fees for services rendered after arriving in Ukraine.

Prospective adopting parents are advised to request a fee schedule when meeting with their adoption agency and discuss under what circumstances additional, unexpected fees may be charged.

ADOPTION PROCEDURES:

Registering with the SDAPRC: Prospective adopting parents must first register with the State Department for Adoptions and Protection of Rights of the Child (see Documentary Requirements below). The SDAPRC processes the documents submitted by adopting parents and enters them into their database within twenty working days. Once an application is approved, the prospective adopting parents will receive an invitation to visit the SDAPRC. When adopting parents arrive in Ukraine, the SDAPRC shows them information about orphans available for international adoption within the parents' specified age range. SDAPRC then issues a letter of referral to allow the prospective parents to visit orphanages to meet and establish contact with a child. Along with the letter of referral, adopting parents will be given their documents, bound, numbered, sealed, and signed by an official in charge of the SDAPRC, with a separate sheet specifying the number of pages and the prospective parents' registration file code.

SDAPRC representatives will not meet with prospective adopting parents who arrive in Ukraine without an appointment or on a day other than when they are scheduled for an appointment.

Meeting A Child: Once the SDAPRC issues permission for prospective parents to visit orphanages, parents may go and meet a child, check medical records and establish personal contact with a child.

Pre-adoption Medical Examination: While meeting a child at the orphanage, you will be shown his/her medical history. If any doubts arise, or if you would like to get more details on the child's health condition, you may request an additional medical check-up of the child (including blood tests etc.). According to the law, every prospective parent has the right for additional pre-adoption medical examination of the child conducted by a private physician in the presence of the orphanage staff member.

The panel physicians of the Clinic of Oil Industry of Ukraine in Kyiv have expressed their readiness to perform pre-adoption medical examinations. Please check with them directly on their services and fees.

Parents should make every effort to thoroughly understand the medical conditions diagnosed by local physicians. Please be sure the facilitator and/or interpreter you hire are competent to translate and explain complex medical diagnoses. Knowledge of the child's medical conditions is required for the I-604 interview at U.S. Embassy in Kyiv. Parents should verify that medical reports from the orphanage are thorough and reflect all information provided to the Ukrainian court for the hearing.

Court Hearing: After prospective adopting parents identify a child for adoption, the file for the case is presented to a judge in the region where the child lives. The power to approve or deny an adoption remains solely with an individual judge. The judge's decision, in turn, is based on a review of various documents of each individual adoption case during the court hearing.

As a general rule, the judge's decision is announced and issued the day of the hearing. However, it does not take effect for ten days. During the ten-day period, the adoption can be appealed, which the Embassy understands is rare. If an application for appeal is submitted to the court within ten days after the court hearing, an additional period of 20 days is added for filing the actual appeal case with all the supporting documents with the court. The waivers of appeal period are rarely granted in cases when there is clear evidence that a delay in executing the court decision is not in the best interest of the child (for example, damage to health).

Once the decision takes effect, the new adopting parents are granted parental rights and legal responsibility for the child.

Adopting parents must attend the hearing. In cases where one of the parents cannot be present at the hearing (e.g. major surgery, disability etc.), a judge may permit one parent to provide a power of attorney for the other parent.

Obtaining The Post-Adoption Birth Certificate And A Travel Document: The local RAGS office (Ukrainian abbreviation for Office of Vital Records) issues a post-adoption certificate of birth for an adopted child based on the final court decree and the original (pre-adoption) birth certificate. The pre-adoption birth certificate is not be returned to the adopting parents, so parents should make sure that they make a copy of the pre-adoption birth certificate before handing it over to the RAGS authorities.

Adopting parents should make sure that there are no discrepancies in the spelling of names of the parents and children in the court decree. If noticed, please ask the court clerk to correct them immediately. Failure to do so may cause delays in issuing the post-adoption birth certificate and in authenticating Ukrainian documents.

Once the post-adoption birth certificate is obtained, parents may apply for a passport for their child at the local VVIR (Ukrainian abbreviation for Office of Visas and Registration). Parents are required to present a written and notarized statement requesting that the travel document be issued. The post-adoption birth certificate, final court decree, and 4 passport-size photos of the child have to be submitted along with the statement. The new name of the adopted child in the travel document is spelled in English transliterated from Ukrainian, so it may look different from what appears on the parents' passport. There is no need for concern as long as the child's name in Ukrainian on the travel document is the same as in the court decree. However, parents can request that the correct English spelling be noted on the blank page in the passport.

At the time the passport is issued, a special, mandatory stamp is put in it showing that the child is departing Ukraine for permanent residence abroad. It is called a "PMZh-stamp" for the words "permanent residence" in Ukrainian. Although under Ukrainian law immigration authorities have up to ten working days to issue passports for adopted children, they are often issued earlier, especially if the child requires medical care.

DOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTS:

The following documents must be part of the adoption application submitted to the Ukrainian adoption authority:

1. Home Study, issued by a competent authority in the adopting parents' country, attesting to their eligibility, specifying their housing and living conditions, containing their curriculum vitae, and other information. If a home study is issued by a non-governmental entity (a private agency or social worker), a copy of the license authorizing this entity to conduct pre-adoption reviews must be attached.
2. Entrance and permanent residence permit for the adopted child, issued by the competent authority in the adopting parents' country. For American citizens, the Form I-171H, Notice of Approval of Advance Processing issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) serves as this document.
3. Proof of income: Bank statements showing the adopting parents' yearly income, W-2 forms or tax returns and a statement from adopting parents' employer indicating salary. To avoid confusion, please do NOT copy blank pages of tax returns.
4. Adopting parents are given a specific medical form to complete. Although the form instructs parents to visit 8 different specialists, adopting parents only have to visit their family doctor. This doctor must complete the form in its entirety. Adopting parents must demonstrate that they are specifically not suffering from any kind of psychiatric, communicable, internal, skin or venereal diseases. There must also be a statement that parents are not drug addicts, and that parents are free from AIDS and syphilis. Medical certificates for prospective adopting parents should be issued on official letterhead of the medical office where the examination took place. Alternatively, the document can bear a stamp/seal of approving clinic/doctor, if available. The doctor's signature must be notarized. If letterheads/seals are not available, the SDAPRC requests that a copy of the doctor's medical license be attached to the form.
5. Copy of the marriage certificate (if applicable).
6. Copies of the passports or other identification papers of prospective adopting parents. A copy of the Permanent Resident Card should be included, if one of the parents is not an American citizen.
7. "No criminal record" statement supplied by a competent authority for each adopting parent, attesting to his/her having no criminal record at the State level. Statements from the city or county level are not accepted by the Ukrainian authorities. If the criminal background check statement is issued by the local sheriff/police office (not State authorities), it should clearly indicate that each prospective adopting parent has no criminal record in the state of his/her residence.
8. Commitment to register their adopted child with the Ukrainian Embassy or Consulate in their new home country within one month of the completion of adoption. Adopting parents also agree to supply information about the adopted child's living conditions and educational progress to the Ukrainian consular office at least annually during the first 3 years following the adoption. Under Ukrainian law, an adopted child remains a Ukrainian citizen until age 18, at which time the child can decide to remain a Ukrainian citizen.

Please note that all eight documents must be separate documents; one cannot be part of another. The documents remain valid for one year from the date of issuance, except for Form I-171H, which is valid for 18 months.

AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENTS: All U.S. documents submitted to the Ukrainian government/court must be authenticated. Ukraine is a party to the Hague Legalization Convention. Generally, U.S. civil records, such as birth, death, and marriage certificates, must bear the seal of the issuing office and an apostille affixed by the state's Secretary of State (an apostille is a special seal applied to a document to certify that a document is a true copy of an original). Documents must be apostilled in the state where they are issued. Tax returns, medical reports and police clearances should likewise be authenticated. Prospective adopting parents should contact the Secretary of State of the state where documents originated from for instructions and fees for authenticating documents.

Documents issued by a federal agency must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office, 518 23rd St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520, (202) 647-5002 Fee: $6.00. For additional information, call the Federal Information Center: 1-800-688-9889, and choose option 6 after you press 1 for touch tone phones. Walk-in service is available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 am Monday-Friday, except holidays and is limited to 15 documents per person per day (documents can be multiple pages). Processing time for authentication requests sent by mail is 5 working days or less.

For additional information about the effects of joining the Hague Legalization Convention, please visit this page.

For additional information about authentication procedures, see the "Judicial Assistance" page of the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site at http://travel.state.gov.

UKRAINIAN EMBASSY AND CONSULATES IN THE UNITED STATES:

3350 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel: 202-333-0606
Fax: 202-333-0817
www.mfa.gov.ua/usa/en/1554.htm

Ukraine has Consulates General in New York (www.ukrconsul.org), San Francisco (www.UkraineSF.com) and Chicago (www.ukrchicago.com).

U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS

A child adopted by a U.S. citizen must obtain an immigrant visa before he or she can enter the U.S.. The child must be an orphan, as defined by U.S. immigration regulations. There are two distinct categories of immigrant visas available to orphans adopted by U.S. citizens. The two categories are Immediate Relative-3 (IR-3) and IR-4. An IR-3 is issued when a child is adopted under the laws of a foreign country. An IR-4 is issued when a child will be adopted in the United States (American parents have custody of a child to take him or her to the United States to be adopted in the United States). An IR-4 is also issued when state pre-adoption requirements require that a child be adopted in that state or if both parents have not seen the child. The Department of State strongly advised U.S. citizens to verify that a particular child is an orphan according to U.S. immigration law and regulations before proceeding with an adoption. A consular officer will not be able to issue a visa to an adopted child if he or she does not meet the definition of legal orphan.

An Orphan. If an adopted child has not resided with and been in the legal custody of the adopting parent for at least two years (or if the child has not yet even been adopted) the child must qualify under section 101(b)(1)(F) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act in order to apply for an immigrant visa. The main requirements of this section are as follows:

• The child must be under the age of 16** at the time an I-600 Petition is filed with the DHS on his or her behalf
• The child meets the U.S. immigration law definition of "orphan" either because:
  (a) The child has no parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation from or loss of both parents***; or
  (b) The sole or surviving parent is incapable of providing proper care and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption
• The adopting parents must have completed a full and final adoption of the child (for IR-3) or must have legal custody of the child to take the child to the United States for immigration and adoption (for IR-4).

** A child adopted at age 16 or 17 will also qualify, provided he or she is a natural sibling of a child adopted, or who will be adopted, under the age of 16 by the same adopting parents.

*** Prospective adopting parents should note that the terms "disappearance of both parents," "abandonment by both parents," "desertion by both parents," "separation from both parents," "loss from both parents," "sole" and "surviving" parent all have specific legal meanings defined in section 204.3(b) of Title 8 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Whether a child qualifies as an orphan under any of these categories is determined by reference to the U.S. regulatory definitions and not by any local (foreign) law designations that may be used to identify a child as orphaned.

The adopting parent(s) must meet the following DHS requirements in order to file the I-600 petition for the immigrant visa for an adopted child:

• If the adopting or prospective adopting parent is married, his or her spouse must also be a party to the adoption;
• If the adopting or prospective adopting parent is single, he or she must be at least 25 years of age;
• The adopting or prospective adopting parent must be a U.S. citizen.

U.S. IMMIGRATION PROCEDURES FOR ORPHANS

The I-600A and I-600 Petitions

Adopting and prospective adopting parents must obtain approval of a Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative (Form I-600) from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) before they can apply for an immigrant visa on behalf of an orphan. The adjudication of such petitions can be very time-consuming and parents are encouraged to begin well in advance.

A prospective adopting parent may file Form I-600A Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) office having jurisdiction over their place of residence. This form allows the most time-consuming part of the immigration process to be completed in advance, even before the parent has located a child to adopt. In addition, a parent who obtains an approved I-600A may file an I-600 in person at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine.****

**** If a married couple is adopting the child and only one of the parents will travel abroad from the U.S., that parent must be an American citizen. REMEMBER both parents must still sign the original I-600.

Required Documents for the I-600A

• Completed Form I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition);
• Fingerprints of each prospective adopting parent, taken at a local U.S. CIS office;
• Proof of the prospective petitioner's United States citizenship;
• Proof of the marriage of the prospective petitioner and spouse, if applicable;
• Proof of termination of any prior marriages of the prospective petitioner and spouse or unmarried prospective petitioner, if applicable;
• A "home study" completed by the appropriate State organization with a favorable recommendation;
• Proof that the 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; and
• Filing fee of U.S. $670.

The I-600 is filed at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine after an adopting parent has legal custody of a child. If an I-600A has already been approved, there is no fee. However, if parents are adopting two or more biologically unrelated children, there will be a $670 fee for the second child.

Required Documents for the I-600

• Completed Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative;
• Proof of the orphan's age;
• Death certificate(s) of the orphan's parent(s), if applicable;
• Proof of orphan status (for example, evidence of abandonment, or 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);
• A final decree of adoption; and
• If not submitted previously in an I-600A, the documents listed above in the I-600A section must also be provided with the I-600 (in this case, the I-600 must be filed with the CIS office with jurisdiction over the prospective parent's residence, rather than the Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine).

Detailed information about filing these forms can be found on the U.S. CIS web site at http://uscis.gov. U.S. citizens who have adopted or hope to adopt a child from Ukraine should request, at the time they file these forms, that U.S. CIS notify the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine as soon as the form is approved. Upon receipt of such notification, the Embassy in Ukraine contacts the adopting parent(s) and provide additional instructions on immigration procedures. U.S. consular officers may not begin reviewing an orphan adoption case until they have received formal notification of approval from a CIS office in the U.S.

Fingerprints

An I-600 petition can be approved only if the petitioners (and all adult members of their household) have unexpired FBI fingerprint clearances. Though fingerprint are taken and checked by the FBI at the time prospective adopting parents file an I-600A, they are valid only for 15 months and must be re-done if the 15 months have expired.. The validity period for the I-600A is 18 months and is not tied to the fingerprint checks. Thus, it is possible for adopting parents to have a valid I-600A and expired fingerprint checks at the same time. Prospective adopting parents should verify that their fingerprint check are current and will not expire before traveling to Ukraine to adopt. If the fingerprints are about to expire soon, prospective adopting parents should contact their USCIS office and have their fingerprints retaken. If your fingerprints are not valid when you come to file the I-600 petition in Kyiv, the Embassy staff will have to take them and send them to the FBI for the background check, which will delay an adopting family's return to the United States by several days.

The Orphan Investigation

One part of the petition process which CIS cannot complete in advance is the "orphan investigation." An orphan investigation Form I-604 Report on Overseas Orphan Investigation is required in all orphan adoption cases - even if an I-600 has already been approved - and serves to verify that the child is an orphan as defined by U.S. immigration law. A consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine conducts this investigation and completes this questionnaire at the time of the immigrant visa interview. The consular officer reviews the Ukrainian documentation and adopting parents' knowledge of the circumstances of the adoption and health of the child.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE IMMIGRANT VISA

Effective September 4, 2007, the procedure to submit documents for visas for adopted children will change.

Parents must drop off all required documents at the Consulate no later than 12:00 noon on the business day prior to day of the actual visa interview. No appointment is required to submit documents. Visa interviews will take place at 2:00 pm on the day designated, and can only take place if we have already received all the required documents. We will make every effort to issue the visa on the next working day. However, it is important to note that additional checks are required by law if the adopted child is 16 years or older. These checks delay visa issuance by up to 72 hours. Please plan your travel accordingly.

U.S. law requires that the adopted child, regardless of age, be brought to the Embassy for a personal appearance before the consular officer at the time of the interview for the immigrant visa.

Required Documents for IR-3 and IR-4 Visas:

1. Confirmation from the USCIS of an approved and valid I-600A petition;
2. Completed I-600 petition, with original signatures by both adopting parents. You can download a current version of the I-600 from the USCIS website at: uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/index.htm; Please note, that in case of adoption of siblings, there is no fee for filing I-600 petition, provided I-600A has already been approved. However, if parents are adopting two or more biologically unrelated children, there will be a $670 fee for each additional child.
3. Completed Immigrant Visa application, form DS-230, Parts I and II, signed by one parent on behalf of the child, in the presence of a consular officer. Information on the form should pertain to the child, not the adopting parents.
4. Documents to show the consular officer that the child will not be a public charge in the U.S., for example, a job letter, tax returns, bank statement or other proof of the adoptive parent's or parents' assets in the U.S.
5. Results of the child's immigrant visa physical examination, including a vaccination report. Please see additional information on medical immigrant visa examination here.
6. An Affidavit of Acknowledgement of Health Problems of Adopted Child. Both parents' signatures should be notarized. Please do not sign this document before you come to the Embassy - it must be signed under oath in the presence of a U.S. Consular Officer. Alternatively, it can be notarized in the U.S. Please make sure to include all health problems that are listed in the adoption court decree and medical history of the child(ren) (if available).
7. Affidavit of Vaccinations Requirement Waiver. Please do not sign this document before you come to the Embassy - it must be signed under oath in the presence of a U.S. Consular Officer. The form may be signed by either of the adopting parents and notarized by a U.S. Consular Officer or U.S. notary public. This form is required only for children 10 years of age and younger. You can download this form here.
8. Completed Form I-864W (Intending Immigrant's Affidavit of Support Exemption, available at: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis.
9. Immigrant visa fee of U.S. $380 (includes application fee of $335 and a surcharge of $45) for each child (if a second adopted child is unrelated to the first one, an additional I-600 application fee of $670 is also charged) - payable in U.S. cash only to the Embassy cashier.
10. An original and two copies of the Ukrainian court decree granting the adoption.
11. An original and two copies of a birth certificate issued in the child's new (adopted) name.
12. Two copies of the court decree declaring that the child is an orphan and/or unambiguously declaring that any surviving parents have no legal parental rights under Ukrainian law. As an alternative to the court decree, adopting parents may present two copies of a certificate of abandonment produced by the biological parents, the police or the hospital.
13. Two notarized copies of the child's pre-adoption birth certificate. Note: The district office of vital records confiscates this birth certificate as part of the adoption proceedings, so please make the copies before your court date.
14. The original and a copy of the orphanage's medical report/medical history for the child. This report must be thorough and provide all information that was submitted to the court.
15. The original and a copy of a Ukrainian travel document (passport), issued in the child's new adopted name.
16. The original and a copy of each of the adopting parents' passports.
17. One passport-size frontal facial photograph of the child.
18. Police Certificates For Adopted Youth Age 16 Or Older!
    All visa applicants, including those being adopted by U.S. citizens, must obtain police certificates from Ukraine and any other country in which they have lived for at least one year since the applicant's sixteenth birthday.
    In Ukraine the police certificate (form IP-1) can be obtained from the oblast centers from the Departments of Information Technology at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The police certificate must include all of the names the adopted child has ever used (both pre and post-adoption) in the country from where the police certificate is issued. In addition to the actual certificate, petitioners should also submit a translation and copy of the certificate.

Each Ukrainian document and copy submitted must be accompanied by official English translations. For official translation services, you may consider approaching one of the translation offices listed in our flyer. It is not mandatory to use services of these particular translation bureaus. You may approach any other licensed/official translation centers or bureaus.

Both sets of photocopied documents with English translations will be retained for use in issuing the immigrant visa. Therefore, if you wish to keep photocopies for your records, you must make these prior to the interview.

Additional possible requirements for an IR-4 visa:

18. Certified copy of the approved home study.
19. Evidence that the pre-adoption requirements of the adopting parents' state of residence have been met.
20. Evidence that re-adoption is legally possible in the parents' state of residence, if applicable.
21. A notarized statement from the parent who has not met the child, that he or she intends to adopt the child in the United States.
22. Form I-864 Affidavit of Support and supporting documentation. For instructions, please see travel.state.gov.

If everything is in order, the child's immigrant visa will usually be issued by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the final interview. Adopting parents can plan to depart from Kyiv after the visa has been issued.

Please note that your adopted child is not an American citizen and can not obtain an American passport until s/he enters the territory of the U.S. (see information on the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 at: http://www.travel.state.gov/childcitfaq.html).

Therefore, if you are transiting other countries en route to the U.S., or if you are temporarily residing abroad, your Ukrainian-citizen child may require a non-immigrant visa from the third country, especially if your stay in that country will exceed 24 hours. Please check with the corresponding Embassies about their requirements and hours of operation. The U.S. Embassy cannot make such arrangements for you.

New Machine-Readable Immigrant Visas (MRIV)

The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv will be among the first U.S. immigrant-visa-issuing posts in the world to implement the latest technology - machine-readable immigrant visas (MRIV). The MRIV includes a digitized photo and will be placed in the child's passport, similar to a nonimmigrant visa. For the few cases in which an adopted child is 14 years old and over, the MRIV will also include a biometric indicator (fingerprint scan). The Embassy will prepare a separate sealed envelope with important immigration documents that you must carry with you and present to the immigration officer with the visa when the child enters the United States.

The immigrant visa is valid for 180 days from date of issuance (i.e. adopting children have 180 days to use the immigrant visa to travel to the United States. Do NOT open the sealed envelope for the USCIS. Documents submitted to the Embassy are in this packet and will not be returned. Therefore, adopting parents should obtain extra originals or certified copies of the adoption decree and the child's new birth certificate for their personal use in the future, including for application for a U.S. passport and Social Security number. The packet should be in carry-on luggage and must be presented intact to the USCIS officer at the port of entry.

AUTHENTICATION PROCESS FOR DOCUMENTS ISSUED IN UKRAINE: U.S. Embassy Kyiv does not require that the originals of the adoption court decree and new birth certificate be legalized (i.e. bear the Hague apostille) prior to visa issuance. However, please remember that without the legalization, the document is not entitled to recognition in the country of intended use (U.S.A.). Also keep in mind that the apostille for a Ukrainian document can only be issued in Ukraine by the Ministry of Justice.

Therefore, we strongly recommend that all American adopting parents have the original or certified copy of the adoption court decree and post-adoption birth certificate apostilled prior to their departure from Ukraine. The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine cannot be able to assist you in obtaining the apostille from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine after your return. Please make the necessary arrangements with your facilitator/translator if you wish to obtain apostilles before leaving Ukraine.

Please see information on legalization of documents in Ukraine here.

U.S. EMBASSY IN UKRAINE:

As soon as prospective adopting parents arrive in Ukraine, they should contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in order to register their presence in Ukraine. The Consulate Section is located at:

Consular Section
U.S. Embassy
6 Pymonenko St.
Kyiv. Ukraine
Telephone: (380)-44-490-4422/4000.
Fax: (380)-44-490-4040.
Email: kyivadoptionsREMOVE@REMOVEstate.gov

NATURALIZATION: Under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which became effective on February 27, 2001, orphans adopted by U.S. citizens acquire U.S. citizenship automatically when all of the following requirements have been met:

• at least one parent is a U.S. citizen;
• the child is under 18 years of age;
• there is a full and final adoption of the child; and, the child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant.

A foreign-born adopted orphan who enters the United States on an Immediate Relative (IR) -3 visa becomes a U.S. citizen upon admission. A foreign-born orphan who enters the United States on an IR-4 visa and is adopted in a U.S. court, will become a U.S. citizen when the adoption is finalized in the United States (the child will be a legal permanent resident until then). For further information, please consult with the consular section at the U.S. Embassy or the nearest office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Additional information is available at travel.state.gov.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Prospective adopting parents are strongly encouraged to consult U.S. CIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adopting Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions. The U.S. CIS publication is available at the U.S. CIS Web site. The Department of State publication International Adoptions can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site, http://travel.state.gov, under "International Adoptions".

QUESTIONS: General questions regarding international adoption may be addressed to the Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State, CA/OCS/CI, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20520-4818, toll-free Tel: 1-888-404-4747 with specific questions.

Useful information is also available from several other sources:

• Telephone:
  • Call Center -Toll Free Hotline: Overseas Citizens Services toll-free hotline in the Bureau of Consular Affairs is 1-888-407-4747. The OCS hotline can answer general inquiries regarding international adoption and forwards calls to the appropriate Country Officer. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calls from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-317-472-2328.
  • U.S. Department of State Visa Office - recorded information concerning immigrant visas for adopting children, (202) 663-1225.
  • DHS Citizenship and Immigration Services - recorded information for requesting immigrant visa application forms, 1-800-870-FORM (3676).
• Internet:
  • Adoption Information Flyers: the Consular Affairs web site, at: http://travel.state.gov/ contains international country adoption information flyers like this one and the International Adoptions brochure.
  • Consular Information Sheets: The State Department has general information about hiring a foreign attorney and authenticating documents that may supplement the country-specific information provided in this flier. In addition, the State Department publishes Consular Information Sheets (CISes) for every country in the world, providing information such as location of the U.S. Embassy, health conditions, political situations, and crime reports. If the situation in a country poses a specific threat to the safety and security of American citizens that is not addressed in the CIS for that country, the State Department may issue a Public Announcement alerting U.S. citizens to local security situations. If conditions in a country are sufficiently serious, the State Department may issue a Travel Warning recommending that U.S. citizens avoid traveling to that country. These documents are available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov or by calling the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizen Services at (202) 647-5225. The recordings are updated as new information becomes available, and are also accessible through the automated fax machine and the Internet web site, as above.
  • CIS web site - http://uscis.gov/.