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Title 42 — The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73not60

§14925 Universal Accreditation Requirements

Title 42 › Chapter 143— INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTIONS › Subchapter II— PROVISIONS RELATING TO ACCREDITATION AND APPROVAL › § 14925

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Parts of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 and its rules must apply to anyone who offers or provides adoption services for a child covered by a specific federal immigration category, just as those rules apply to Convention adoptions. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General (for the Act’s specified part), and authorized accrediting groups must carry out their duties and have the same powers over those service providers, whether the adoption is a Convention case or not. These requirements begin 18 months after January 14, 2013. They do not apply if, before 180 days after January 14, 2013, either an advance processing application or a petition to classify the child as an immediate relative was filed, or the prospective parents had already started the foreign adoption process with an application the Secretary of State found sufficient.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §14925

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The provisions of title II and section 404 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14901 et seq.[, 42 U.S.C. 14944]), and related implementing regulations, shall apply to any person offering or providing adoption services in connection with a child described in section 1101(b)(1)(F) of title 8, to the same extent as they apply to the offering or provision of adoption services in connection with a Convention adoption. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Attorney General (with respect to section 404(b) of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14944[(b)])), and the accrediting entities shall have the duties, responsibilities, and authorities under title II and title IV of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 [42 U.S.C. 14921 et seq., 14941 et seq.] and related implementing regulations with respect to a person offering or providing such adoption services, irrespective of whether such services are offered or provided in connection with a Convention adoption.
(b)The provisions of this section shall take effect 18 months after January 14, 2013.
(c)This Act shall not apply to a person offering or providing adoption services as described in subsection (a) in the case of a prospective adoption in which—
(1)an application for advance processing of an orphan petition or petition to classify an orphan as an immediate relative for a child is filed before the date that is 180 days after January 14, 2013; or
(2)the prospective adoptive parents of a child have initiated the adoption process with the filing of an appropriate application in a foreign country sufficient such that the Secretary of State is satisfied before the date that is 180 days after January 14, 2013.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, referred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 106–279, Oct. 6, 2000, 114 Stat. 825. Title II of the Act is classified principally to this subchapter, and title IV of the Act is classified generally to subchapter IV (§ 14941 et seq.) of this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 14901 of this title and Tables. This Act, referred to in subsec. (c), is Pub. L. 112–276, Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2466, known as the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

of 2013 Amendment note set out under section 14901 of this title and Tables. Codification Section was enacted as part of the Intercountry Adoption Universal Accreditation Act of 2012, and not as part of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definitions Pub. L. 112–276, § 4, Jan. 14, 2013, 126 Stat. 2467, provided that: “In this Act [see

Short Title

of 2013 Amendment note set out under section 14901 of this title], the terms ‘accrediting entity’, ‘adoption service’, ‘Convention adoption’, and ‘person’ have the meanings given those terms in section 3 of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 14902).”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 14925

Title 42 — The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60