§14932 Adoptions of Children Emigrating From the United States

Summary

When a child who lives in the United States will move to another Convention country as part of an adoption, accredited agencies, approved persons, or the prospective adoptive parents must make sure certain steps are done. They must get a background study on the child, try reasonably to find U.S. adoptive parents and show they could not place the child in the United States in a timely way, and decide that the foreign placement is in the child’s best interest. They must give the State court the paperwork about these matters, a home study on the adoptive parent(s) (including a criminal check) done under the receiving country’s rules, and a statement from that country’s central authority that the child may enter and live there permanently (and that the country consents to the adoption if its law requires consent). The court cannot finalize the adoption or grant custody for adoption until it has those papers, is satisfied that Articles 4 and 15 through 21 of the Convention are met, and finds the placement is in the child’s best interest. The Secretary, after checking the documents, must issue the official certification or declaration that the child is adopted or custody for adoption has been granted under the Convention. For intercountry adoptions not covered by the Convention, agencies and others must file information required by the joint regulations of the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to implement section 14912(e).