In an international adoption, the new parents adopt a child who is a citizen of a foreign country. In addition to satisfying the adoption requirements of both the foreign country and the parents’ home state in the U.S., the parents must obtain an immigrant visa for the child through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The child will be granted U.S. citizenship automatically upon entering the United States. In addition to visa requirements, adoptive parents must complete a home study, a dossier evidencing their qualifications to adopt a child and may be required to travel to the child’s birth country before they may complete the adoption. 
The Hague Adoption Convention. As of April 1, 2008, the Hague Adoption Convention governs intercountry adoptions between the United States and other Convention member countries. The treaty establishes federal oversight of adoption agencies here and policies overseas. The goal is to protect children, birth parents, and adoptive families from unethical adoption practices, including child abduction and hidden fees.
New adoption requirements. Agencies in the U.S. must now be certified by the State Department, and parents planning an international adoption must prove to the State Department that the foreign country’s agencies have provided counseling for the birth parents and obtained a legal consent from them, that a local placement has been considered, and that the child has been properly cleared for adoption in the U.S. These new provisions may cause international adoptions to take even longer than they have in the past, but they will also protect parents from predatory or corrupt agencies in other countries.
You can adopt a foreign child through an American agency that specializes in international adoptions — or you can adopt directly. Most people use an agency, because direct adoption can be difficult.
