US citizen stepfathe wants to adopt stepson lawfully residing in the US

[Hermie&Tommy 4]

Hi!! My US citizen husband wants to adopt my son who is legally residing here in the US with us. Can we file petition for adoption in the county courthouse?

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

You need to consult with an attorney in the state u live in.  His biological father has to terminate his legal rights.  There is a process and a certain timeline requirement

[Dashinka 24,741]

I agree, this is not as much of an immigration question as it is an adoption question.  I would seek counsel from an attorney that is well versed in adoptions.

 

Good Luck!

[Hermie&Tommy 4]

That's why I'm asking here trying to find out if there is a way to file the Petition for Adoption  without the  intervention of a lawyer. I read the post of Dave he successfully adopted his stepdaughter without a lawyer.

[Hermie&Tommy 4]

2 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I agree, this is not as much of an immigration question as it is an adoption question.  I would seek counsel from an attorney that is well versed in adoptions.

 

Good Luck!

We already contacted a lawyer in the Phils and its really a tedious, very long time frame and expensive process... That's why I/m here since I read the post of someone here who adopted her stepdaughter without a lawyer in Georgia ang that's what I want to validate here if u don't have a similar experience in adoption I don't need ur opinion I am trying to find out if there are people here who underwent the same process. Thank you.

[Lemon23 400]

7 minutes ago, Hermie&Tommy said:

We already contacted a lawyer in the Phils and its really a tedious, very long time frame and expensive process... That's why I/m here since I read the post of someone here who adopted her stepdaughter without a lawyer in Georgia ang that's what I want to validate here if u don't have a similar experience in adoption I don't need ur opinion I am trying to find out if there are people here who underwent the same process. Thank you.

Well dear you're in a public forum and people will give their opinion as long as they want. Piece of advise, just ignore them if you don't like their opinion.

[NikLR 13,232]

14 minutes ago, Hermie&Tommy said:

We already contacted a lawyer in the Phils and its really a tedious, very long time frame and expensive process... That's why I/m here since I read the post of someone here who adopted her stepdaughter without a lawyer in Georgia ang that's what I want to validate here if u don't have a similar experience in adoption I don't need ur opinion I am trying to find out if there are people here who underwent the same process. Thank you.

It's going to vary by state and your country of origin.  Suggest contacting a local lawyer or three and inquiring.

 

Just as a note, because most people don't read a TOS of a website, but you are not allowed to tell people not to post on this website.  You can report abusive or derogatory posts. 

[Dashinka 24,741]

3 hours ago, Hermie&Tommy said:

We already contacted a lawyer in the Phils and its really a tedious, very long time frame and expensive process... That's why I/m here since I read the post of someone here who adopted her stepdaughter without a lawyer in Georgia ang that's what I want to validate here if u don't have a similar experience in adoption I don't need ur opinion I am trying to find out if there are people here who underwent the same process. Thank you.

It would have been nice if you had stated that in your OP.   Google and the search engine here on VJ is your friend.  Here is the post your are referencing.  @DaveE appears to still be active here, so you may want to PM him.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[Randyandyuni 2,682]

My wife and I have contacted a lawyer in Ohio for exactly the same thing, relatively easy (4 months)and relatively cheaply ($1500) (my stepson is illegitimate which is very helpful for our situation), it can be done but it's not automatically recognized in the Philippines you need to apply to have the US judgement recognized there 

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

23 hours ago, Hermie&Tommy said:

We already contacted a lawyer in the Phils and its really a tedious, very long time frame and expensive process... That's why I/m here since I read the post of someone here who adopted her stepdaughter without a lawyer in Georgia ang that's what I want to validate here if u don't have a similar experience in adoption I don't need ur opinion I am trying to find out if there are people here who underwent the same process. Thank you.

It is a TOS violation to tell VJers you dont need their opinion.  U stated that ur child lives with you.  It is not an immigration issue, and yes you need a lawyer, as his father's legal parental rights have to be terminated or it is considered fraud.

[Ontarkie 14,419]

~~Moved to Moving Here and Your New Life, from US Citizenship General Discussion - The OP is asking about adoption~~

[NikLR 13,232]

15 hours ago, Pinkrlion said:

It is a TOS violation to tell VJers you dont need their opinion.  U stated that ur child lives with you.  It is not an immigration issue, and yes you need a lawyer, as his father's legal parental rights have to be terminated or it is considered fraud.

Depends.  In the Phillipines, if the parents werent married when the child was born, then the father has no legal rights to begin with.  That is why I said it depends on country of origin. 

[DaveE 178]

My situation was this;

 

No biological father was listed on the birth certificate, so there was no one to notify.

 

My county in GA allowed me to complete the adoption petition without a lawyer involved. I found most of the generic forms online: filled them out as best I could. The court clerk helped me change the ones that were specific to our court.  They ended up only using about a third of the forms I actually filled out. The did require a Philippine govt certified (NSO) copy of the birth certificate showing no father listed. Basically the court was very helpful and the clerk went out of her way to help me.

 

The approved adoption petition, and subsequent Georgia birth certificate were accepted by the passport agency as proof of citizenship. 

 

My advice to anyone contemplating this, is go to your local county superior court and talk to the clerk one on one.

 

Saved me a bunch of money.