Adopted child in the Philippines

[Jim&Gemz 0]

My wife and I are US citizens living in the Philippines since 2016.  I'm now 67 and she is 53.  We adopted a child related to my wife and that was finalized in the court here in 2018.  The child is now 9 and we want to take her to the US.  Do we have to fill out an I-800A?  The adoption has been final for 7 years.  Does anyone know what kind of visa the child would get if approved?  Is this sort of petition lengthy and complicated?

 

I spoke to an agency here in the Philippines that I got the link to from this site.  They want $7000 to process this.  It sounds excessive to me.  Makes me want to consider just doing it all myself.  Any guidance would be highly appreciated.

[Crazy Cat 44,423]

Do it yourself? I'm not sure that is a good idea.   Have you spoken with any US based immigration attorneys? 

Edited May 11 by Crazy Cat

[jan22 3,174]

There is often a big difference in doing a domestic adoption and an adoption for emigration/immigration.  A domestic adoption may give the adopting parents legal parental rights within the country, but not meet the requirements for immigration to the US.  If you haven’t already done so, especially if you are considering doing this yourself, you should spend time thoroughly reviewing the following information from the State Department:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Intercountry-Adoption-Country-Information/Philippines.html.

In just a quick skim of this information, for example, I saw a requirement that may possibly be an issue for you.  Under the “Who Can Adopt” section, it states that there cannot be a more than 45 year difference between the age of the child and the age of the adopting parent(s).  Hard to tell about your wife without actual dates, but there was clearly more than 45 years between your age and the child’s age when the adoption was finalized.   
 

The above information applies to a Hague Adoption Convention, which is the usual way to do an adoption for immigration from the Philippines.  It’s clear that your adoption doesn’t qualify  for immigration under the Hague process, but you need to be aware of the requirements because you need to establish that the Convention requirements don’t apply to your adoption.  Once you do that, you need to follow the USCIS Family-Based Adoption Process which will include filing an I-130 petition for your child.  (Note: The I-800A is used to determine that the prospective adopting parents are suitable as parents for adopting a child from a Hague Convention Country.  This is not appropriate for your case, a domestic adoption.).   Review the USCIS requirements to see if you qualify for an adoption for immigration under the Family-Based requirements at:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/immigration-through-adoption/family-based-petition-process and

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-5.

 

Edited May 11 by jan22

[Jim&Gemz 0]

Thank you for the replies.

[Jim&Gemz 0]

On 5/11/2025 at 9:15 PM, jan22 said:

There is often a big difference in doing a domestic adoption and an adoption for emigration/immigration.  A domestic adoption may give the adopting parents legal parental rights within the country, but not meet the requirements for immigration to the US.  If you haven’t already done so, especially if you are considering doing this yourself, you should spend time thoroughly reviewing the following information from the State Department:

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/Intercountry-Adoption/Intercountry-Adoption-Country-Information/Philippines.html.

In just a quick skim of this information, for example, I saw a requirement that may possibly be an issue for you.  Under the “Who Can Adopt” section, it states that there cannot be a more than 45 year difference between the age of the child and the age of the adopting parent(s).  Hard to tell about your wife without actual dates, but there was clearly more than 45 years between your age and the child’s age when the adoption was finalized.   
 

The above information applies to a Hague Adoption Convention, which is the usual way to do an adoption for immigration from the Philippines.  It’s clear that your adoption doesn’t qualify  for immigration under the Hague process, but you need to be aware of the requirements because you need to establish that the Convention requirements don’t apply to your adoption.  Once you do that, you need to follow the USCIS Family-Based Adoption Process which will include filing an I-130 petition for your child.  (Note: The I-800A is used to determine that the prospective adopting parents are suitable as parents for adopting a child from a Hague Convention Country.  This is not appropriate for your case, a domestic adoption.).   Review the USCIS requirements to see if you qualify for an adoption for immigration under the Family-Based requirements at:

 

https://www.uscis.gov/adoption/immigration-through-adoption/family-based-petition-process and

 

https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-5.

 

Thank you for the time to post this information.  This case isn't a Hague adoption of course.  We were living here in the Philippines for two years before the adoption was finalized and still live here.  The age gap did come up during the court proceedings but during the hearings, it was 45 years difference for my wife and the child.  My wife is a dual citizen and is related to the child so this influenced the court decision I believe.  We anticipated but wasn't sure that we would have to file under the relatives provision using an I-130.

 

I am going to need to find an immigration attorney in the US I believe.  Maybe I can get the petition done for slightly less than $7k.