adopting overseas children to the UK if you're US citizens?

[theory]

Does anyone have experience of this? (I mean US citizens currently living in the UK...)Are the procedures the same, or would we be in a different boat?

[Silver1]

My understanding is you would be assessed as International Adopters, but can adopt as Americans and thus bestow the rights of citizenship on your child. This is the process Madonna went through (Malawi), and so did David Milliband (USA) (Cabinet minister whose wife is American)
If you try to get out of the HS process the child will not be allowed to enter the UK.

[Kewcumber]

If you are resident in the UK then you legally need to adopt via the UK system even if you are adopting from anotehr country,. What nationality you are is irrelevant. You need a home study performed by a local authority or one of the few voluntary agencies approved to do an intercountry home study.

I do know of people who have claimed not to be resident here (in fact I think Madonna was one of them) and adopted as non-residents (ie via the US system as americans abroad) using a private social worker/home study but you need to return to the US once the child is adopted which gives them US citizenship and apply for a visa to re-enter the UK which is a risky way to do it.

Not sure if that is very clear!

[theory]

thanks, that's really useful. I thought you'd probably have to go through the UK system, makes sense. Although given how long it takes (up to 3 years?),there's a good chance we wouldn't be here when it finally went through...

[Kewcumber]

getting approved here for an intercountry adoption and how fast it is generally depends on which council you are in - somewhere like Richmon, Surrey and croydon do a fair few and although they will charge a bit more because they use sessional social workers also tend to know what they are doing and get the UK side of things down as low as 1 yr in some cases.

Other councils don't know what they're doing, have much less experience of ICA, use their in house social workers which tends to be cheaper but take longer.

If you already have a plan to move before you think an adoption could be completed then you probably could claim to genuinely be non-resident and entry into the UK wouldn;t be an issue anyway.

Once you have chosen a country why not search for a yahoo group related to adoption from that country (there are many) and talk to some american expats on the board to see how they have done it.

[KristinaM]

but if the child becomes a US citizen then why would they have problems getting a visa to enter the uk? assuming that the parents already hold the relevant visa

and if they have a US valid home study, why wouldn't they get INS Clearance?

just asking..............

[Kewcumber]

if embassy staff are clued up and suss that parents are resident in UK and timing between entering US and applying for visa to UK is very close (ie days or weeks) they are entitled to refuse entry on the basis of the correct adoption procedures not being followed. I know of people having entry to UK (for child) refused on this basis, but I equally know someone clearly resident in the UK (20 years!) who wasn't challenged. It entirely depends on the staff knowing the rules.

[theory]

we don't have any concrete plans about leaving, or about adoption, yet - tbh, I'm intimidated by what I hear about the how hard the process is in the UK, but have heard very positive things from friends in the US... and I do know that we will return to the States eventually. Hence my thoughts about whether I could just ~go American" in this case!

[KristinaM]

i think the main issues in US domestic ( private) adoption is the risk of the birth mother keeping the baby. but there is another poster on Mumsnet here who is adopting through the public system in the US

and the overseas route is much easier from the US

[Kewcumber]

it is defintely possible to "go american" though I think muchsafer if you are prepared to take the child back to the US for a month or so before re-entering the UK. The process in the Uk is far more bureaucratic and longer and the home study (depending on your US agency) more thorough (some US agencies are just as thorough and have good training. But with hindsight the home study and preparation course was good training and worth the hassle so don't dismiss it. As I said its really down to which council you come under as to how hard it is.

[theory]

thanks again for the info, kewcumber - I could probably take a child back to the States for a month or more, though of course this wouldn't be ideal as DH would not be able to get that much time off...

Do you happen to know anything about Westminster council? I can appreciate what you say about the process of being approved as good training, though I've talked to a few people who felt theirs was more bureaucratic than educationally or emotionally supportive. I also have some concerns about being approved b/c DH has a chronic illness (MS). It is completely under control (knock on wood), but adds an element of uncertainty about the future that I worry would be a big issue for approval here. (Again I know people in the US with MS who haven't had this problem).

[Kewcumber]

I do know one one adopter from Westminster and from memory they were neither the best nor the owrst . I htink one of the posters here had a DH with a similar health problem and they were approved so hopefully it wouldn;t be an issue for you either - look at it this way if you were likely to get approval as a single adopter then you should be approved as a couple with one long term health issue which is stable. I would expect them to ask you th eprognosis and how an adoption might affect the progress etc.

I'm sure if you ask around on the US boards you will get better advice on how to approach it as an expat. Have you decided on a country yet?

[theory]

Hi again-- haven't decided on a country- we're just starting to talk about adoption. We have a DD who is just 18 mos., and a I understand it, we wouldn't be considered yet given her age?
kewcumber, you mention US boards- do you mean on mumsnet?

[Kewcumber]

no on yahoo. if you go to yahoo.com/groups and search for adoption and the country name eg China or Russia it will come up with whatever private groups have been set up - my advice would be to choose one with a lot of members and apply to join.

[theory]

Ok great, thanks!

[drspouse]

Have just seen this and we are in a slightly similar situation. As the law stands at the moment if you are like us, permanently resident in the UK (if you have Indefinite Leave to Remain or dual nationality) you must go through the UK system. If you do not (Limited Leave to Remain) you cannot and just use the US system.

There's an adoption group on Yahoo for Americans overseas but TBH a lot of the messages given out on there are a bit legally dodgy!

[DustyP]

Thank you DR house this is just the information I was looking for too but we have been overwhelmed trying to find the correct advice. Do you mind if I ask where you found your information?

[DustyP]

drspouse even!

[crabcake]

Hi, we are American citizens with indefinite leave to remain in the UK. We are soon to adopt a US newborn and are trying to find anyone out there in a similar situation who has recently done a non-Hague adoption from the US. We know it can and has been done and we are looking for advice on how to navigate the complicated immigration process. Thanks.

[KristinaM]

do you mean uk immigration? surely you just obtain a US passport for your new child when you are in the States, then apply to the UK immigration in the same way as if he/she was your biological child?

if in doubt you should def get legal advice. you don't want to get refused entry

[KristinaM]

hows it going crabcake?

[crabcake]

Just to update: the birth parents changed their minds so we have yet to adopt, but we did get legal advice regarding immigration (FYI Fragomen in London is the place to go) and based on our situation got preapproval to bring back a US born child to the UK. The reality is this CAN be done so for any of you out there in this situation do not be put off by UK social workers and DCSF who will tell you otherwise. You can do a domestic US adoption and legally immigrate the child to the UK. It took a long time to get an actual answer, but there it is!

[alfredharsh]

Hi crabcake, I know it's been a while since you posted, but did you ever get this figured out? I just emailed Fragomen. We are in the exact same boat. Baby is due in two weeks, we're heading to AZ in a few days for a private adoption. Our Tier 2 visa was ending and we had to go for ILR. We went through an American agency that specialised in Americans abroad (missionaries/military).

We are concerned we will not be able to return to the UK until finalization (6 months out) even though we will have the baby's passport (with bio mom's surname) + court docs proving we are guardians.

Did you have any luck with this?