INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION IN THIS CIRCULAR RELATING TO THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN COUNTRIES IS PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY. QUESTIONS INVOLVING INTERPRETATION OF SPECIFIC FOREIGN LAWS SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO FOREIGN COUNSEL.

GENERAL

The following is a guideline for U.S. citizens who are interested in adopting a child from Dominica and applying for an immigrant visa for the child to return to the United States. This process involves complex foreign and U.S. legal requirements. U.S. consular officers give each petition careful consideration on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the legal requirements of both countries have been met, for the protection of the prospective adoptive parent(s), the biological parent(s), and the child. Interested U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to contact U.S. consular officials in Bridgetown, Barbados before formalizing an adoption agreement to ensure that appropriate procedures have been followed which will make it possible for the Embassy to issue a U.S. immigrant visa for the child.

AVAILABILITY OF CHILDREN FOR ADOPTION

Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to orphans:

DOMINICAN ADOPTION PROCEDURES

Local law was changed in 1982 to enable non-national to adopt without being resident and domiciled in Dominica. The only special requirement for non-nationals is that the court needs a home study before it considers issuing an adoption order.

Local law does not require that children be orphans in order to be eligible for adoption. Local law also does not require that children be abandoned in order to be eligible for adoption. Adoption of Dominican children must be in-country. Adoptive parents are not given guardianship with intent to adopt abroad.

It takes about 4 to 6 months for a non-national to adopt a Dominican child. An adoption petition is filed in the Supreme Court of the Windward and Leeward Islands by the adoptive parents or his/her attorney. The court appoints an independent guardian to act on behalf of an in the interest of the child during the adoption proceedings. The petition is served on the parents or guardians or the child to be adopted, and the court arranges for consent from all the interested parties. In the case of foreign adoptive parents, the court also arranges for a home study. The court issues the adoption order which makes the adoption legal and effective.

Payment to the adopted child's parents is illegal. In fact, payment to anybody for facilitating an adoption is illegal. The direct cost of an adoption consists primarily of private attorney fees which may be about US dollars $500 - $750. There are no exit controls on children leaving Dominica.

DOCTORS

The US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados maintains current lists of doctors and sources for medicines should either you or your child experience health problems while in Dominica.

NEAREST US EMBASSY

The US Embassy in Barbados is the nearest US embassy to Dominica. The US Embassy in Barbados is located at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Bldg., Broad Street, Bridgetown (PO Box 302) or FPO AA 34055 (Tel: 809-436-4950).

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to consult BCIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions.

QUESTIONS:

Specific questions regarding adoptions in Dominica may be addressed to the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados. You may also contact the Office of Children's Issues, SA-29, 2201 C Street, NW, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20520-2818; Phone: 1-888-407-4747; Fax: (202) 312-9743. Recorded information concerning significant changes in adoption procedures is available 24 hours a day at: 1-888-407-4747, or by automated fax (calling from the telephone on your fax machine) at (202) 647-3000. If the country you are interested in is not listed, procedures have not significantly changed. Information on immigrant visas is available from the State Department's Visa Office, at (202) 663-1225. This 24 hour automated system includes options to speak with consular officers during business hours for questions not answered in the recorded material. Application forms and petitions for immigrant visas are available from the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security, the nearest office of which is listed in the federal pages of your telephone book, under U.S. Department of Justice.

In addition, the State Department publishes Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings. Consular Information Sheets are available for every country in the world, providing information such as the location of the U.S. Embassy, health conditions, political situations, and crime reports. When situations are sufficiently serious that the State Department recommends U.S. citizens avoid traveling to a country, a Travel Warning is issued. Both Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings may be heard 24 hours a day by calling the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizens Services at (202) 647-5225 from a touch-tone telephone. In addition, this information is available at any of the 13 regional passport agencies, field offices of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Embassies and Consulates abroad.