INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION

SIERRA LEONE

PLEASE NOTE: Adoptive parents are required to travel to Sierra Leone to attend the court hearing for the adoption. The old practice of waiving personal appearance of adoptive parents is now ended.

Immigrant visas for Sierra Leonean citizens, including adopted orphans are issued at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. Due to a high rate of document and adoption fraud in Sierra Leone, the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal carefully scrutinizes all immigrant visa petitions. The U.S. Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone will conduct field investigations into the circumstances surrounding the adoption as warranted. The U.S. Embassy in Dakar will return all immigrant visa petitions (I-600s) to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services if, after an investigation, the relevant adoption court orders are determined to be fraudulent and/or the prospective adopted children are determined not to be orphans under section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

Americans are advised to consult the Consular Information Sheet (CIS) for Sierra Leone at the Consular Affairs web site at http://travel.state.gov for current information on traveling to Sierra Leone.

PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION OF ADOPTED ORPHANS TO THE U.S.: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to orphans.

ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN Sierra Leone: The government office responsible for adoptions in Sierra Leone is the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs. All petitions for adoptions are filed in the High Court, which issues an adoption court order (a document granting adoption if all legal requirements are met).

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS: Any adult may adopt children. There are no marriage requirements or specific age requirements. The place of birth and residence of the adoptive parent are not determining factors.

RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: Adoptive parents using an adoption agency do not need to be resident in Sierra Leone to adopt. However, they must travel to Sierra Leone to attend the court hearing for the adoption. In these cases, the High Court of Sierra Leone grants legal custody to the adopting parents and permission for the child to immigrate to the United States for eventual adoption in a State court.

Adoptive parents not using an adoption agency must reside with their prospective adoptive child for 6 months in Sierra Leone.

TIME FRAME: There are no fixed time lines or constraints on the Court's processing of adoptions.

ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS: The U.S. Embassy in Freetown maintains a list of local solicitors (attorneys). The Embassy does not maintain a list of adoption agencies. The U.S. Embassy also cannot recommend the services of any specific attorney or adoption agency.

Prospective adopting parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services. For U.S.- based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adopting parents contact the Better Business Bureau and licensing office of the Department of Health and Family Services in the state where the agency is located.

Please see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at our Web site travel.state.gov.

ADOPTION FEES IN Sierra Leone: Official government fees associated with adoptions in Sierra Leone are minimal and consist mainly of court filing costs. Such filing fees normally are less than $10 USD. The cost of employing local counsel varies, but the adoptive parents can expect to pay several hundred dollars at a minimum for an attorney.

ADOPTION PROCEDURES: Most adoptive parents go through an adoption agency in the U.S., which in turn liaises with an adoption agency in Sierra Leone prior to going through the adoption process. The adoption agency in Sierra Leone must be registered with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children's Affairs, and with the Ministry of Development and Economic Planning.

If the adoptive parents do not want to go through an agency, they should write to the Chief Social Development Officer indicating their name and address and period of relationship between them and the child. The letter should also state the period and nature of the relationship between them and biological parents and their occupation and financial status. If adoptive parents are married, a copy of their marriage certificate should be produced. All documents mentioned will be forwarded to a solicitor (attorney). Affidavits from the adoptive parents to be filed with the High Court registry before the adoption is pronounced by the High Court will be prepared by the solicitor in Sierra Leone and transmitted or delivered to the adoptive parents for signature. All affidavits must be notarized.

Under any scenario, the presence of the adoptive parents in court during adoption proceedings is now mandatory. In other words, anyone adopting a Sierra Leonean child must make at least one trip to Sierra Leone to appear before the judge. The old practice of waiving personal appearance of adoptive parents is now ended.

The natural parents, if alive, must sign affidavits or sworn statements relinquishing the child for adoption. The adoption proceedings are based on sworn statements or information or affidavits, which will be mentioned in Court and read out to the judge in the absence of the makers of these statements. The solicitor in Sierra Leone will write a letter to the Social Development Officer in Freetown and it will be annexed to other documents in order to initiate an adoption.

A petition for the adoption must be filed with the High Court. The petition must contain the name, age, residence, and marital status of the petitioners. The name, date and place of birth of the child, the date and manner in which the petitioners acquired custody of the child, facts (if any) that render consent of either parent unnecessary, the petitioners' desire to adopt the child, and the child's change of name, should also be contained in the petition. The Court will also require written consent by the biological parents. If the child was born in wedlock, the consent of both parents is required. If the child was born out of wedlock, only the mother must consent. If the child is 16 years of age or older, only the child must consent to the adoption. Please note that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not consider a person who is 16 years old or older a “child” and therefore they will be ineligible to immigrate to the United States. Parental consent is not required if the parents have abandoned the child, if the parental rights have been legally terminated, if the parents are deceased, or if a legal guardian has been appointed. The biological parents, during the proceedings, may withdraw consent with the Court's permission. Consent is irrevocable after the final order of adoption.

Following the filing of the petition, the Court serves notice on all interested parties and orders an investigation by an investigator, who is appointed by the Court. A written report of the investigation must be filed with the Court within 30 days of issuance of the investigation order. Upon receipt of the investigation, the Court schedules the hearing and serves notice on all interested parties. The petitioners and children are required to attend the hearing. The court may waive the appearance of the child for good cause, but this must be stated in the order of adoption. Again, parents must appear in person under current practice. All hearings are confidential and held in closed court. The Court must be satisfied that the "moral and temporal interests" of the child will be served by the adoption. Upon this showing, the adoption is ordered. There are no fixed time lines or constraints on the Court's processing adoptions.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION IN SIERRA LEONE: There are no documents required by the laws concerning adoption. Normal paperwork such as a passport, and birth certificate may be needed as required by the court in a case-by-case basis.

1. Petition for Adoption (drafted by an attorney);
2. Written consent of the biological parents acknowledged before an officer of the court (normally the Justice of the Peace);
3. Affidavits (including marriage certificate, bank account and occupation and salary structure) concerning adoptive parents for filing in High Court.

The parents will also need these documents for obtaining an immigrant visa to the U.S. See How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States and the information below on applying for a U.S. immigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD: Sierra Leone is not a party of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, so the Legalization Convention “apostille” certificate should not be used for documents to be presented in Sierra Leone.

Instead, the “chain authentication method” will be used to authenticate documents for Sierra Leone. This process involves seeking the proper authorities to attest to the validity of a succession of seals or signatures beginning with the seal on your document, proceeding to the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office, and ending with the seal of the Sierra Leone Embassy or Consulate in the United States.

Three Types of Documents for Authentication:

I. Civil Records and Notarized Documents: Civil Records (birth, death and marriage certificates) must be issued under the seal of the custodian of the state records. Certified true copies of civil records executed before a notary public are not acceptable to foreign governments. The appropriate official in the state government must authenticate civil records or notarized documents. This is usually in the state Secretary of State's office. To locate this office in the state in which your document was issued, please see the National Association of State Secretaries of State, Notary Public Administrators Section.

State Court Records: Court documents must have an original signature by the judge and seal of the state court. The judge's signature is then certified by the Clerk of the Court prior to being sent to the state Secretary of State's office or other appropriate office for authentication of the seal of the state court. See the National Association of State Secretaries of State for information about how to contact the state office that will authenticate a seal on a state court record.

II. Federal Documents: These include documents such as certified copies of I-600As and I-600s, other documents from USCIS or other federal agencies other than the U.S. Department of State. To authenticate these documents, first obtain the seal of the agency that issued the documents. Then the documents must be submitted to the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office for use abroad. Information about replacing a Certificate of Citizenship or Naturalization is available from U.S.C.I.S. Please see the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for information about the need for original documents.

III. U.S. Department of State/Passport Records: These documents include Passport Records, Consular Reports of Birth Abroad (CRBA), and Consular Reports of Death Abroad (CRDA). These are maintained by the U.S. Department of State Passport Office and must be authenticated there. Please see the Passport Service guidance on how to obtain authenticated copies of CRBAs and CRDAs. For information about how to obtain copies of U.S. passport records see the guidance on the Consular Affairs home page.

Please visit our Web site at travel.state.gov for additional information about authentication procedures.

SIERRA LEONE EMBASSY AND CONSULATE IN THE UNITED STATES:

1701 19th Street, NW,
Washington DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 939-9261
Fax: (202) 483-1793

Sierra Leone also has a consulate in New York City.

U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS

Prospective adopting parents are strongly encouraged to consult U.S. CIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adopting Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions. The U.S. CIS publication is available at the U.S. CIS Web site. The Department of State publication International Adoptions can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site, http://travel.state.gov, under “International Adoptions.”

Adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to read the requirements for filing I-600 petitions for orphans adopted by U.S. citizens before completing an adoption abroad. Please see our flyer How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States at our Web site http://travel.state.gov/

APPLYING FOR A VISA FOR YOUR CHILD AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN DAKAR, SENEGAL:

When the U.S. Embassy Dakar receives notice from U.S. CIS of an approved petition I-600A, it will send the adopting parents a packet of pre-interview forms and instructions.

Once the adopting parents identify an orphan and obtain a court order from the Sierra Leone High Court granting them guardianship and permission to take the child out of Sierra Leone for adoption abroad, adopting parents are encouraged to immediately forward copies of the court order and all relevant Sierra Leone documents (birth certificate, the death certificate(s) of the parent(s), and any affidavits of unconditional relinquishment of any surviving parents) to the U.S. Embassy in Dakar. Due to persistent and continuing concerns about the prevalence of non-authentic Sierra Leone documents, the Embassy in Dakar must authenticate all civil documents from Sierra Leone. This process can take as long as one month.

Adopting parents can either file their orphan petition (I-600) with the US CIS office having jurisdiction over their home of residence (the same office that approved the I-600A) or with the U.S. Embassy Dakar. The U.S. Embassy Dakar can approve the I-600 only after all of the civil documents have been authenticated. I-600 petitions that are not "readily approvable" are forwarded to the US CIS office in Accra, Ghana, for approval. Adopting parents who wish to file an I-600 petition with the U.S. Embassy Dakar are strongly encouraged to forward copies of all Sierra Leone documents to the U.S. Embassy Dakar as early as possible. Once the documents have been authenticated, the U.S. Embassy Dakar will contact the adopting parents to schedule a time for filing the I-600. At least one parent must be present to file an I-600 in person at U.S. Embassy Dakar.

Only after Dakar receives ALL three of the following will an interview appointment in Dakar be scheduled: (a) results of the verification procedures from Freetown stating that the documents are authentic, (b) the actual approved petition from US CIS, and (c) the completed packet from the parents, including the I-864 affidavit of support and accompanying tax documents.

At the time of your interview, you must present a file including all of the following:

1. US CIS Approved I-600A (with proof of citizenship, marriage, fingerprint check, home study and proof of compliance with state pre-adoption requirements;
2. Approved I-600 (either by US CIS or U.S. Embassy Dakar)
3. Current fingerprint check;
4. Full and final adoption decree issued (IR-3) or court order granting legal custody of child (IR-4). Authenticated by Embassy Freetown;
5. Child's birth certificate authenticated by Embassy Freetown.
6. Evidence the child is an orphan (Form I-604 completed);
7. Medical Exam completed by one of our panel physicians. If no vaccinations, signed affidavit by parents (for children under age 10);
8. Application fees paid;
9. I-864 and supporting documents (for IR-4 visas only);
10. Power of Attorney for representative if parents are not physically present;
11. Valid Sierra Leonean passport for the child.

Once the I-600 petition is approved and the relevant documents authenticated, the U.S. Embassy Dakar will schedule an interview to process the immigrant visa application. The adopted child and the adopting parents (or a person granted power of attorney to act on behalf of the adopting parents) must personally appear at the U.S. Embassy Dakar for this interview. For parents filing the I-600 at U.S. Embassy Dakar, this interview can take place immediately after the I-600 is approved if the medical examination has been completed and the other required documents are available.

If the I-600 petition has been approved by US CIS, the U.S. Embassy Dakar will notify the adopting parents of the date and time of the interview. The Embassy normally schedules these interviews about one month after validating the documents, permitting the family to make arrangements for travel to Dakar from Sierra Leone in advance of the interview so that the medical examination can be completed prior to the interview.

Additional information on processing immigrant visas at the U.S. Embassy Dakar is available at http://dakar.usembassy.gov/. Adopting parents are encouraged to email any questions they have regarding this process to consulardakar@state.gov.

U.S. Embassy In Sierra Leone:

As soon as prospective adopting parents arrive in Sierra Leone, they should contact the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in order to register their presence in Sierra Leone. The Consulate Section is located at:

Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets
Freetown, Sierra Leone
Telephone 232 22 226 481 ext 285, 207, 205
E-mail: consularfreetown@state.gov

Mailing Address:

U.S. Embassy
Consular Section
2160 Freetown Place
Washington, DC 20521-2160

Int'l Mailing Address:

Consular Section
American Embassy
P O Box 50
Freetown, Sierra Leone

OR

Consular Section
U.S. Embassy
Corner of Walpole and Siaka Stevens Streets
Freetown, Sierra Leone

NATURALIZATION: Under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000, which became effective on February 27, 2001, orphans adopted by U.S. citizens acquire U.S. citizenship automatically when all of the following requirements have been met:

• at least one parent is a U.S. citizen;
• the child is under 18 years of age;
• there is a full and final adoption of the child; and, the child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant.

A foreign–born adopted orphan who enters the United States on an Immediate Relative (IR) –3 visa becomes a U.S. citizen upon admission. A foreign-born orphan, who enters the United States on an IR-4 visa and is adopted in a U.S. court, will become a U.S. citizen when the adoption is finalized in the United States (the child will be a legal permanent resident until then). Most visas issued for orphans adopted in Sierra Leone are IR-4 visas since the High Court of Sierra Leone will not issue final adoption decrees to adopting parents who have not resided in Sierra Leone for at least six months. For further information, please consult with the consular section at the U.S. Embassy or the nearest office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. Additional information is available at http://travel.state.gov/family/childcitfaq.html

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Specific questions about adoption in Sierra Leone may be addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Sierra Leone. General questions regarding international adoption may be addressed to the Office of Children's Issues, U.S. Department of State, CA/OCS/CI, SA-29, 4 th Floor, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20520-4818, toll-free Tel: 1-888-404-4747.

Useful information is also available from several other sources:

• Toll Free - For information on international adoption of children and international parental child abduction, call Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-317-472-2328.
• U.S. Department of State Visa Office - recorded information concerning immigrant visas for adopting children, (202) 663-1225.
• DHS Citizenship and Immigration Services - recorded information for requesting immigrant visa application forms, 1-800-870-FORM (3676).
• Adoption Information Flyers: the Consular Affairs web site, at: http://travel.state.gov/ contains international country adoption information flyers like this one and the International Adoptions brochure.
• Consular Information Sheets: The State Department has general information about hiring a foreign attorney and authenticating documents that may supplement the country-specific information provided in this flyer. In addition, the State Department publishes Consular Information Sheets (CISes) for every country in the world, providing information such as location of the U.S. Embassy, health conditions, political situations, and crime reports. If the situation in a country poses a specific threat to the safety and security of American citizens that is not addressed in the CIS for that country, the State Department may issue a Public Announcement alerting U.S. citizens to local security situations. If conditions in a country are sufficiently serious, the State Department may issue a Travel Warning recommending that U.S. citizens avoid traveling to that country. These documents are available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov or by calling the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizen Services at (202) 647-5225. The recordings are updated as new information becomes available, and are also accessible through the automated fax machine and the Internet web site, as above.
• CIS web site - http://uscis.gov/