International Adoption - Suriname

September, 2004

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 Suriname: 

The government office responsible for adoptions in Suriname is the Bureau of Family Rights and Affairs (Familie Rechtelijke Zaken).

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS:

• Prospective adoptive parents who are married must be at least 18 years older than the child. Married prospective adoptive parents must be married for at least three years to adopt.
• Single prospective adoptive parents must be at least 25 years of age.
• The age difference between the parents and the child may not be more than 50 years for the father and 40 years for the mother.

RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: The Surinamese government has no residency requirements for adoptive parents.

TIME FRAME: The time frame for adoption processing varies.The local adoption authority states that processing will take anywhere from 2 to 5 months.Visa processing time at the U.S. Embassy in Paramaribo should also be considered.  Filing an I-600A petition prior to arrival in Suriname will expedite processing time.

ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS: There are currently no adoption agencies or attorneys in Suriname.

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 Suriname: The Surinamese government has no fees for adoption services.  Attorney’s fees are subject to the particular firm.

ADOPTION PROCEDURES:

• The first contact is with the Bureau of Family Rights and Affairs, which assists in identifying a child to be placed with the adoptive parents.
• Once a specific child is identified, the adoption request is filed in quintuple with the Cantonal Judge in Suriname, together with the birth certificates of the adoptive child and the adoptive parent(s).
• The Bureau of Family Rights and Affairs conducts an investigation to determine whether the request of the adoptive parents is in the best interest of the adoptive child.  The investigation typically lasts three months.
• Court proceedings are held following the investigation.  The biological parents of the child may participate in the proceedings.The proceedings are closed to the general public.  The personal appearance of the adoptive parents is not required.
• The custody decree is registered with the civil registry of births where the adopted child is registered.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION IN Suriname:

1. A homestudy. A copy of the homestudy sent to the USCIS will suffice;
2. Proof that the prospective parent(s) is living abroad or in the United States. The prospective parent(s) may submit an apartment lease, home ownership or tax documents.If the prospective parent(s) reside in Suriname, passport with legal status including the stamp from the Surinamese government must be provided;
3. Marriage certificate, if applicable;
4. Birth certificates of the prospective parent(s);
5. Medical clearance on the prospective parent(s);
6. Job letter from the prospective parent(s) employer;
7. Statement from the judicial authorities that the couple has permission to bring the child into the U.S. or into a third country;
8. Statement from the judicial authorities that the couple, according to U.S. law, can adopt the child.

Note: The I-600A approval from the BCIS will suffice for 7) and 8).

AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD:

All U.S. documents submitted to the Suriname government/court must be authenticated. Suriname is a party to the Hague Legalization Convention. Generally, U.S. civil records, such as birth, death, and marriage certificates, must bear the seal of the issuing office and an apostille affixed by the state's Secretary of State (an apostille is a special seal applied to a document to certify that a document is a true copy of an original). Documents must be apostilled in the state where they are issued. Tax returns, medical reports and police clearances should likewise be authenticated. Prospective adopting parents should contact the Secretary of State of the state where documents originated from for instructions and fees for authenticating documents.

Documents issued by a federal agency must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office, 518 23rd St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20520, (202) 647-5002 Fee: $6.00. For additional information, call the Federal Information Center: 1-800-688-9889, and choose option 6 after you press 1 for touch tone phones. Walk-in service is available from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 am Monday-Friday, except holidays and is limited to 15 documents per person per day (documents can be multiple pages). Processing time for authentication requests sent by mail is 5 working days or less.

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

SurinameESE EMBASSY AND CONSULATE IN THE UNITED STATES:

Van Ness Centre EVE Suite 108
4301 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington D.C. 20008
Tel: (202) 244 7590
Fax: (202) 244 5878

6303 Blue Lagoon Drive, Suite 325
Miami, Florida 33126
Tel: (305) 265-4655

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 flyer 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 Suriname: If post has specific procedures adoptive parents must follow when applying for an immigrant visa for their adopted child, please provide a description.

U.S. Embassy In Suriname:

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

U.S. Embassy Paramaribo
Dr. Sophie Redmond Straat 129
Paramaribo
Tel: (597) 472900
Fax: (597) 425788

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). 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 Suriname may be addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Suriname. 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:

·         Telephone:

• 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).

·         Internet:

·         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 flier. 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/