For prospective adoptive parents considering international adoption, one question that always comes up regards the visa process. In this blog post, I try to outline the two main types of visas for bringing a child from a foreign country into the United States, the IR-3, and the IR-4. There are significant differences between these two visas and legal processes underlying them. Because this is a topic that I frequently review with my clients who are in the international adoption process, I wrote the following blog post as an overview of the subject.
If you are considering bringing a child into your life, you will need the assistance of an experienced adoption attorney. This is especially true if you are considering adopting a child from a foreign country, a particularly complex legal exercise. Hiring an experienced Kansas adoption attorney can help you avoid pitfalls that can cause tremendous heartache and headaches later, call McDowell Chartered at (316)-269-0746 to get the advice you need.
The Two Types of Adoption Visas
As I mentioned above, when you adopt a child internationally, two types of visas are offered by the United States government, an IR-3 or an IR-4.
The IR-3 Visa
With an IR-3 visa, your adopted child becomes a U.S. citizen automatically when he or she enters the United States. These visas are usually issued as part of a process where both of the adoptive parents go to the child’s original home country and go through the adoption process there. A Certificate of Citizenship is issued when the child enters the U.S. and is mailed to the parents a few months later. One advantage of the IR-3 visa is that there is no legal requirement to go through the registration/adoption/re-adoption process to attain citizenship. That said, I advise clients to go through this straightforward process so that the child attains a Kansas birth certificate, can attain a legal name change, attain a Social Security Card with the child’s American name and a U.S. designation. In short, getting the IR-3 visa will make your child a U.S. citizen, but going through the adoption process will make them an American.
The IR-4 Visa
The main difference between the IR-3 and IR-4 visa is that the IR-4 visa does not automatically grant citizenship to a child when he or she enters the U.S. These visas are usually used when either only one parent goes to the child’s home country or when neither parent goes, and the adoption process occurs through a power of attorney or proxy.
With an IR-4 visa, once the child enters the United States, the adoptive parents are required to register/adopt/re-adopt the child according to Kansas’s adoption laws for the child to attain U.S. citizenship. As I mentioned above, this is a straightforward legal process that can be quickly handled once everyone is home. Once the registration/adoption/re-adoption process is complete, the adoptive parents can then apply on the child’s behalf for a Certificate of Citizenship.
What Should I Do If I am Considering an International Adoption in Kansas?
Working with the help of an experienced Kansas International Adoption attorney can help you successfully navigate the international adoption process. I have helped countless families bring children from foreign countries into their homes here in Kansas and can do the same for you. Speaking with an experienced Kansas adoption attorney is the first step to bringing a child ace into your home through the adoption process.
Call us today at (316)-269-0746 to schedule an appointment to discuss any one of many types of adoption with a full-service adoption firm.
