How to adopt a relative kid from India.?

Question

I'm an Indian living in US (green card) with my husband. We don't have any kids of our own, so want to adopt my brother's baby.

What I want to know is

- What is the process of adopting kid from a relative who is back in India.

- Is the adoption process any simpler when adopting from a relative.

- Is there any other complication in the adoption process that I should know of.

Answer 1

Uh, your brother is fine with you adopting his child? That is really bad parenting, you know, giving your child away.

Answer 2

why would you take his kid???

Answer 3

Oh, I'm afraid this might be tricky. The issue is that the US has very specific requirements for bringing an adopted child into the US. If you complete the entire process in India, and then reapply to come back here, then it might work (though it looks as if only 2 years after the adoption), but I'm afraid that otherwise this would be very tricky.

Here are some of the potential legal issues:

--Is your husband a US citizen? If he is not, then I am afraid you will not be able to do this while living in the US. See my answer to another couple, both green card holders, hoping to adopt from India

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

If your husband is a citizen, then move on to the next possible hurdle:

--The child will have to be considered an orphan under US immigration law:

"Under U.S. immigration law, a foreign-born child is an orphan if he or she does not have any parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents. A foreign-born child is also an orphan if his or her sole or surviving parent is incapable of providing care of the child and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption."

I'm assuming this would not describe your brother's baby, and if not, then you would not be allowed to bring the child in, because they would not be considered an orphan.

Here are the rules for Green card holders wanting to bring their child to live in the US. In particular note this:

Definition of a Child

The immigration law defines a “child” as an unmarried person under the age of 21 (a minor) who is:...

"An adopted child if the child was adopted before the age of 16 and has lived with the adoptive parent(s) in their legal custody for at least two years."

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/m...

Here is the Indian department responsible for adoptions.

http://www.adoptionindia.nic.in/carahome...

And the specific link for Family Adoptions:

http://www.adoptionindia.nic.in/guidelin...

Here are a few websites on adopting from India:

http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/...

http://india.adoption.com/

Good luck!

Answer 4

It is my understanding that a child has to be an orphan (either the parents are deceased or have surrendered their rights) before an international adoption can take place.  This is Immigration's policy so that people don't adopt foreign citizens to bypass the regular immigration process.  I am not sure if this applies to relative adoptions or not. You should contact an adoption agency in your area that writes home studies for international adoptions (not necessarily an agency that facilitates the actual placement of children) or call immigration.  Immigration should also know if any of the process is different for you as relatives or not.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I'm afraid I don't know the answer to this.  There are laws and procedures for a US citizen to adopt a child from India and I'm sure there's an adoptive process for an Indian to adopt while in India.  

I'm thinking there would be two stages: one to adopt the child in India and another stage to (presumably) bring the child to the US.

Can the India embassy/consulate offer advice and direction?