Whats an "adoption recognition"?

Question

I think this may be concerned with just international adoptions but I'm not sure. I don't know what it is and was wondering if an adoptive parent who's been through the process could explain it to me more.

Is this a process that happens when the adoptee is adopted in another country? and then brought to the US? Why is it needed? is it like re-adopting a child? what is the process like?

thanks.

Answer 1

If an international adoption meets certain criteria, it is considered final and binding based on the adoption proceedings in the original country. (The US recognizes that adoption as legal. Readoption is not necessary.)

However, there's a separate court proceeding, sometimes called "adoption recognition" or "refinalization" which is a way to get US-based paperwork for your child. You submit your foreign documents, they verify everything is on the up-and-up, then they issue a US-based document that contains the same info as the foreign document. The US-based documents are available through vital statistics, in case additional copies are needed. It is mainly a convenience for if your child needs to obtain a copy of it someday, etc.

Our Russian adoption documents are perfectly legal here but, since they are in Russian, they confuse a lot of people. They would also be difficult to replace if something happened to them. After refinalization, we have US-based documents as well, and the Russian ones are safely stored.

EDIT TO ANSWER ADDITIONAL QUESTION ABOUT READOPTION: If an adoption does not meet certain criteria, a readoption is required. In those cases, the US does not recognize the court proceedings in the original country as final. The most common case that I know of is when a child is escorted to this country for adoption. In those cases, the foreign country might consider the adoption final even if the a-parents have not met the child yet, but the US would not consider it final. The child would be issued a different sort of visa, and the child would need to be "readopted" in the US before it was considered final.

Answer 2

Can't believe no one has answered your question!

Adoption recognition can replace "re-adoption" in some states, in cases where adoptions have been completed in the child's country of origin.  Neither is obligatory if adoption has been finalized there, but many agencies and adoption lawyers strongly recommend either to guarantee fully the child's legal rights under U.S. law in matters of inheritance, etc, and to provide American adoption papers. The legal name change is needed for filing for citizenship.  It gives the  child the first names the adoptive parents have chosen, and their surname.  

Adoption recognition is much cheaper and easier than "re-adoption".  Parents you can do it themselves without a lawyer, total cost about $200 or less for the adoption recognition and name change, and then a minimal fee for the state birth certificate.

Answer 3

From the information I found, in the US some states require a 're-adoption', while in other states, the adoption is valid based on the law of the country the child was adopted in.  

Some states have some form of this type of statute:

"Full effect and recognition given to the laws of the foreign country and proceedings conducted in accordance with the laws of the foreign country pertaining to relinquishment, termination of parental rights and consent to adoption."

Other states follow this:

"(a)Re-adoption required if required by US Immigration and Naturalization Service. (b)Re-adoption allowed"

As is typical, the laws seem to vary greatly depending on what state the PAP live in.

For information by state:

http://laws.adoption.com/statutes/review...

Great question!

Answer 4

From a quick net search, it seems to be a way to avoid the costs associated with doing the whole process again.  It sounds like they review the paperwork that was completed in the other country , which I believe is on a list of "recognized" countries, to ensure that the process was performed properly.  If so, the adoption is validated.  

There are a few references on the web that discuss this.