March 2006

Disclaimer: The following is intended as a very general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child from a foreign country and apply for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. Two sets of laws are particularly relevant:

1) The laws of the child’s country of birth govern all activity in that country including the adoptability of individual children as well as the adoption of children in country in general;

2) U.S. Federal immigration law governs the immigration of the child to the United States.

The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and our current understanding. It does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the laws of a child’s country of birth and is provided for general information only. Moreover, U.S. immigration law, including regulations and interpretation, changes from time to time. This flyer reflects our current understanding of the law as of this date and is not legally authoritative. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.

Prospective adoptive 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 adoptive parents contact the Better Business Bureau and/or the licensing office of the appropriate state government agency in the U.S. state where the agency is located or licensed.

PLEASE NOTE: The October 2004 entry into force of Dominican Law 136-03 changed many of the regulations and procedures regarding international adoption. Please refer to the eligibility and residency requirements listed below for further information.

The Dominican authorities will not allow a child to exit the country until the adoption is completed under Dominican law. For this reason, U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo’s Immigrant Visa (IV) Unit does not process immigrant visas in the IR-4 (“Orphan to be adopted in the United States by a U.S. citizen”) category. Depending on the circumstances of the adoption, the IV Unit issues adopted children visas in the IR-2 (“Child of a U.S. citizen”) or IR-3 (“Orphan adopted abroad by a U.S. citizen”) category. See the section below on U.S. immigration requirements for more information.

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

DOMINICAN ADOPTION AUTHORITY: Consejo Nacional para la Niñez y la Adolescencia (CONANI), the Dominican child welfare agency, is the country’s adoption authority. Contact information for CONANI:

Consejo Nacional para la Niñez y la Adolescencia (CONANI)
Edificio Gubermental, Bloque D
30 de Marzo esq. México
Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
Phone: 809-685-9161 (Office of Adoptions, ext. 1182)
Web site: www.conani.gov.do
E-mail address of Adoption Coordinator: nuris.gomez@conani.gov.do

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR PROSPECTIVE PARENTS: For intercountry adoption, Dominican law permits only heterosexual couples who have been married for five years or more to adopt a Dominican child. The prospective adoptive parents must be between 30 and 60 years old and at least 15 years older than the child they wish to adopt. Singles and unmarried couples are no longer permitted to adopt from the Dominican Republic.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS: One prospective adoptive parent must meet specific residency requirements. If the child is under 12, the parent must reside with the child in the Dominican Republic for 60 days; for children 12 and over, the parent must reside with the child for 30 days.

TIME FRAME: Many variables can influence the total time it takes to complete the international adoption of a Dominican child. In general, however, if the adoptive parents work to fulfill both the U.S. and the Dominican requirements simultaneously, an adoption can be completed within nine to ten months after the application is made in the Dominican Republic.

ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS: U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo is not aware of any private adoption agencies in the Dominican Republic. Prospective adoptive families must hire a Dominican attorney specializing in adoption. The U.S. Embassy’s list of attorneys can be found online at:

https://do.usembassy.gov/es/peace-corps-ngo-coalition-for-children-and-conani-organize-3rd-national-conference-on-children-in-high-risk-situations-es/ Neither the U.S. Embassy nor CONANI recommends any particular attorney. The list indicates each lawyer or firm’s area(s) of specialization and language(s) spoken.

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

ADOPTION FEES: Attorney fees for the adoption of a Dominican child range from US$5,000 – US$8,000. All adoption-related expenses, including court costs and document fees, are included in this estimate.

ADOPTION PROCEDURES: Dominican adoption law is governed by the Dominican Code of Fundamental Protection and Rights for Children and Adolescents, Law 136-03, Articles 111-167. The adoption process is comprised of an administrative and judicial phase. To begin the administrative phase, prospective adoptive parents should hire a Dominican attorney to initiate contact with CONANI and begin the process of locating a child who meets the definition of “orphan” under both Dominican and U.S. law. Once the family receives and accepts the referral of a child, CONANI reviews the prospective adoptive family’s file of required documents (see below) and, if satisfied, issues a Certificate of Suitability. The family is then allowed to present its formal, legal application to the Dominican Court of Minors, which subsequently issues a Final Order of Adoption.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION IN DOMINCAN REPUBLIC:

• Biopsychosocial study of the adoptive parents;
• Legalized adoption consent;
• Adoptive parents’ birth certificates;
• Adoptive parents’ marriage certificate;
• Declaration of the loss of authority of the biological parents or authorization for adoption;
• Certificate of Suitability, no more than six months old, issued by CONANI;
• Certificate issued by a civic, community, or religious entity/organization attesting to the physical, mental,
• social, and moral suitability of the adoptive parents;
• Certificate confirming that the adoptive parents have fulfilled the residency requirements, issued by CONANI;
• Certificate of completion of all criteria for the assignment of the child, issued by CONANI;
• Prospective adoptive parents’ police certificates issued by a competent authority;
• Prospective adoptive parents’ medical certificates;
• Power of attorney from the adoptive parents to their lawyer, legalized by the Dominican “Procuraduría General”;
• Copy of the identification documents or passports of the adoptive parents;
• Act of No Opposition in the case of the existence of older children;
• Certification issued by a competent authority that will provide follow-up on the minor’s adjustment;
• Authorization or visa from the country where the child will live.

AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD: The language describing the process of authenticating U.S. documents to be used abroad is currently under review. Please click on the following link for more information until the new language is finalized: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html.

EMBASSY OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND CONSULATE IN THE UNITED STATES:

Embassy of the Dominican Republic
1715 22nd Street NW
Washington, DC 20008
Phone: (202) 332-6280
Fax: (202) 265-8057
Consulate of the Dominican Republic
1501 New Broadway Ave., Suite 410
New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 768-2480
Fax: (212) 768-2677

U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS

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

Before completing an adoption abroad, prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to read the requirements for filing Form I-600 Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative. Please see our flyer “ How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States” at our Web site travel.state.gov.

FILING AN ORPHAN PETITION

It is advisable for all adoptive parents to begin the adoption process by filing an “Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition” (Form I-600A) with the USCIS office having jurisdiction over their place of residence. This form is used by prospective adoptive parents who do not yet have a specific child in mind and allows the most time-consuming part of the process to be completed in advance. Once USCIS approves the I-600A, is it valid for 18 months. Upon approval, USCIS will send a notification of a favorable determination (Form I-171H) to the prospective adoptive parents and to the USCIS office in Santo Domingo.

Once the adoptive parents have identified a specific child and completed the Dominican adoption procedures, they should file the “Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative” (Form I-600) with the USCIS office having jurisdiction over their place of residence. Prospective adoptive parents who have an approved I-600A, however, may file the I-600 at Santo Domingo’s USCIS office. This option represents the quickest, most efficient way to file the petition and apply for the child’s immigrant visa.

Detailed information about filing these forms can be found on USCIS’s Web site at: http://www.uscis.gov/. If the I-600 is approved by USCIS in the United States, the petition will be sent to the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC)in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The National Visa Center (NVC) retains the approved petition until the case is ready for adjudication by a consular officer at Embassy Santo Domingo’s Immigrant Visa (IV) Unit. I-600 petitions approved by Santo Domingo’s USCIS office are transferred directly to the IV Unit. The IV Unit will then contact the parents, inform them of the interview date, and provide additional instructions. For further information on the immigrant visa process, visit the U.S. Embassy’s immigrant visa home page at http://www.usemb.gov.do/Consular/iv-e.htm.

APPLYING FOR A VISA AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN Dominican Republic: Americans living or traveling abroad are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov/, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within the country of travel. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.

U.S. EMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO’S IMMIGRANT VISA UNIT: Contact information for U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo’s Immigrant Visa Unit:

To send documents from the United States, you must use either the United States Postal Service or a private delivery service (e.g., FedEx, DHL or UPS). The mailing address if you use the United States Postal Service is:

IV
Unit 5542
APO AA 34041-5542
The mailing address if you use a private delivery service is:

Embassy of the United States of America
César Nicolás Penson 85A esq. Leopoldo Navarro
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
To send documents from the Dominican Republic, you must use the Dominican postal system, INPOSDOM. If you use INPOSDOM, the mailing address is:

Embajada de los Estados Unidos de América
César Nicolás Penson 85A esq. Leopoldo Navarro
Apartado Postal 11302
Santo Domingo, República Dominicana
Phone: 809-271-2171
SANTO DOMINGO USCIS SUB OFFICE:
Contact information for the Santo Domingo USCIS Sub Office:

Mailing address from the United States:
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
American Embassy – Santo Domingo
Unit 5542
APO AA 34041-5542
Mailing address if writing from any country other than the United States or if using a delivery service:

American Embassy
Santo Domingo
Calle César Nicolás Penson
Calle Leopoldo Navarro
Unidad 5500
Dominican Republic
Phone: 809-221-2171 ext. 6608
Fax: 809-731-4350
E-mail: dradoptions@dhs.gov

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Specific questions about adoption in the Dominican Republic may be addressed to U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo at the numbers listed in this flyer. 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, 4th 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 1-202-501-4444.

U.S. Department of State Visa Office – recorded information concerning immigrant visas for adopting children, (202) 663-1225.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – recorded information for requesting immigrant visa application forms, 1-800-870-FORM (3676).

Internet :

Adoption Information Flyers: The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of 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 toll free at 1-888-407-4747. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern 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 1-202-501-4444.

USCIS Web site – https://uscis.gov/.