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Explore visasI-600 / I-800Overview

IR-3 / IH-3 / IR-4 / IH-4Child adopted by a U.S. citizen

For U.S. citizens adopting a child from another country, and for the child who immigrates as their immediate relative through the Hague or orphan process.

At a glance

How you apply
A U.S. citizen files with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If the child habitually resides in a country that is a party to the Hague Adoption Convention, you generally follow the Hague process: Form I-800A, then Form I-800. If the Convention does not apply, you follow the orphan process: Form I-600A (advance processing, optional), then Form I-600. After approval, you apply to a U.S. embassy or consulate for the child's immigrant visa
Checked Oct 18, 2026[1,2,3]
Age limit for the child
You must file Form I-600 or I-800 before the child's 16th birthday, or before the 18th birthday if the child is a birth sibling of another child you adopted and the sibling exception applies
Checked Oct 18, 2026[2,3]
What the child gets
An immigrant visa as the immediate relative of a U.S. citizen: IR-3 (orphan) or IH-3 (Hague Convention country) when the adoption took place abroad, IR-4 or IH-4 when the child is coming to be adopted in the United States. Immediate relative visas are not limited in number each fiscal year High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[4,5]
Main fees
Form I-600A or I-800A: $920. The first Form I-600 or I-800 filed during the approval period: no fee. Immigrant visa application, immediate relative: $325 per person, paid to the State Department. USCIS Immigrant Fee: $0 for children who enter under the orphan or Hague adoption programs (Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26; 22 CFR 22.1) High confidence
Checked Oct 18, 2026[6,7]

How adopted children immigrate

Intercountry adoption means the adoption of a child born in one country by a parent living in another. U.S. immigration law offers three processes for immigrating on the basis of an intercountry adoption, and a child can use one only if the adoption meets all the requirements of that specific process. Two of them, the Hague process and the orphan process, apply only to children adopted by U.S. citizens: the child may immigrate right after the adoption, or come to the United States to be adopted here. The third, a family-based petition on Form I-130, is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents (see the FAQ below).[1,8]

The four visa classes

Classification symbols from 22 CFR 42.11 (eCFR current as of Oct. 1, 2026); filing route from 8 CFR 204.1 and 204.3. INA is the Immigration and Nationality Act.
SymbolOfficial classProcess and formsSection of law
IR3Orphan Adopted Abroad by U.S. CitizenOrphan process: I-600A / I-600INA 201(b) & INA 101(b)(1)(F)
IH3Child from Hague Convention Country Adopted Abroad by U.S. CitizenHague process: I-800A / I-800INA 201(b) & INA 101(b)(1)(G)
IR4Orphan to be Adopted in U.S. by U.S. CitizenOrphan process: I-600A / I-600INA 201(b) & INA 101(b)(1)(F)
IH4Child from Hague Convention Country to be Adopted in U.S. by U.S. CitizenHague process: I-800A / I-800INA 201(b) & INA 101(b)(1)(G)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[4,9,10]

Who qualifies

Orphan process (Form I-600A / I-600)

  • Adoptive parents: you must be a U.S. citizen. If you are married, your spouse must also sign Form I-600 and must also adopt the child; the spouse does not have to be a U.S. citizen but must be in lawful immigration status if living in the United States. If you are not married, you must be at least 24 years old when you file Form I-600A and at least 25 when you file Form I-600. You must show, through a home study, that you will provide proper parental care.[3,10]
  • Child: the child must be an orphan as U.S. immigration law defines it: a foreign-born child who has no parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents; or whose sole or surviving parent cannot care for the child by the local standards of the sending country and has, in writing, irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption. Each of these terms has its own definition in the regulations; for example, a release by the parents to the prospective adoptive parents or for a specific adoption is not abandonment. Either you (and your spouse) completed a full and final adoption abroad and at least one of you personally saw and observed the child before or during the adoption proceedings, or you will adopt the child in the United States, with permission to bring the child out of their country, and you meet the preadoption requirements, if any, of the state where the child will live.[3,10]

Hague process (Form I-800A / I-800)

  • Adoptive parents: you must be a U.S. citizen and habitually resident in the United States. If you are not married, you must be at least 24 years old when you file Form I-800A and 25 when you file Form I-800. You need a home study from someone authorized to complete an intercountry adoption home study, and a U.S. accredited or approved adoption service provider (ASP) acting as your primary provider.[2]
  • Child: the child must be under 16 when Form I-800 is filed (under 18 if the sibling exception applies), habitually resident in a Hague country, and found eligible for intercountry adoption by that country's Central Authority, with all necessary consents for adoption obtained. Under the statute, the birth parents (or others who hold legal custody) must have freely given written, irrevocable consent to ending their legal relationship with the child and to the child's emigration and adoption, and a child with two living birth parents qualifies only if they are incapable of providing proper care. If the child has not yet been adopted, the country's competent authority must have approved the child's emigration to the United States for adoption, and you must have complied with any pre-adoption requirements of the child's proposed residence.[2,11]

Steps, in order

Each step describes the Hague process first, then the orphan process.

  1. Home study and service provider

    Both processes require a home study by someone authorized to complete adoption home studies. Hague: you also choose a U.S. accredited or approved ASP as your primary provider; an ASP cannot give legal advice or represent you before USCIS. Orphan: the home study must be completed by someone authorized in your home state (or anywhere in the United States if you adopt while living abroad), and it, or its most recent update, must be no more than six months old when submitted to USCIS.[2,3,10]

  2. Suitability: Form I-800A or I-600A

    Hague: you file Form I-800A to be found suitable and eligible to adopt, before adopting a child or accepting a placement. Orphan: you may file Form I-600A before you identify a child, and USCIS fingerprints you, your spouse and each other adult member of your household. If the home study is not filed with the I-600A, it must be filed within one year, or the application is denied. An I-600A approval expires 15 months after the approval date. USCIS may extend it if you ask on Form I-600A/I-600 Supplement 3, filed no more than 90 days before, and no later than the day, the approval expires.[2,3,10]

  3. Child petition: Form I-800 or I-600

    Hague: after your I-800A is approved, you work with your primary provider to get a proposed adoptive placement from the country's Central Authority, then file Form I-800 before adopting, so USCIS can find the child provisionally eligible to immigrate. Orphan: you file Form I-600 for the child within 15 months of your I-600A approval, or within the extended validity period if USCIS extended it; if you have no I-600A approved or pending, you may file one Form I-600 that covers both steps once you have identified a child. USCIS (or, in some cases, the State Department) investigates overseas to verify that the child is an orphan.[2,3,10]

  4. Adoption or custody

    Hague: only after USCIS provisionally approves your Form I-800 do you adopt the child or obtain legal custody for emigration and adoption in the United States; USCIS warns that doing this out of order contradicts the Convention and may cause significant delays or leave the child ineligible for an immigrant visa. Orphan: you submit evidence of the adoption abroad, or that you (or someone working for you) have custody of the child for emigration and adoption under the laws of the child's country. An orphan petition must be denied if you, or someone working for you, gave or will give money or other consideration, directly or indirectly, as payment for the child or to induce the child's release; reasonable payment for necessary services such as administrative, court, legal, translation and medical services related to the adoption is allowed.[2,10]

  5. Immigrant visa and arrival

    You apply to a U.S. embassy or consulate for your child's immigrant visa (in the Hague process, USCIS lists this step for parents who reside in the United States). The State Department officer decides whether the child is inadmissible under section 212(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); for children, the most common ground is medical, such as certain diseases or missing required vaccinations. If the child is inadmissible, you may be able to get a waiver on Form I-601; in a Hague case, you may file it together with Form I-800 if you have reason to believe the child may be inadmissible. The child then comes to the United States for admission with the visa.[2,3]

Fees

USCIS fees from Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26; visa fee from 22 CFR 22.1. Which fee applies depends on what you file and when; check the current Form G-1055 before filing.
ItemFeeWhen it applies
Form I-600A, advance processing (orphan process)$920$0 if you file a new I-600A because your marital status changed while the earlier one is pending
Form I-600, orphan petition$920 or $0$920 unless an exception applies: $0 for the first I-600 filed during your I-600A approval period, and for more I-600s filed in that period for children who were birth siblings before the proposed adoption; each additional child who is not a birth sibling: $920
Form I-800A, suitability (Hague process)$920$0 if you file a new I-800A because your marital status changed while the earlier one is pending
Form I-800, Hague petition$920 or $0$920 unless an exception applies: $0 for the first I-800 filed during your I-800A approval period, and for more I-800s filed in that period for children who were birth siblings before the proposed adoption; each child who is not a birth sibling: $920
Supplement 3 to Form I-600A/I-600 or I-800A (request for action on an approval)$455 or $0$0 for a first or second extension, a first or second change of country, or a duplicate approval notice; $455 for a third or later extension or change of country, or for a new approval notice based on a significant change and updated home study (unless requested together with a first or second extension or change of country)
Immigrant visa application processing fee (State Department)$325 per personImmediate relative applications
USCIS Immigrant Fee$0Children who enter the United States under the orphan or Hague adoption programs
Form I-601, waiver of grounds of inadmissibility$1,050General filing; some categories of applicants pay no fee (see Form G-1055)
Form N-600 or N-600K (citizenship)$0, or $1,385 paper / $1,335 online$0 when filed for a child who is the subject of a final adoption for immigration purposes and meets the definition of child in INA 101(b)(1)(E), (F) or (G) (for Form N-600, meets or met it before age 18)
Checked Oct 18, 2026[6,7]

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Ask WELIVEINUSA Visa

Answers come from our sourced database and your own timeline, sorted into fact, public data, inference and unknown. No AI model is used in this version, so questions outside what we cover get an honest "not covered".

Questions people ask

Can I use Form I-130 for my adopted child instead?

Possibly. Under the family-based petition process, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident may file Form I-130 for an adopted child if the adoption took place before the child's 16th birthday (or before the 18th in certain birth-sibling cases) and is full and final, and you had legal custody of and lived with the child for at least 2 years while the child was under 21. The custody must come from a formal grant by a court or other governmental entity, it may come before the adoption, and the 2 years do not need to be continuous. If both parents adopted the child, the 2 years cannot be split between them, but only one parent needs to meet them; the requirement is waived for certain abused children. This process is generally not available to children from Hague countries. Whether it fits your family depends on your facts; an immigration attorney can apply the rules to your case.[8]

Can my adopted child later sponsor their birth parents or birth siblings?

Generally not through the birth relationship. For a child who immigrates through the orphan or Hague process, the law says no birth parent or prior adoptive parent may afterwards be given any right, privilege or status under the immigration law by virtue of that parentage. The State Department adds that an adopted child may not confer immigration benefits on a birth parent or sibling unless the adoption has been legally terminated, even where the child never received an immigration benefit based on the adoption. Its conditions for recognizing a birth relationship after an adoption is terminated include that no immigration benefit was obtained or conferred because of the adoptive relationship.[5,11]

How does my child get proof of U.S. citizenship?

High confidence USCIS directs adoptive parents to its page "Before Your Child Immigrates to the United States" for how and when the child may become a U.S. citizen under the Child Citizenship Act; an immigration attorney can confirm how it applies to your child. Form N-600 is the application for a Certificate of Citizenship, and Form N-600K lets a child who regularly resides outside the United States apply for citizenship based on a U.S. citizen parent. Neither has a USCIS fee when filed for a child who is the subject of a final adoption for immigration purposes and meets the definition of child in INA 101(b)(1)(E), (F) or (G) (for Form N-600, meets it or met it before age 18).[3,6,13]

The child is already in the United States. Can we still use the orphan process?

It depends on the child's status. A child who is in parole status and has not been adopted in the United States can benefit from an orphan petition once all the statutory requirements are met. A child who is in the United States illegally or as a nonimmigrant (in a temporary visa status) is ineligible for the benefits of an orphan petition. An immigration attorney can look at your child's situation and other options.[10]

Related categories

Content last reviewed: Oct 18, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

Sources

  1. 1.Immigration through Adoption - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  2. 2.Hague Process - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  3. 3.Orphan Process - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  4. 4.22 CFR 42.11eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  5. 5.9 FAM 502.2 FAMILY-BASED IV CLASSIFICATIONSU.S. Department of State (Foreign Affairs Manual) · USCIS Policy Manual · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  6. 6.Fee Schedule (Form G-1055) - USCISUSCIS · Form / instructions · Checked Oct 12, 2026
  7. 7.22 CFR 22.1 - Schedule of fees for consular services (Department of State)eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  8. 8.Family-Based Petition Process - USCISUSCIS · Agency page · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  9. 9.8 CFR 204.1eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  10. 10.8 CFR 204.3eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  11. 11.8 U.S.C. 1101 (INA 101) - Definitions, incl. 101(a)(15)(E), (H), (L), 101(a)(44), 101(a)(45)U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Law Revision Counsel · Statute · Checked Sep 27, 2026
  12. 12.8 CFR 204.300eCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Oct 18, 2026
  13. 13.8 CFR 106.2 - USCIS feeseCFR (Office of the Federal Register) · Regulation · Checked Sep 27, 2026