Home Studies

Generally speaking, IFS conducts international home studies only for families who are using one of our established programs with a few key exceptions.

 

Hague Convention Adoptions

IFS can conduct your home study if your case meets one of the two following conditions.

1. You are enrolled in one of our international adoption programs, or
2. You are enrolled in an international program with another US agency which is accredited in the US and acts as the primary agency in your case (primary agencies are responsible for everything that happens in your case in the foreign country).

Non-Convention Adoptions

If you are adopting from a non-Convention country , IFS can  conduct a home study for you if your case meets one of the following conditions.

1. You are enrolled in one of our international adoption programs, or
2. You are enrolled with another US accredited agency in the US (they can be based in any of the 50 states) which is acting as the primary agency in your case (primary agencies are responsible for everything that happens in your case in the foreign country), or
3. You are exempt (grandfathered) under US law (specifically, the Universal Accreditation Act, UAA) by starting the adoption process either in the US (via the US form I-600a or I-600) or in the foreign country prior to July 2013.

More specifically, you may be exempt from the UAA in the following circumstances.

1. You have filed a US form I-600a or I-600 with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services before July 13, 2013, or
2. You “initiated the adoption process with the filing of an appropriate application in a foreign country sufficient such that the Secretary of State is satisfied.” This means you can be ‘grandfathered’ “if the Department of State officer or USCIS adjudicating officer finds that one of the following occurred before July 13, 2013:

Prospective adoptive parents submitted an application to the relevant competent authority; or

Prospective adoptive parents accepted a match proposed by a competent authority or appropriate entity.”

More information

• The UAA in general
• Grandfathering under the UAA