India Introduces New India Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015 (Updated)

India Introduces New India Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children 2015

Updated from our original post on August 10, 2015
On August 1, 2015 the long-anticipated Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children, 2015, became official. The new guidelines were put into place by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the federal ministry that oversees CARA (Central Adoption Resource Authority), the Central Adoption Authority in India.

THE BIG NEWS IN INDIAN ADOPTIONS

1) More children are now available for adoption.

In recent years there were fewer than 80 Indian agencies licensed by CARA to provide adoption services for PAPs (Prospective Adoptive Parents) living outside of India. Leading up to the releasing of the new guidelines, India introduced a new category of Indian adoption agencies – Specialized Adoption Agencies, or SAAs. Now there are over 300 SAAs in India and about 1,500 non-SAA facilities that are linked with the SAAs, for a total of more than 1,800 children’s homes from which CARA may refer children for international adoption. More licensed institutions means more children available for adoption.

2) Healthy children and special needs children are available for adoption to families of Indian heritage as well as families of non-Indian heritage.

India now allows for the adoption of healthy, young children to families of Indian heritage AND PAPs not of Indian heritage. India has also greatly increased the availability of special needs children for both Indian and non-Indian heritage families. Special needs can include older children (5 and up), siblings of all ages, and children with physical special needs. We are very excited that there will be greater numbers of special needs children for families whose hearts are open to receive a child in need of loving parents. To learn more about special needs adoption – https://ifservices.org/special-needs-adoption/.

3) The promise of a greatly shortened adoption experience.

While this promise is yet to be realized, we believe the streamlining of in-India processes will, in fact, accelerate adoptions from India. Key ingredients to the speeding up of the process are the abolition of a previous bottleneck (the ARC Committee), the establishing of upgraded child-referral processes and greater numbers of available children.

4) Modified age eligibility requirements for prospective adoptive parents.

• One applicant must be a U.S. citizen.
• Couples with more than four children shall not be considered for India adoption.
• PAP(s) must be at least 25 years older than the child they are adopting.
• Individual PAP age should be no more than 55 years.

Married Couples:

• Married couples must be married for at least two years and have a stable marital relationship.
• To adopt a child up until 4 years of age, the combined maximum composite age of the adoptive parents should be less than 90 years at the time of registration with CARA.
• To adopt a child 4 and up until 8 years of age, the combined maximum composite age of the adoptive parents should be less than 100 years at the time of registration with CARA.
• To adopt a child 8 and up until 18 years of age, the combined maximum composite age of the adoptive parents should be less than 110 years at the time of registration with CARA. NOTE: USCIS limits the age of an adopted child who can be immigrated to the US to less than 16 years of age. USCIS will allow children 16, 17 and up to 18 years of age if that child is a biological sibling and part of a sibling group (with younger siblings) that is being adopted together at the same time.

Single Persons:

• Singles should be less than 45 years at the time of registration with CARA to adopt a child up until 4 years of age.
• Singles should be less than 50 years at the time of registration with CARA to adopt a child 4 and up until 8 years of age.
• Singles should be less than 55 years at the time of registration with CARA to adopt a child 8 and up until 18 years of age. NOTE: USCIS limits the age of an adopted child who can be immigrated to the US to less than 16 years of age. USCIS will allow children 16, 17 and up to 18 years of age if that child is a biological sibling and part of a sibling group (with younger siblings) that is being adopted together at the same time.
• Un-married or single men may not adopt a girl child.

5) NRI (non-resident Indian) families treated on par with resident Indians.

Families with NRI status (one PAP holding a current Indian passport) are eligible for the same referrals as resident Indian families. As soon as a child is cleared for adoption in India, the child may be referred to a resident Indian or NRI family. (There is a waiting period of up to 60 days before a cleared child can be referred to an OCI, PIO or a “foreign” – non-Indian heritage – family.)

6) New child referral process.

In the past, families could be matched to only one SAA at a time, limiting their referral to the children available at the particular SAA. Under the new process all referrals will be matched to families by CARA, and families may receive a referral from any SAA (or facility linked with an SAA) in India. (NRI/OCI may request the state in India of their choice.) With this, and the availability of more children, we are anticipating a shorter wait for referral for our families.

Read more about the IFS India Adoption Program – https://ifservices.org/india/

Request more information about the IFS India Adoption Program – https://ifservices.org/contact-us/contact-form/