Dec 9, 2015 | General, Story
One of my favorite Christmas verses is one not normally associated with the traditional story we read in the Bible about baby Jesus, the shepherds, the choir of angels and the wise men, but it certainly speaks of the ultimate Christmas gift:
Nov 20, 2015 | General, Story
Behind every adoption is a story. Often there is a person, a family member, a group of friends, a church or humanitarian organization, who comes along side an adoptive family, providing spiritual and emotional support and sometimes there are those who provide a financial boost. These unsung heroes become part of the legacy of adoption.
Oct 23, 2015 | General, India
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.
Aug 11, 2015 | General, India, United States
IFS ADOPTION FOR NON-U.S. CITIZENS LIVING IN THE U.S. In the course of our adoption work at International Family Services we often speak with families who want to adopt a child internationally only to find that they are not U.S. citizens and therefore are not eligible to immigrate a newly adopted child back into the U.S. But, there is hope for adoption for such families. You May be Eligible to Adopt a Child from the United States You may be eligible to adopt a U.S.-born child while residing as non-citizens in the U.S. From the U.S. State Department website (see link below): “In most cases, U.S. lawful permanent residents (LPRs) who adopt children in the United States do so under domestic state adoption laws. The adopted children are generally U.S.-born, U.S. citizen children or U.S. LPRs who live in the United States.” This means that if you are a lawful permanent resident(s) who habitually resides in the U.S. the U.S. federal government will allow you to adopt a child from the U.S. as long as there are no local State adoption laws that prohibit this kind of adoption. IFS works with birthmothers in States that are favorable to non-U.S.-citizen adoptions. Bottom line: It is still possible for non-U.S. citizens to adopt. Disclaimer: None of the IFS staff are attorneys, immigration or otherwise, nor do we speak for the U.S. government in these matters. You should seek legal counsel concerning the particulars of your case. If you are a non-U.S. citizen seeking to immigrate a child adopted from the U.S. back to your country of citizenship, you should seek further...