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Summary of the Provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA)
- The State Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS/CIS) will establish a case
registry for all incoming and outgoing adoptions covered by the Hague Convention as well as
non-Convention intercountry adoptions.
- All home studies on U.S. prospective adoptive parents must be approved by a
Convention-accredited adoption agency.
- The State Department must report annually to Congress on the activities of the U.S.
Central Authority, including specified data and information.
- With specified exceptions, adoption services for Convention adoptions may be offered and
provided only by (1) accredited agencies (non-profit) or (2) approved persons (other agencies
and individuals), by (3) smaller agencies qualifying for registration for temporary
accreditation and (4) adoption service providers acting under the supervision and
responsibility of an accredited agency of approved person.
- The Act lists specific requirements/standards for Convention accreditation and imposes
essentially the same requirements/standards for Convention approval.
- Convention accreditation or approval is subject to possible suspension, cancellation, or
non-renewal if identified deficiencies are not corrected in a timely manner.
- Permanent and temporary debarment of an adoption service provider is possible, and an
agency or person charged with certain egregious and specified violations may be subject to
civil or criminal penalties.
- The Act provides for certain certifications to be made in support of the requirement that
Convention adoptions be accorded recognition.
- Convention adoptions will be recognized and given effect in the United States according to
the Hague Convention.
- The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is amended by providing for a new category of
children who are qualified to receive immigrant visas either because of their Convention
adoption abroad or their placement abroad with the U.S. prospective adoptive parents for
Convention adoptions in the United States.
- Children residing in the United States and being adopted by persons residing in another
party country may be adopted in the United States or placed in the United States for adoption
in the receiving country only if the appropriate local court in the United States determines
that the requirements of the Convention to safeguard the child and the parents involved have
been met.
- The Act provides for the preservation of records about Convention adoptions held by the
Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) under regulations to be
issued by the Department of State.
- Convention adoptions made among party countries before the Convention enters to force for
the United States are to be accorded recognition in the United States.
Hague Convention: Advantages and Provisions
Major Advantages of the Convention and Its Implementation
- Provides, for the first time, formal international and intergovernmental recognition of
intercountry adoption.
- Recognizes intercountry adoption, as defined and treated by the Convention, as a means of
offering the advantage of a permanent family to a child for whom a suitable family has not
been found in the child's country of origin.
- Establishes a set of internationally agreed minimum requirements and procedures uniformly
to govern intercountry adoptions in which a child moves from one Convention party to
another.
- Requires that countries party to the Convention establish a Central Authority to be the
authoritative source of information and point of contact in that country, to carry out certain
functions, to cooperate with other Central Authorities, and to ensure effective implementation
of the Convention in the United States.
- Provides a means for ensuring that adoptions made pursuant to the Convention will
generally be recognized and given effect in other party countries.
- Facilities the adoption by U.S. adoptive parents of children, safeguarded by the
Convention, who will qualify for immigration and automatic naturalization in the United
States.
Summary of the Convention's Provisions
- The Convention will apply to adoptions in which children move from one Convention party
country to another.
- Such an adoption may take place only if: the country of origin has established that the
child is adoptable, that due consideration has been given to the child's adoption in its country
of origin and an intercountry adoption is in the child's best interest, and that after
counseling, the necessary consents to the adoption have been given freely, AND, the receiving
country has determined that the prospective adoptive parents are eligible and suited to adopt,
and that the child they wish to adopt will be authorized to enter and reside permanently in that
country.
- Adoption agencies and individual providers of international adoption services may be authorized
to perform designated functions with regard to individual adoption cases provided they have become
Hague Convention accredited or approved.
- Persons wishing to adopt a child resident in another party country must initially apply to a
designated authority in their own country to obtain approval for intercountry adoption.
- The Convention provides that, with limited exceptions, there can be no contact between the
prospective adoptive parents and any parent or other person/institution that cares for the child
until certain requirements have been met.
- The Convention requires the recognition of Convention adoptions certified as such, unless
recognition would be manifestly contrary to the country's public policy, taking into account the
best interests of the child.
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