Adoption living apart

[Chancy 6,243]

4 hours ago, Pinkrlion said:

you have to prove that the parents, and the grandparents are incapable of providing basic care for the child in standards of the home country.

 

That's not accurate.  The consulate will not require such proof from the adoptive parents.  That is a matter for the family court to decide.  The consulate will accept a domestic adoption of a child who is not an orphan, as long as the adoption was legally obtained and meets the requirements for immigration purposes, which are -- the adoption must:

1. Create a legal permanent parent-child relationship comparable to that of a natural legitimate child between a child and someone who is not already the child's legal parent, and the parent-child relationship cannot be terminated for other than “serious” or “grave” reasons; and
2. Terminate the legal parent-child relationship with the prior legal parent(s); and
3. Be valid under the law of the country (or political subdivision) granting the simple adoption

Also, the consul officer must accept the adoption decree as valid, unless there is credible evidence that -- the adoption was:

1. Flawed in its execution (e.g., a court lacked jurisdiction over the adoption or prior parents did not consent to the adoption or were not given proper notice of the termination of parental rights); or
2. Granted due to official corruption or the use of fraud or material misrepresentation.

More info here -- https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM050203.html

 

@Deden@2017 -- I think the biggest challenge for you will be ensuring that your child's adoption is 100% by the book.  Plus, you still need to fulfill that 2-year custody requirement.  Also note this requirement that's specially relevant in your case --

 

"The child must have been under the parental control of the adoptive parents to the exclusion of the biological parents for at least two years prior to immigration. During this time, the adoptive parents must exercise primary parental control. Evidence must be presented to establish that the child and the adoptive parents had a bona fide parent-child relationship during any periods they resided separately."

 

List of PH-specific requirements from the US embassy in Manila's Important Notice to Parents about Domestic Adoptions -- https://www.ustraveldocs.com/ph/ph-iv-adoption.asp#notice

 

It might be worthwhile to consult with another immigration lawyer to check if your child's adoption meets the requirements in the pages I linked above.  Choose a lawyer that has good experience with immigration of children adopted through domestic adoption and applied at the US embassy in Manila as IR2 cases.  You'll need to be very specific as the rules for orphan (IR3/IR4) and Hague Convention (IH3/IH4) adoptees are different from those that apply to your child.