Haiti Adoption Program

GENERAL INFORMATION: Haiti is located on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, 680 miles from Florida. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Many of the children available for adoption have living parents who placed them in orphanages because of poverty. The massive earthquake in January 2010 only worsened conditions in Haiti, leaving a large percent of the population homeless. Despite its current poverty, Haiti has a rich history as the first and only nation in the world formed by a successful revolution of slaves.

CHILDREN AVAILABLE:
Children of the World works with House of Hope orphanage in Port-Au-Prince to place children for adoption. Girls ages five and up are available for adoption. Younger girls are occasionally available. Children with siblings in the orphanage must be adopted with their siblings. In most cases, it is possible to meet the children’s birth parents and have a semi-open adoption.

REQUIREMENTS:
Couples and single women age 35 and older may adopt. The age requirement may be waived if couples have documented infertility. Couples must be married 10 years. Years of cohabitation may count toward the 10-year requirement if they can be proven with documentation. Couples cannot already have biological children. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis with approval from the President of Haiti.

PROCESS:
You must have an approved home study from a licensed agency in their state of residence. You must prepare an adoption dossier according to the requirements of the Haitian government. You should file an I-600A form with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the time you send your dossier to Haiti.

Your dossier must be approved by the Haitian adoption authority (IBESR) and the Haitian courts. After the adoption is approved by IBESR, you must travel to Haiti to file your I-600 Application to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative. Travel time for this trip can be as short as four days. Once the adoption is approved by the Haitian courts, the child must receive a Haitian passport. After the passport is received and the I-600 is approved, parents can travel to Haiti to apply for the child’s visa and take them home. Travel time for the second trip is approximately seven days. The total process from the time your dossier reaches Haiti until you can bring your child home typically takes two years.

More information can be found in the documents below.

Haiti Adoption Process

Haiti Adoption Fees

Haiti Dossier Requirements

Please contact our office for more details.