U.S. Citizens
If you are a U.S. citizen applying to bring a child or son or daughter to the United States to live and you are the mother of the child, you must file the following with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
- Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
- A copy of your birth certificate or U.S. passport
- If you were not born in the United States, a copy of either:
- your Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship or
- your U.S. passport
- A copy of the child’s birth certificate showing your name and the child’s name
- If anyone’s name has been legally changed (if it differs from the name on his or her birth certificate), evidence of the name change must be submitted.
If you are a U.S. citizen and the father or stepparent of the child or son or daughter, you must file the following with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
- Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
- A copy of your birth certificate or U.S. passport
- If you were not born in the U.S., a copy of either:
- your Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship or
- your U.S. passport
- A copy of the child’s birth certificate showing the child’s name and the names of both parents
- A copy of civil marriage certificate showing the names of both parents, or proof that a parent/child relationship exists or existed (if you are petitioning for a stepchild, your marriage to the child’s parent must take place before the stepchild’s 18th birthday)
- A copy of any divorce decrees, death certificates, or annulment decrees that establish the termination of any previous marriages entered into by you or your spouse
- Fathers petitioning for a child born out of wedlock must provide evidence that a parent/child relationship exists or existed. For example, the child’s birth certificate displaying the father’s name, evidence showing that the father and child at some point lived together, or that the father held out the child as his own, or that he has made financial contributions in support of the child, or that in general his behavior evidenced genuine concern for an interest in the child. A blood test proving paternity (like services such as this paternity test AZ facility offers) may also be necessary.
- If anyone’s name has been legally changed (if it differs from the name on his or her birth certificate), evidence of the name change must be submitted.
If you are a U.S. citizen and the adoptive parent of a child or son or daughter who lived with you in your legal custody for two years while a child, you must file the following with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:
- Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
- A copy of your birth certificate or U.S. passport
- If you were not born in the U.S., a copy of either:
- your Certificate of Naturalization or Citizenship or
- your U.S. passport
- A copy of the child’s birth certificate showing the child’s name – if nothing is known of the adopted child’s family, resources such as those on Genealogy Bank can help to find archival census data.
- A certified copy of the adoption decree (the adoption must have taken place before the child reached the age of 16, with only one exception: if you adopted the child’s sibling who had not yet reached age 16, the older sibling must have been adopted before reaching the age of 18)
- The legal custody decree if you obtained custody of the child before adoption
- A statement showing the dates and places your child has lived with you, and proof that your child has lived with you and has been in your legal custody for at least two years
- If anyone’s name has been legally changed (if it differs from the name on his or her birth certificate), evidence of the name change must be submitted.
Orphans
In each case, if the child is in the U.S. and unmarried and under 21 years of age, he or she may file a Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status concurrently with your petition. For information on how to file this application, please refer to How Do I Become a Lawful Permanent Resident While In the United States?
For more information, you may also refer to How Do I Apply to Bring a Foreign-Born Orphan into the U.S.?
