ADOPTION VISA PROCEDURES

The American Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia processes immigrant visas for citizens of Georgia and Azerbaijan (including adoption cases.) Please note that specific adoption requirements may differ in each of these countries. Click on the appropriate link below for documents required for a specific country:

• Georgian Adoption Requirements or contact the Embassy in Tbilisi at consulate-tbilisi@state.gov
• Azerbaijani Adoption Requirements or contact the Embassy in Baku at consularbaku@state.gov

NOTICE:  As of April 1, 2008, the Hague Convention will apply to adoptions from Georgia.  We do not yet have information on how adoptions will be processed in Georgia after April 1.
Adoption Visa Processing

(For Georgian and Azerbaijani adoptions)
Families or their facilitators should call the Embassy (Consular Section) at 27-70-00 and request to speak to the American Citizen Services Assistant (ACS Assistant) to schedule an appointment 1-2 days in advance. The ACS Assistant will create a tentative schedule on behalf of Immigrant Visa Unit for orphan visa interviews. We will continue our practice of accommodating, to the extent possible, families who drop in unannounced.

Day One
Afternoon: Presentation of Documents
Adoption agency representatives are welcome to submit documents, Monday through Friday, from 3:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. in the Consular Section at Window 1. The 5:00 p.m. cutoff time is firm. Those arriving after this time will be instructed to return on the next business day. The Consular Section entrance is located at the rear of the Embassy (11 George Balanchine St.)

• Adopting parents should present their U.S. passports to the Embassy guards and enter the building.
• After passing through a security checkpoint at the entrance, follow the signs to the Consular section and enter the main building through a steel/glass door. This brings you into the Consular Section's lobby and waiting room.
• The agency representative or American parent(s) must first pay the relevant application fees ($400 per child) before submitting the application and accompanying documents. Please note that in accordance with Part 204.3 of the Code of Federal Regulations if more than one child has been adopted and the orphans are siblings, no additional fee is required. If the orphans are not siblings, an additional fee is required for each orphan beyond the first orphan.
• If a family is adopting independently only one of the spouses may submit the necessary documents in the morning. The adopted child is welcome to accompany parents; although their presence is not a requirement at this stage.
• Please make sure the spelling of names and date of birth is accurate on the DS-230 form as this is the information we will use to prepare the visa for the child. The information must be accurate and mistakes will result in permanent mistakes on the child’s naturalization certificate.
• Turn in all documentation and four (4) photos of the child: three (3) 3x4 cm “three-quarter” profile pictures and one (1) full-faced 5x5 cm picture. *See Sample
• If the case documentation is complete, a ticket with an interview time will be issued for the American family the next day. Interview times are scheduled in 15-minute increments. A telephone number where the agency representative or the parents can be reached is also needed at this time.
• If the case documentation is not complete, the Immigrant Visa Unit employee will outline what is needed to proceed with the case. If the problem cannot be remedied by 5:00p.m, we will schedule an appointment for the next working day after the problem is resolved.

Day Two
The next working day (afternoon): Visa Interviews

• The adoptive parents should arrive with their adopted child for their scheduled appointment at the Consular Section no more than fifteen minutes before their scheduled interview. Only American citizens and their adopted children will be admitted to the Embassy grounds for the interview. Agency representatives and others, including families who arrive early must wait outside.
• Proceed through security and into the Consular Section waiting room and turn your appointment slip into Window 1 (first window on the right.) You will be asked to take a seat until your name is called.
• The interview will be brief; you should expect to be able to answer questions about the adoption process, your financial status, and the health of the adopted child. You will also sign the immigrant visa application (DS 230), the I-600 (blue form) and Vaccination Affidavit on behalf of you child.
• If the Consular Officer approves the visa, he/she will sign the appropriate forms and hand the entire visa package to an Immigrant Visa Unit employee completion of the visa processing. Upon completion, the Consular Officer will then hand the sealed immigrant visa envelope to the adoptive parents. The parents should review the visa carefully to insure that all information is accurate so that any errors can be corrected before departing the Embassy. You will be briefed on the entry procedures at the Port-of-Entry in the U.S. and given instructions on how to apply for U.S. citizenship for your adopted child.
• After you receive the visa, you may exit the Embassy Building. Congratulations!

If a problem arises, the interviewing consular officer will discuss with the parents exactly what the remaining issues are, and how they might be resolved.
AGE AND CIVIL STATUS REQUIREMENTS:
The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 101 (b) (1) (F) provides for the immigration of a child :
1. who is under the age of sixteen* at the time a petition is filed on his behalf; and
2. who is an orphan

• because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both parents or
• for whom the sole or surviving parent is incapable of providing the proper care and has in writing irrevocably released the child for emigration and adoption.

3. and who either

• has been adopted abroad by
  a US citizen and spouse jointly, or by an unmarried US citizen at least 25 years old, who personally saw and observed the child prior to or during the adoption proceedings, or
• is coming to the US for adoption by a US citizen and spouse jointly, or by an unmarried US citizen at least 25 years old, who have or has complied with the pre-adoption requirements, if any, of the child's proposed residence.

* A recent amendment to the INA provides for the immigration of an orphan who is under the age of eighteen at the time the petition is filed, provided that child is the natural sibling of an orphan under the age sixteen who is being or was adopted by the same petitioner(s).
**According to the Georgian adoption law taking effect on May 1, 2008, children must must have been registered in the state database for children left without parental care for not less than eighteen months in order to become available for adoption by foreign citizens.