Continued from Overview of Steps in Haitian Adoption--Part One...

When your file has exited the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it will then be prepared for submittal to IBESR. IBESR is Haiti’s Social Services Department. An IBESR social worker will review your file (with your child’s information), and decide whether or not to approve of the adoption. (The director of IBESR, the IBESR lawyer, the head of adoption services at IBESR, and the IBESR social worker must all sign off on your dossier.) This process has traditionally taken the longest time to accomplish. However, there is a new director in charge of IBESR and she has really gotten the process pared down to a more timely fashion. A realistic time-frame at this point would be to expect 3-6 months for your file to be signed out of IBESR.

Once your file has exited IBESR, your file will be submitted to Civil Court. This is where the adoption will be finalized and your child is legally yours. This process takes between 1-2 months, though has recently been taking longer. Next the file goes to Judgment (a new part of the process) for 4-6 weeks before heading over to Legalization, where it will be signed and authenticated by various government entities. This will take approximately 2-4 weeks. After this has been completed, your agency’s Haitian staff will apply for your child’s passport through the Minister of Interior Affairs. This will take approximately 2-4 weeks, as well. The child’s passport will be issued and printed through Haitian Immigration, and it will take between 1-6 weeks to complete. When the child’s passport has been obtained, your agency’s Haitian staff will set up an appointment with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This can be anywhere from 2-3 weeks. DHS will process your file (it will be sent to Mexico City for final USCIS approval). This generally takes 1-3 weeks. DHS may possibly request a DNA test on your child and his/her birth-parent, which could extend the timeframe on this process by an additional 6 weeks. After you have acquired final USCIS approval, an appointment will be made at the consulate for the child’s Visa. The parent is then able to bring their child home.

The process for non-Americans is slightly different. I will share more about that in a future post.

Information compiled with assistance from Foyer de Sion.