Factsheet, Page 2
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PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION OF ADOPTED ORPHANS TO THE U.S.: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to orphans
Fiscal Year | Number of Immigrant Visas Issued   |
FY 2004 | 10 |
FY 2003 | 3 |
FY 2002 | 4 |
FY 2001 | 9 |
FY 2000 | 17 |
ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN Costa Rica:
The Patronato Nacional de la Infancia (PANI), the Costa Rican child welfare authority, oversees adoptions of abandoned orphans who are in public institutions, and plays a consultative role in private adoptions, as well. PANI may be contacted as follows:
Patronato Nacional de La Infancia
P.O. Box 5000
San Jose, Costa Rica
phone: (506) 233-0005 or (506) 222-0443
fax: (506) 233-2414
e-mail: paniadop@racsa.co.cr
PANI contacts a prospective adoptive family when they identify a child for adoption, even calling collect if authorized by the family. Pictures and related information about the child will be sent by airmail. Note that there is a backlog in pending cases.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS: Costa Rican law permits adoption by married and single persons. A foreign couple must have been married for at least five years in order to be able to adopt a child from Costa Rica. Prospective adoptive parents must be at least 25 and under 60 years of age.
RESIDENTIAL REQUIREMENTS: Costa Rican law requires that, at the initial stage of the adoption process, both prospective adoptive parents must be in Costa Rica to sign the official consent documents before the Costa Rican court. In the case of adoption by a single parent, that parent must be present to sign the documents. At least 15 days should be allowed for this initial trip. At the end of the process, one of the adoptive parents, or the sole parent if it is a single parent adoption, must be in Costa Rica to finish the paperwork for the adoption, obtain a travel document for the child, and complete immigration procedures at the U.S. Embassy. Since the length of time for the entire adoption process may vary (it can take as long as four months to a year), many prospective adoptive parents make two trips to Costa Rica; others prefer to remain in Costa Rica for the entire process.
While in Costa Rica, the adopting parents need to take the following steps to satisfy adoption requirements:
- Meet the child;
- Give formal consent for the adoption at the court;
- Obtain a decree of abandonment;
- Obtain a certified copy of the final adoption decree from the court;
- Register the adoption at the local Civil Registry;
- Obtain a birth certificate from the Civil Registry with the new name of the child;
- Obtain PANI authorization for the child to leave the country;
- Obtain a passport for the child.
TIME FRAME:
An adoption in Costa Rica generally takes from four to twelve months from the time a decree of abandonment has been issued or an official request for adoption of a specific child is placed before the court.
ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS :
At the current time, adoptions in Costa Rica can be arranged through the government agency, PANI, or through private channels. PANI works with international adoption agencies accredited in Costa Rica to place abandoned children. In private adoptions, where children are released by their parents directly to a private attorney, PANI is consulted and will give an opinion on the adoption, but the judge is not bound to act in accordance with that opinion. There have been allegations of fraud in connection with private adoptions, and the Costa Rican National Council on Adoptions strongly discourages them.
Locating and adopting children abroad can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience. The U.S. Embassy has found that parents who employ the services of an adoption agency accredited in Costa Rica, or who work directly with PANI, have had an advantage in the smooth processing of adoption applications.
Prospective adopting parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services. For U.S.- based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adopting parents contact the Better Business Bureau and licensing office of the Department of Health and Family Services in the state where the agency is located. They may also wish to contact the U.S. Embassy in San Jose to ascertain whether agency or facilitator has been the subject of an investigation brought to the attention of the Embassy.
Please see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at our Web site travel.state.gov.
Credits: U.S. Department of State
