Factsheet
e-mail
- Photo Gallery
- Factsheet
Disclaimer: The following is intended as a very general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child in Costa Rica and apply for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. Two sets of laws are particularly relevant: 1) the laws of Costa Rica govern all activity in Costa Rica including the adoptability of individual children as well as the adoption of children in country. 2) U.S. Federal immigration law governs the immigration of the child to the United States. The information in this flier relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and our current understanding. It does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the laws of Costa Rica and is provided for general information only. Moreover, U.S. immigration law, including regulations and interpretation, changes from time to time. This flyer reflects our current understanding of the law as of this date and is not legally authoritative. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.
PLEASE NOTE: Costa Rica’s adoption procedures are in flux at the moment, due to a moratorium on some international adoptions processed through the child welfare office, and the existence of a private channel to international adoption that may soon be abolished:
The Costa Rican National Council on Adoptions has instituted a moratorium on any adoptions through its offices to countries that have not fully implemented the Hague Adoption Convention. At this time, the United States has not fully implemented the Convention, and this moratorium is therefore in effect for the United States, prohibiting the adoption through government offices of Costa Rican children by U.S. citizens who do not reside in Costa Rica. (U.S. citizens who have legal residence in Costa Rica, as well as persons who have both U.S. and Costa Rican citizenship, are still permitted to adopt Costa Rican children through government offices.) Those adoption cases that were already in the Costa Rican governmental adjudication process at the time the moratorium took effect have been permitted to proceed, but no new cases are being accepted.
Complicating the picture, a law to abolish private adoptions (those that are not handled by the Costa Rican National Council on Adoptions, but which, are arranged by an attorney and approved by a judge) was struck down on July 3, 2003 by the Costa Rican Constitutional Court We understand that the legislation will be revised and reintroduced, but we do not know when, nor do we know what will happen in cases that have been initiated through private channels but not completed if this law does go into effect. The Costa Rican Government could terminate these cases. There have been allegations of fraud in connection with private adoptions, and the Costa Rican National Council on Adoptions strongly discourages them.
For the duration of this moratorium, the following information about adoption of Costa Rican children through Costa Rican government offices pertains to U.S. citizens who have legal residence in Costa Rica, or who hold both U.S. and Costa Rican citizenship.
Throughout this document, the acronym USCIS refers to the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the acronym PANI refers to the Costa Rican child welfare authority, the Patronato Nacional de la Infancia.
Credits: U.S. Department of State
