Obtaining U.S. Immigrant Visas for Vietnamese Orphans

STAGE I: WORKING WITH CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services)
I-600A Petition. For all families hoping to adopt a child from Vietnam, the first step is to file an I-600A Petition (Advanced Processing of Petition for Orphaned or Abandoned Child) with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The I-600A petition ensures you have approval to adopt a child from abroad and that all State pre-adoption requirements have been met. The I-600A must be filed with the CIS office having jurisdiction over your place of residence. You should contact the nearest CIS office for information on filing the I-600A petition.

I-600 Petition. When you have identified a child in Vietnam whom you wish to adopt, you must file an I-600 Petition (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) with CIS.

If you file the I-600 petition in the U.S., try to ensure CIS approves the petition before you leave for Vietnam to receive your child. You should ask CIS to send telegraphic notice of approval (called a Visas 38 or Visas 39 cable) or to fax notification of petition approval to the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. We cannot accept fax copies of the Notice of Approval sent directly from you, but we can accept the original CIS Notice of Approval of the I-600 petition (called an I-171) presented at the time of your child's interview.

If you wish to file the I-600 petition with the CIS office in Ho Chi Minh City, you should contact their office directly for details at:

Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)
9th Floor, Saigon Centre
65 Le Loi St., District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Tel: (848) 821-6237
Fax: (848) 821-6241

The I-600 petition must be approved before processing for a U.S. immigrant visa can begin. The Consulate General will not interview an adopted child that does not have an approved I-600 petition. CIS Ho Chi Minh City requires original or certified copies of all Vietnamese documents submitted with I-600 applications. Original or certified copies of all Vietnamese documents will also be required at the time of the interview at the U. S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. CIS Ho Chi Minh City forwards all original documents with the approved petition to the Consulate General, normally within one working day of your approval notification. The CIS documents will be returned to you when you pick up your visa.

FBI fingerprint responses on I-600A and I-600 petitions are valid for a period of 15 months. Prospective adoptive parents who will be filing I-600 petitions abroad are strongly encouraged to review the validity of their fingerprint checks before coming to Vietnam to proceed with adoption cases.


STAGE II: PREPARING FOR THE VISA INTERVIEW (DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Original or certified copies of all Vietnamese documents will be required at the time of the interview in Ho Chi Minh City. The documents used in the visa interview will be returned to you at the end of the interview. The basic set of Vietnamese documents which you must possess to process the visa case are:

- Child's birth certificate (if the parents' names are known, the names must appear on the birth certificate)

A. For single-parent relinquishments: statement of relinquishment of the child by the parent with the reasons for the relinquishment and evidence that the parent was unmarried at the time the child was relinquished (marital status should be verified by police or other competent authority).

B. For abandonments: a statement from the orphanage/hospital detailing the circumstances in which the child became an orphan with police certification that the abandoned child's parents could not be located.

C. For two-parent relinquishments: statement of relinquishment of the child by parents to an orphanage with the reasons for the relinquishment

- Orphanage release of the child for foreign adoption (optional) 
- Death Certificate of the child's deceased parent or parents (if applicable) 
- People's Committee Decision authorizing the adoption 
- Process-Verbal ("Giving and Receiving" certificate) 
- Valid Vietnamese passport.

In addition, English translations must be provided for all Vietnamese documents. You should also have photocopies of all the child's Vietnamese documents at the time of the interview.

NOTE: If custody of the child is transferred from one individual or institution to another, the transfer must be clearly documented. An "Orphanage Acceptance", specifying that an orphanage accepts custody of a child, is an example of a transfer of custody document.

Please note: This is the list of required documents under the previous Vietnamese adoption law. As soon as adoptions resume between Vietnam and the United States, the list of required documents may change. We will inform the public through additional public announcements as information becomes available.

Medical examination. Prior to the interview, the child must undergo a medical examination. The only facility in Vietnam authorized to perform medical examinations for U.S. immigrant visa applications is Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. There are no U.S. government-authorized medical facilities in Hanoi or any other city in Vietnam.

CHO RAY HOSPITAL
Special Medical Unit, c/o Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Yen
201B Nguyen Chi Thanh, Ward 12, District 5
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: (848) 856-5703
Fax: (848) 857-5926

The medical examination normally takes about thirty minutes. You should plan to do the exam the day before the interview. The sealed medical examination results must be presented at the interview.

If the child is 10 years of age or older, before the child goes to Cho Ray Hospital, the child must first go to the Quarantine Service to receive three immunizations: Tetanus-Diphtheria, MMR and Hepatitis B. The immunization process takes about 30 minutes and the child must present his or her passport to receive these immunizations. The Quarantine Service will provide a record of the immunizations to bring to Cho Ray Hospital.

QUARANTINE SERVICE
40 Nguyen Van Troi Street, Phu Nhuan District
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: (848) 844 5306
Fax: (848) 844 0157


STAGE III: THE IMMIGRANT VISA INTERVIEW

During the immigrant visa interview, a Department of State consular officer will verify that the child meets the legal definition of an orphan and that the orphan's documentation is correct. If the visa is approved, the visa will be issued at 4:00 p.m. the same day. The visa will allow the child to enter the U.S. as a legal immigrant.

Visa Interview. After you have evidence of an approved I-600 petition from CIS and have the documents listed above, you may contact the U.S. Consulate General to schedule an appointment. Interviews are held at the U.S. Consulate General at 4 Le Duan Street, Ho Chi Minh City between 8:30 am and 12:00 noon every business day, excluding Vietnamese and American holidays. To make an appointment, please call the Consulate General at 822-9433, ext. 2172 or 2112. Since pre-screening will not be carried out in advance of the interview, please do not fax documents to the Consulate General. The interview will take about thirty minutes.

Visa Application Forms. The following items should be completed and/or presented at the time of interview. An immigrant visa cannot be issued if any of the specified items are missing. 

- Form DS-230 Part I and II (Immigrant Visa Application Form) 
- Form OF-157 (Report of Medical Examination) will be supplied by the Cho Ray Hospital
- Affidavit concerning exemption from immigrant vaccination requirements for a foreign adopted child (this document can be completed during the visa interview)
- The child's Vietnamese passport 
- Four color photos of your child in accordance with U.S. immigrant visa photo specifications
- Originals or certified copies of all documents previously submitted as explained above in “Stage II”

An Affidavit of Support (Form I-864) is required only in the following situation. In cases involving a married petitioner, where one parent has not met the child, the petitioner will be required to submit an original, signed, and notarized I-864 Affidavit of Support and all required, supplemental documents as detailed below. 

- Copies of the Federal income tax returns with all W-2s and other supporting schedules/forms for the three most recent tax years
- A current letter of employment or pay statement 
- Form I-864A for household member sponsors (e.g. spouses) plus proof of U.S. citizenship or Legal Permanent Resident status 
- If income requirements are not met by the petitioner, joint sponsors may submit a separate I-864 with the above documentation plus proof of U.S. citizenship or Legal Permanent Resident status.

Paying Fees. While the child's documents are being checked, you will be asked to go to the Immigrant Visa Unit cashier to pay a combined visa application and issuance fee of $335.00. Payment can only be made in U.S. dollars. Bills that are torn, stained, or otherwise damaged cannot be accepted.


STAGE IV: VISA PRODUCTION AND PICK-UP

Visas are usually ready for collection at 4:00 p.m. in Room #4 the day of the visa interview. Once you have the issued visa in hand you may proceed to the United States with your child. The sealed visa package must be given unopened to the CIS officer at your port of entry into the U.S.

A FEW WORDS OF ADVICE

The Vietnamese bureaucracy is difficult to navigate, and the required paperwork may take months to complete. For this reason, the Consulate General recommends families wishing to adopt a child from Vietnam use the services of a reputable adoption agency with experience operating in Vietnam. Agencies are able to locate an orphan and complete the paperwork on your behalf up to the last stages of the process. The Consulate General cannot recommend a specific agency.

At present Vietnamese law requires foreigners adopting Vietnamese children to adopt a child from a government facility, such as an orphanage or hospital. Adopting a child directly from a natural parent or parents is in certain cases prohibited under U.S. immigration law. The Consulate General strongly discourages prospective parents from attempting such direct adoptions.

CONTACTING THE ADOPTION TEAM

Please feel free to contact the Adoption Team. We may be reached by phone at (84-8) 822-9433 (Vietnam is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time). The Adoption Team’s fax number is (84-8) 825-0938. You may also contact us by email at our dedicated adoption email address: adoptionvietnam@state.gov.

If you wish to contact us by U.S. domestic mail, please use this address:

Adoption Team, Immigrant Visa Unit
American Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City
PSC 461 Box 500
FPO AP 96521-0002

To contact us by international mail or from an address within Vietnam, please use this address:

Adoption Team, Immigrant Visa Unit
American Consulate General
4 Le Duan Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City
Vietnam