Effective September 4, 2007, the procedure to submit documents for visas for adopted children will change.Parents must drop off all required documents at the Consulate no later than 12:00 noon on the business day prior to day of the actual visa interview. No appointment is required to submit documents. Visa interviews will take place at 2:00 pm on the day designated, and can only take place if we have already received all the required documents. We will make every effort to issue the visa on the next working day. However, it is important to note that additional checks are required by law if the adopted child is 16 years or older. These checks delay visa issuance by up to 72 hours. Please plan your travel accordingly. We are not processing adoption on the 4th Friday of every month

U.S. law requires that the adopted child, regardless of age, be brought to the Embassy for a personal appearance before the consular officer at the time of the interview for the immigrant visa.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS FOR IR-3 AND IR-4 VISAS

1. Confirmation from the USCIS of an approved and valid I-600A petition;
2. Completed I-600 petition, with original signatures by both adopting parents. You can download a current version of the I-600 here; Please note, that in case of adoption of siblings, there is no fee for filing I-600 petition, provided I-600A has already been approved. However, if parents are adopting two or more biologically unrelated children, there will be a $670 fee for each additional child.
3. Completed Immigrant Visa application, form DS-230, Parts I and II, signed by one parent on behalf of the child, in the presence of a consular officer. Information on the form should pertain to the child, not the adopting parents.
4. Documents to show the consular officer that the child will not be a public charge in the U.S., for example, a job letter, tax returns, bank statement or other proof of the adoptive parent's or parents' assets in the U.S.
5. Results of the child's immigrant visa physical examination, including a vaccination report. Please see additional information on medical immigrant visa examination here.
6. An Affidavit of Acknowledgement of Health Problems of Adopted Child. Both parents' signatures should be notarized. Please do not sign this document before you come to the Embassy - it must be signed under oath in the presence of a U.S. Consular Officer. Alternatively, it can be notarized in the U.S. Please make sure to include all health problems that are listed in the adoption court decree and medical history of the child(ren) (if available).
7. Affidavit of Vaccinations Requirement Waiver. Please do not sign this document before you come to the Embassy - it must be signed under oath in the presence of a U.S. Consular Officer. The form may be signed by either of the adopting parents and notarized by a U.S. Consular Officer or U.S. notary public. This form is required only for children 10 years of age and younger. You can download this form here.
8. Completed Form I-864W (Intending Immigrant's Affidavit of Support Exemption available here.
9. Immigrant visa fee of U.S. $400 for each child (if a second adopted child is unrelated to the first one, an additional I-600 application fee of $670 is also charged) - payable in U.S. cash only to the Embassy cashier.
10. An original and two copies of the Ukrainian court decree granting the adoption.
11. An original and two copies of a birth certificate issued in the child's new (adopted) name.
12. Two copies of the court decree declaring that the child is an orphan and/or unambiguously declaring that any surviving parents have no legal parental rights under Ukrainian law. As an alternative to the court decree, adopting parents may present two copies of a certificate of abandonment produced by the biological parents, the police or the hospital.
13. Two notarized copies of the child's pre-adoption birth certificate. Note: The district office of vital records confiscates this birth certificate as part of the adoption proceedings, so please make the copies before your court date.
14. The original and a copy of the orphanage's medical report/medical history for the child. This report must be thorough and provide all information that was submitted to the court.
15. The original and a copy of a Ukrainian travel document (passport), issued in the child's new adopted name.
16. The original and a copy of each of the adopting parents' passports.
17. One passport-size frontal facial photograph of the child.
18. Police Certificates For Adopted Youth Age 16 Or Older!
    All visa applicants, including those being adopted by U.S. citizens, must obtain police certificates from Ukraine and any other country in which they have lived for at least one year since the applicant's sixteenth birthday.
    In Ukraine the police certificate (form IP-1) can be obtained from the oblast centers from the Departments of Information Technology at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The police certificate must include all of the names the adopted child has ever used (both pre and post-adoption) in the country from where the police certificate is issued. In addition to the actual certificate, petitioners should also submit a translation and copy of the certificate.

Each Ukrainian document and copy submitted must be accompanied by official English translations. For official translation services, you may consider approaching one of the translation offices listed in our flyer. It is not mandatory to use services of these particular translation bureaus. You may approach any other licensed/official translation centers or bureaus.

Both sets of photocopied documents with English translations will be retained for use in issuing the immigrant visa. Therefore, if you wish to keep photocopies for your records, you must make these prior to the interview.

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ADDITIONAL POSSIBLE REQUIREMENTS FOR AN IR-4 VISA

1. Certified copy of the approved home study.
2. Evidence that the pre-adoption requirements of the adopting parents' state of residence have been met.
3. Evidence that re-adoption is legally possible in the parents' state of residence, if applicable.
4. A notarized statement from the parent who has not met the child, that he or she intends to adopt the child in the United States.
5. Form I-864 Affidavit of Support and supporting documentation. For instructions, please click here.
6. Forms I-600 and Acknowledgement of Health Problem must be signed by the petitioner's spouse as well.

If everything is in order, the child's immigrant visa will usually be issued by 4:00 p.m. on the day of the final interview. Adopting parents can plan to depart from Kyiv after the visa has been issued.

Please note that your adopted child is not an American citizen and can not obtain an American passport until s/he enters the territory of the U.S. (see information on the Child Citizenship Act of 2000.

Therefore, if you are transiting other countries en route to the U.S., or if you are temporarily residing abroad, your Ukrainian-citizen child may require a non-immigrant visa from the third country, especially if your stay in that country will exceed 24 hours. Please check with the corresponding Embassies about their requirements and hours of operation. The U.S. Embassy cannot make such arrangements for you.

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NEW MACHINE-READABLE IMMIGRANT VISAS (MRIV)

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AUTHENTICATION PROCESS FOR DOCUMENTS ISSUED IN UKRAINE

Please see information on legalization of documents in Ukraine here.

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