IAA: Summary of Provisions


Summary of the Provisions of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA)

The State Department is to establish and oversee the process of accreditation/approval of U.S. adoption service providers, and will designate at least one non-federal qualified accrediting entity to perform the actual Convention accreditation/approval function pursuant to published standards and procedures.

  • The State Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS/CIS) will establish a case registry for all incoming and outgoing adoptions covered by the Hague Convention as well as non-Convention intercountry adoptions.
  • All home studies on U.S. prospective adoptive parents must be approved by a Convention-accredited adoption agency.
  • The State Department must report annually to Congress on the activities of the U.S. Central Authority, including specified data and information.
  • With specified exceptions, adoption services for Convention adoptions may be offered and provided only by (1) accredited agencies (non-profit) or (2) approved persons (other agencies and individuals), by (3) smaller agencies qualifying for registration for temporary accreditation and (4) adoption service providers acting under the supervision and responsibility of an accredited agency or approved person.
  • The Act lists specific requirements/standards for Convention accreditation and imposes essentially the same requirements/standards for Convention approval.
  • Convention accreditation or approval is subject to possible suspension, cancellation, or non-renewal if identified deficiencies are not corrected in a timely manner.
  • Permanent and temporary debarment of an adoption service provider is possible, and an agency or person charged with certain egregious and specified violations may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
  • The Act provides for certain certifications to be made in support of the requirement that Convention adoptions be accorded recognition.
  • Convention adoptions will be recognized and given effect in the United States according to the Hague Convention.
  • The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) is amended by providing for a new category of children who are qualified to receive immigrant visas either because of their Convention adoption abroad or their placement abroad with U.S. prospective adoptive parents for Convention adoption in the United States.
  • Children residing in the United States and being adopted by persons residing in another party country may be adopted in the United States or placed in the United States for adoption in the receiving country only if the appropriate local court in the United States determines that the requirements of the Convention to safeguard the child and the parents involved have been met.
  • The Act provides for the preservation of records about Convention adoptions held by the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) under regulations to be issued by the Department of State.
  • Convention adoptions made among party countries before the Convention enters into force for the United States are to be accorded recognition in the United States.

Note: On September 15, 2003, the Department of State published for public comment proposed regulations on the accreditation and approval of adoption service providers who wish to provide services in adoption cases subject to the Convention, and the preservation of Convention records. We are now reviewing and analyzing the public comments and will modify the proposed rules and republish the rules as proposed or final regulations as appropriate.

Our website (http://travel.state.gov) includes information on Hague Convention implementation and you are encouraged to check it regularly for updates the Department’s implementation of the Hague Convention on Intercountry and the IAA. The Office of Children’s Issues is available now as the point of contact for the public for many of the programmatic functions it will have under the Convention.

Sources for List of Countries Party to the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention, the Texts of the Hague Convention and the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000

 
Text of the 1993 Hague Convention can be found here or see Senate Treaty Doc. 105-51; 32 International Legal Materials 1139 (1993). For the text of the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, see 42 U.S.C. 14901 et seq.; 114 Stat. 825; P.L. 106-279; 41 International Legal Materials 222 (2002);
 

April 2005