INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION


TAIWAN


November 2006

DISCLAIMER:  The following is intended as a general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child from a foreign country 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 the child’s country of birth, which govern the adoptability of individual children as well as adoption in that country in general; and 2) U.S. Federal immigration law, which governs the immigration of the child to the United States.

The information contained in this flyer on 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 a child’s country of birth 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 and is not legally authoritative.  Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.

PLEASE NOTE:  The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.  All Consular and other representative functions are handled by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a non-profit, private corporation authorized by the Taiwan Relations Act to conduct and carry out programs, transactions, and other relations between the United States and Taiwan.

GENERAL:  The following is a guide for U.S. citizens who are interested in adopting a child in Taiwan and applying for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States.  This process involves complex foreign and U.S. legal requirements.  USCIS and consular officers give each petition careful consideration on a case-by-case basis to ensure that the legal requirements of both countries have been met, for the protection of the prospective adoptive parents, the biological parents and the child.  Interested U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to contact U.S. consular officials in Taiwan before formalizing an adoption agreement to ensure that appropriate procedures have been followed.

PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION OF ADOPTED ORPHANS FROM TAIWAN:  Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to Taiwanese orphans:

Fiscal Year       Number of Immigrant Visas Issued

FY 2006                                 187
FY 2005                                 138
FY 2004                                 107
FY 2003                                 104
FY 2002                                   48

ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN TAIWAN: 
Children’s Bureau (Er Tong Ju), Ministry of Interior
7F, No. 503 Li-Ming Road, Section 2
Nantun, Taichung 408, Taiwan
Tel: (04)-2250-2850
Fax: (04)-2250-2903
Website: http://www.cbi.gov.tw

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS:  The articles of law relating to adoption in Taiwan are found in the Civil Code (Family and Children Welfare Act in Book VI), Articles 1072 through 1083.

  • The adopting parents must be at least twenty years older than the child(ren) to be adopted.
  • No child adopted may be:
    1. Directly related by blood;
    2. Directly related by marriage, except in the adoption of the other spouse’s child as a stepchild; and
    3. Indirectly related by blood, such as cousins (unless removed by a certain degree), the spouse of a sibling, or a sibling of your spouse.  (Taiwan law is very detailed about what degree of indirect blood relation is excluded from adoption.  If prospective adoptive parents are concerned about possible blood ties with the child they wish to adopt, they should contact AIT for clarification before proceeding with the adoption.)

Taiwanese regulations further stipulate that adopting parents must be adults not older than 55 years of age.  A married person who adopts a child shall do so jointly with his/her spouse.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS:  There are currently no residency requirements that prospective adoptive parents must meet in order to adopt an orphan from Taiwan.

TIME FRAME:  The average time to complete an international adoption in Taiwan is approximately 10 months from initial contact with the adoption agency in the U.S. until the immigrant visa is issued.

ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS:  Prospective adoptive parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services.  For U.S. - based agencies, prospective adoptive parents can contact the Better Business Bureau and/or the licensing office of the appropriate state government agency in the U.S. state where the agency is located or licensed.  U.S. prospective adoptive parents interested in hiring a Taiwan attorney to assist them with this process may find a list of local attorneys at:  http://www.ait.org.tw/en

Please also see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at our Web site travel.state.gov.

ADOPTION FEES IN TAIWAN:

Court proceeding fee:   US $5
Taiwan passport application fee (regular passport):   US $30
Expedited application:   US $70
Taiwan Household Registry (HHR) application fee:   US $0.30 per copy
(All Taiwan citizens are part of a very efficient household registry system that tracks events such as births, deaths, marriage, and divorce)
Translation fees:   variable
Notary fees:   US $25 per document


ADOPTION PROCEDURES:  Most adoptions are processed through local orphanages identified by U.S. or other foreign-based adoption agencies. 

An application for adoption is first submitted to the Taiwan District Court.  After one to two months, the adoptive parent(s) or a designated representative will receive a notice to appear.  During this waiting period, a Taiwan social worker from the local bureau of social affairs or a designated agency will review the foreign (U.S.) home study.  After the hearing, the court will rule on the adoption (usually within two months) and publish a final ruling three weeks later. 

The third step is to register the adoption at the Taiwan Registrar’s office by submitting the original court ruling, final ruling, and the power of attorney certified at the Taiwan Foreign Affairs Police Station at the Taiwan Registrar’s office.  This usually takes only one hour.


DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION IN TAIWAN:  After a child has been identified, the prospective parents must submit the following documents to the Taiwan authorities to process the local adoption*:
 
  • Power of Attorney, in English and Chinese, appointing the Taiwan orphanage or social worker 
    to represent them;
  • U.S. home study and Chinese translation;
  • Evidence of prospective adoptive parents’ right to adopt in the United States (included in U.S.-certified home study)
  • I-797 approval notice of I-600A from DHS;
  • Copy of U.S. prospective adoptive parents’ home state adoption laws and Chinese translation;
  • Signed adoption agreement notarized by the TECO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office) having jurisdiction over the place of the parent(s)’ residence (in English and Chinese); and
  • Other documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) may be requested by the orphanage, agency, or Taiwan authorities.

*Chinese translations prepared in the U.S. must be certified by the TECRO/TECO office for that district and English versions must be notarized by a U.S. notary public.


ADOPTION BY U.S. CITIZENS RESIDENT IN TAIWAN:  In the event that U.S. citizens resident in Taiwan wish to adopt a child from Taiwan and obtain a U.S. immigrant visa for that child, they first need to obtain authorization from the Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Service (DHS/USCIS) regional office in Hong Kong

A U.S. citizen resident in Taiwan who is planning to return to the U.S. with an adopted child needs the following documentation to submit an I-600A package:
 
  • A completed I-600A;
  • Proof of U.S. citizenship, (e.g. a U.S. passport, birth certificate, naturalization certificate, etc.);
  • Marriage certificate (if any) and evidence of termination of previous marriages (if any) for both prospective adoptive parents;
  • A certified U.S. home study prepared by an authorized or licensed individual or agency;
  • Evidence of compliance with state pre-adoption requirements, if any;
  • Fingerprints taken on U.S.G. FD-258 forms for every adult resident in the home, regardless of their citizenship or nationality, and;
  • A Taiwan police clearance for every adult resident in the home;

AIT can accept the fees for the I-600A, take the necessary fingerprints, and send the I-600A and other required documents directly to USCIS in Hong Kong for adjudication.

Note:  If U.S. citizens resident in Taiwan plan to remain in Taiwan with the child after the adoption, the child is not eligible for an IR-3 or IR-4 visa.  Such children may be eligible for IR-2 visas after two years of residency with the U.S. adoptive parents, or may obtain a B-2 nonimmigrant visa to travel to the U.S. for naturalization proceedings.  However, they do not go through the I-600A/I-600 process. 

The Community Services Center (CSC), located in Taipei, has U.S.-educated social workers who are authorized to prepare home studies for foreign adoptions.  For more information about conducting home studies in Taiwan, interested families may contact the CSC at:

Community Services Center
No. 25, Lane 290, Chung Shan North Road, Section 6
Taipei, Taiwan 111
Tel: 886-2-2836-8134 or 2838-4947
Fax: (886)-(2)-2835-2530
Website: www.community.com.tw


AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD:  The language describing the process of authenticating U.S. documents to be used abroad is currently under review.  Please click on the following link for more information until the new language is finalized: http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/.

Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representation Office (TECRO) in the United States:

Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representation Office (TECRO) Washington
4201 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20016
(202) 895-1800
E-mail tecroinfodc@tecro-info.org

There are also Taiwan Economic and Cultural Offices (TECO) in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Guam, Honolulu, Houston,
Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Seattle.


U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS:  Prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to consult USCIS publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adopting Children, as well as the Department of State publication,International Adoptions. The USCIS publication is available at the USCIS Web site.  The Department of State publication International Adoptions can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Web site, http://travel.state.gov, under “International Adoptions.”

Before completing an adoption abroad, prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to read the requirements for filing Form I-600 Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.  Please see the flyer “How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States” at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs web site travel.state.gov .


AMERICAN INSTITUTE IN TAIWAN (AIT):  As soon as prospective adoptive parents arrive in Taiwan, they should contact AIT's Consular Section to register their presence in Taiwan:

Consular Section
Immigrant Visa Unit, 3rd Floor
American Institute in Taiwan
Number 7, Lane 134
Hsin Yi Rd, Section 3
Taipei 106, Taiwan
Tel: (886) 02-2162-2005
Fax: (886) 02-2162-2253
Email: visaiv@mail.ait.org.tw


APPLYING FOR A VISA FOR YOUR CHILD AT AIT:  The normal waiting time for an immigrant visa interview at AIT is approximately four weeks from the submission of the applicant’s DS-230 Part I.  When children are adopted from a local Taiwan adoption agency, visa interview dates are set in coordination with the agency.  For private (non-agency facilitated) adoptions, adoptive parents can communicate directly with the Immigrant Visa unit to arrange interview dates. 

Adoptions in Taiwan must be approved by a local court and added to the child’s household registry (HHR) before they are considered legal and final.  Although biological parents must sign an irrevocable release of their child(ren) for intercountry adoption and immigration to the United States, these documents are for immigration purposes only; they are not legally binding in Taiwan and do not constitute transfer of custody from the biological parents to either an orphanage or the adoptive parents.  Only court decrees and/or changes in the household registry are considered legally binding.


ACQUIRING U.S. CITIZENSHIP:  The language describing the acquisition of U.S. citizenship for adopted children is currently under review. Until the new language is finalized, please click on the following link for further information:  http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/info/info_457.html.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:  Specific questions about adoption in Taiwan should be addressed to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).  General questions regarding intercountry adoption may be addressed to the Office of Children’s Issues, U.S. Department of State, CA/OCS/CI, SA-29, 4th Floor, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20520-4818, toll-free Tel: 1-888-407-4747.

Useful information is also available from several other sources:

Telephone:
• Toll Free - For information on intercountry adoption and international parental child abduction, call Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747.  This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).  Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-202-501-4444.
• U.S. Department of State Visa Office - recorded information about immigrant visas for adopted children, (202) 663-1225.
• DHS Citizenship and Immigration Services - recorded information for requesting immigrant visa application forms, 1-800-870-FORM (3676).

Internet:
• Adoption Information Flyers:  The U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs web site at: http://travel.state.gov/ contains intercountry adoption information flyers like this one and the International Adoptions brochure.• Country Specific Information:  The State Department has general information about hiring a foreign attorney and authenticating documents that may supplement the country-specific information provided in this flier.  In addition, the State Department publishes Country Specific Information (CIS) for every country in the world, providing information such as location of the U.S. Embassy, health conditions, political situations, and crime reports.  If the situation in a country poses a specific threat to the safety and security of American citizens that is not addressed in the CSI for that country, the State Department may issue a Travel Alert alerting U.S. citizens to local security situations.  If conditions in a country are sufficiently serious, the State Department may issue a Travel Warning recommending that U.S. citizens avoid traveling to that country.  These documents are available on the Internet at: http://travel.state.gov/ or by calling the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizen Services Toll Free at 1-888-407-4747.  This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).  Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-202-501-4444.• USCIS web site - http://uscis.gov/