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The Difference Between an IR-3 and IR-4 Visa

Adopted children generally come to the US on one of these two types of visas. While both allow the families to bring their children to the US, there are significant practical differences. A child who comes to the US on an IR-3 visa will automatically be a citizen once they have reached US soil and legally entered the country. The family will receive their certificate of citizenship in the mail within a few weeks or months. A child coming to the US on an IR-4 visa is NOT automatically a citizen and must be “re-adopted” in their home state. This child will receive only an alien registration card (a “green card”) in the mail and while they are free to grow up and get a job, they are not automatically a citizen.

How does a child come to the US on an IR-3 visa? An IR -3 visa requires that the parents (both if a couple are adopting) meet the child before the court adoption process is completed in the child’s country of origin. Families traveling to China meet their child before they go to the Civil Affair’s Bureau office and complete the adoption. The first trip to Russia by the parents allows a Russian child who comes home on the parents’ second trip allows that child to come in on an IR-3 visa. Children up until recently from Ethiopia came home on IR-4 visas. Now that parents are traveling to court, most of these children will come to the US on an IR-3 visa. However, if ONLY ONE PARENT travels to court for some reason and the other parent has power of attorney, the child will still come home on an IR-4 visa. Both parents have to see the child before the adoption.

If both parents travel for court and for some reason only one parent returns to pick up the child, the child can still come home on an IR-3 visa, however, the traveling parent will have to produce documentation that both parents have previously seen the child and this can include copies of passport entries for the previous trip and photos of the parent with child when they traveled for court.


If the child comes home on an IR-4 visa, the parents are required by US immigration to “re-adopt” the child here in their home state and then send in the paperwork in order to obtain a certificate of citizenship for their child.

Sometimes families get their re-adoption completed and then just get a passport for their child. It is recommend that in ALL cases, a family obtain a certificate of citizenship for their child and not simply rely on a passport. Passports get lost and expire. Perhaps the child will have no difficulty, but should questions arise when the child is an adult and the parents have died or are incapacitated, the parents will not be available to explain the process, provide alternative paperwork and navigate the system for their child.

There is nothing better than an actual certificate of citizenship for the child to have available to produce at various times throughout their lives.

If a child is here and is not a citizen and they run afoul of the law, they risk being “deported” to a country they haven’t lived in for decades and do not know the language. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that their children are completely and legally adopted and have their US citizenship as soon as possible after returning home. Sometimes parents are tired of paperwork when they get home and put it off. It is very important NOT to neglect this part of the process. You cannot see the future and your child will benefit from your diligence.

I had a client family years ago where within months of the adoption, the father was tragically killed. Fortunately he had already filed the initial re-adoption paperwork and although their initial court finalization date had ironically been cancelled because of a court holiday, the adoptive mother was able to complete the re-adoption with no difficulties. It was a very sad time, but his child was benefited by his lack of procrastination.

If your child comes to the US on an IR-4 visa and you obtain a social security card for your child, the child’s status with the Social Security administration will be a non-citizen. After you have done your readopt and gotten your certificate of citizenship, be sure to go back to Social Security and make sure that their “status” is changed to “citizen.”

In a few days I’ll add to this topic, why it is important to readopt regardless of whether your child comes in on an IR-3 or IR-4 visa.

Kathy L, MA

Artificial Twinning

“Artificial twinning” and a few other descriptors are used to describe families where adopted children are very close in age whether they are adopted at the same time or adopted at different times. Ultimately when this happens children are living “like twins” in a family without having the same genetic birth parents. If this is something you have considered, you might want to read a well-written article by adoption professional Patricia Irwin Johnson.

http://www.adopting.org/uni/frame.php?url=http://www.perspectivespress.com/item.asp?recordid=notwinning&pagestyle=default


Kathy L

"Iron Dragons"

these children have all found their forever families

I can't get thoughts of our Iron Children out of my mind. The courage I have seen.  The will to live I have witnessed. I am speaking tonight as a parent, not as an adoption worker.

Running through my mind over and over tonight are the testaments to the human spirit I know about because I know these children and their parents. Some of whom I even am the parent. I marvel at the children who never let go. Who would not give up when they were:


Left IN a toilet after birth

Put on a coal train bound for the outer border of western China as a

newborn to be discovered at the first stop 2 days later

Thrown down a mine shaft after a premature birth

Found toddling abandoned next to an ice filled rapid moving river

Discovered in a dumpster or the local dump

Found with toes and/or fingers frostbitten and needing amputation from

being left in the freezing night

Scalded on 50% of their body and forsaken in a field at two days old

Required plastic surgery because their nose was bitten off by rats in

the night while waiting to be found

Having their throat slit and face slashed on their 7th birthday

Beaten to the point of losing an eye

Locked in a closet for hours or days

Left on a train when the parent went to "buy some candy" and never

returned and sat alone for a full day before the conductor or anyone noticed

Tied to a chair for so long the wrists and ankles were raw and now

permanently scarred with rope burns

this child has found his forever family

And you know what? These are not children with Reactive Attachment Disorder, unmanaged rage, mental illness or emotional distress. Each one of these children seems to be more calm, more compassionate, more wise than their peers. How can this be? Truly, how? I am in no way dismissing that these situations could cause lifelong emotional and physical damage and that some kids just don't rebound when faced with these horrors. But in THESE cases THESE children survived and now flourish. WHY? The human spirit is an amazing thing.


Stefani Ellison
China Waiting Child Advocate/Resource Coordinator

following is a repost from the CHIKids yahoo group:
 
 

this child has found her forever family

 
"Thank you for posting my "Iron Dragon" (as you so aptly called her, Stefani!) on the homepage. :) She is our "Good Earth" Xiaoxian, Anhui girl, Aeren Renae, who just recently turned 6 years old. She truly is a miracle, and never ceases to amaze us with her joy, observational skills, musical ability, and intelligence. Oh, and her will of "iron". She is the most strong willed of my 4 children from China, and my 4 bio kids put together, but that is what got her through her beginning, and first 3 years of life.


While we were waiting to travel to adopt her, and our son Trent, she was given a dire prognosis as "unadoptable" by some visiting American physicians. We were not swayed in our pursuit of adding her to our family, and now, a little over 3 years later, she is the thriving, gorgeous little girl pictured on the homepage, and is most certainly meant to be in our family. She may not be able to walk (YET) without her walker, but she is a child that has a true gift of laughter and joy. From a mother of some very musically talented children, I can honestly say that she shows more natural gifting in music than any of them. She also has "supersonic" hearing, and an almost photographic memory, with which she can recall almost verbatim a conversation that she has had (or overheard, YIKES!) with someone, even weeks later. However, she only uses it when she wants to, and not when I ask her to repeat something. lol She can tell me exaclty where to find almost anything in the house that I am searching for, and when I am on the phone with a friend, she can tell me who I am talking to just by hearing my onesided conversation, with no names ever mentioned on my part, just by the subject of what I am discussing.

So, in saying all of this (besides being a proud mom and wanting to brag on my amazing daughter), I want to encourage families to consdider the waiting children who have CP. By making them a part of a loving family, they have the ability to blossom into the creative, unique, and talented people that they are created to be, with no fear of an uncertain future outside of orphanage walls, on the streets of China, if they even make it that long. Cerebral Palsy is something that these children are born with, but it doesn't define who they are, or what they can achieve. With a loving, supportive family, there are no limits. "


 Kim Rutherford

Focus on Special Needs...The Cleft Palate Baby

Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when the developing baby’s mouth does not form properly. In the case of cleft lip, a split is left in the tissue of the upper lip that may extend up into the nasal cavity. In cleft palate, the growth plates that form the roof of the baby’s mouth (palate) fail to close, leaving a crack or a large opening. The child may have a single split on one side of the mouth that ranges in size from a small indentation to a crevice that extends into the nose. Sometimes a child will have a cleft on both sides of the upper lip that can extend into the nose, creating a large gap in the child’s facial tissue.

Cleft lip and cleft palate can occur separately or together


My first experience with Cleft Palate came when I was only four years old.  My mother brought home my baby brother from the hospital.  He was a whopping 12 lb baby and there was something unusual about him.  He had a cleft lip and palate.  I still remember my mother's frustrations in trying to get him to take his bottle.  The milk spilling back out his nose!  Several surgeries later and he was just my "little" brother more noted for his large size than his facial features. 

Through my volunteer work with the Medical Advocacy Team, I had the opportunity to help host a baby with cleft palate from Haiti.  Little "Lena" arrived on U.S. soil at 5 months of age weighing in at a mere 5 lbs.  I had never seen such a fierce and tiny child!  Her wrists were smaller than my thumb.  Lena's odd "cleft smile" was actually a bit endearing! 

Typically closing a cleft lip and palate is done in two phases by a plastic surgeon.  The first surgery is to close the exterior lip and the second closes the opening in the roof of the mouth and gum line.  I am positive I am oversimplifying the process to a great degree! 

Baby Lena Before Surgery

I had the honors of hospital duty for Lena for the second surgery.  Amazingly she came out of surgery eager to eat.  Liquids and then semi-liquids had to be syringed into her mouth for several weeks while her palate was healing.  The change in her eating was amazing! 

Many children wait for families internationally due to being born with a cleft lip, palate or more commonly both. 

Baby Lena Post Surgery

In developing countries the surgeries needed for these children to thrive are unavailable.  In more developed countries parents may give up these children due to social stigma. 

Two Little Boys...

We have two little brothers waiting patiently for referral to a new family!  They are two and three years old and were both born prematurely.  The older boy has made great strides in his development through good physical therapy that has been provided in his home country in Eastern Europe.  He enjoys painting and playing with molding clay.  He is now considered developmentally on track and is a healthy little boy! 

The younger brother is still showing motor skill delays but is making progress.  At two years of age he is standing and crawling, but cannot yet walk.  This boy also has poor vision that may be impacting his development.  The psychological evaluation describes both boys as "cheerful, joyful and have a great need for closeness and love."  If you are ready to open your heart to these two blond haired, blue eyed boys please email us for more information. 

Adoption Options for Single Women!

With the recent problems in Nepal and the closing of Kazakhstan to adoptions many unmarried women are wondering what countries they can look towards to fulfill their dreams of having children.  What are the options for single women looking to grow a family through adoption?  Here at Children's House we have programs in several countries that allow single women to adopt!  Single women looking to adopt an infant or toddler find a fit with our programs in Bulgaria, Haiti or Ethiopia.  If your heart yearns for a child over the age of two or one with special needs India and Poland can be added to this list.  If a mom meets the religious or ethnic requirements then Morocco and India can provide an option for infant referrals. 

For details on any of our programs you can go to our website at http://www.chiadopt.org/ for program summaries and detailed financial information.