Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit

Adoption and Immigrant Visa

(Request an Immigrant Visa Interview Appointment)

Once your I-600 has been pre-approved and the Department of International Adoptions has set the date for your Giving and Receiving Cerimony, you are ready to travel to Vietnam and complete your adoption. During your trip the following steps will need to be completed:

1. Final Adoption Decision by the People’s Committee
The Final Adoption Decision is signed only after the fees have been paid, the written commitment has been submitted, and the Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) have arrived in Vietnam.

2. Giving and Receiving Ceremony (G&R)
The provincial Department of Justice will hold the G&R Ceremony at its offices within seven days of the date the president of the People’s Committee signs the Adoption Decision, except when requested otherwise by the Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) for “plausible reasons”.
People required to be present at the G&R Ceremony:

• The provincial Department of Justice representatives;
• The Prospective Adoptive Child;
• Orphanage representatives, guardians, or birth parent(s) of the child;
• Both Prospective Adoptive Parent(s), if applicable, are required to attend the G&R Ceremony conducted by the provincial Department of Justice. If one parent is unable to attend, s/he must execute a statement explaining why s/he is not able to attend, and give a power of attorney to his/her spouse to adopt the named child. All documents must be legalized and translated into Vietnamese.

Minutes of the Ceremony must be signed by the Prospective Adoptive Parent(s) and provincial Department of Justice. The provincial Department of Justice will register the adoption and provide the decision to parties involved.

Adoptive Parent(s) will receive the Adoption Decision from the provincial People’s Committee and the “Adoption Giving and Receiving Minutes” also known as the “Child Handover Minutes”. These documents are necessary to apply for a Vietnamese passport for the child.

The provincial Department of Justice will send the Adoption Decision, the commitment to provide post-adoption reports, and the “Child Handover Minutes” to the Department of International Adoptions for filing.

3. Obtaining a Vietnamese Passport
Adoptive Parent(s) will apply for a Vietnamese passport for the child from the Immigration Police in the province where the child resides. The provincial Immigration Police will mail the application to the Central Police Immigration office in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City where the passport will be issued and printed. The central office (Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City) has seven days to print the passport, and then they will mail the passport back to the provincial Immigration Police office. A Vietnamese passport costs VND 250,000 and the total processing time may take 5 days to 2 weeks.
The Child must have a valid Vietnamese passport before the medical examination with the Panel Physician.

4. Medical examination
Every immigrant visa applicant must undergo a physical examination by a designated physician. The medical examination and report, DS-2053 (“Medical Examination for Immigrant or Refugee Applicant”), focuses primarily on detecting certain serious infectious or contagious diseases or medical disabilities that may be a basis for visa ineligibility. If the child is found to have any of these illnesses or disabilities, the child may still be issued a visa after the illness has been successfully treated, or after a waiver of the visa eligibility is approved by the USCIS. If the physician or the Consular Officer notes that the child has a serious disease or disability, the parents will be notified and asked if they wish to proceed with the child's immigration. Adoptive Parent(s) should not rely on this medical examination to detect all possible medical conditions and may wish to arrange an additional private medical examination if they have concerns about the child's health.

The only facilities in Vietnam authorized to perform medical examinations for U.S. immigrant visa applications are Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, the IOM Office in Ho Chi Minh City, and SOS International in Hanoi. There are no U.S. government-authorized medical facilities in any other city in Vietnam. Please contact these facilities directly for their specific procedure for the medical exam.

• CHO RAY HOSPITAL
Special Medical Unit,
c/o Dr. Le Thi Thanh Thai
210 B Nguyen Thi Thanh, P. 12, Q. 5
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: (84-8) 856-5703 * Fax: (84-8) 857-5826

• INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION
1B Pham Ngoc Thach St., Dist. 1,
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Tel: (84-8) 822 2058; (84-8) 822 2057; (84-8) 822 2061; (84-8) 822 7511

• INTERNATIONAL SOS CLINIC
31 Hai Ba Trung, Hoan Kiem dist.,
Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (84-4) 9340666 * Fax: (84-4) 9340556
Email: 1hanoiops@internationalsos.com
Website: www.internationalsos.com

The medical examination normally takes about twenty minutes. The cost of the exam is $75 for applicants age 15 and older, and $65 for applicants age 14 and younger, which you must pay directly to the hospital/clinic. Please bring the child’s Vietnamese passport to the medical examination as the facility will use this as proof of the child’s identity. The sealed medical examination results must be presented at the visa interview.
Vaccination Requirements

5. Applying for an Immigrant Visa

A. Requesting an Interview
Adoptive Parent(s) should schedule their interview appointment using to Appointment Request Form. Since pre-screening is not necessary, please do not fax/mail/email documents to the Embassy. The interview will take about one hour.

B. Documentation Required at the Interview
Required Documents: You or your agency should submit the following documents to the Embassy two days before your interview. An immigrant visa cannot be issued if any of the specified items are missing.

1. DS-230 Parts I & II (Immigrant Visa Application Form).
2. Form OF-157 (Report of Medical Examination)
3. The child’s valid Vietnamese passport
4. Four photos of the child
5. Final adoption decision
6. Giving and receiving (process verbal)

C. The Visa Interview
When you arrive at the Embassy, you will be asked to go to the Cashier to pay the fee for an immigrant visa ($400.00). Payment can only be made in U.S. dollars or with a major credit card.

You will then have an interview with a Consular Officer. During the interview, the consular officer will review the submitted documents and discuss the case with you to ensure that the child qualifies for a US Immigrant Visa

D. Issuance of the Visa
If the visa is approved, the visa will usually be issued next working day. Please note however, that there are occasionally slight delays in processing visas. As a result, we advise that you schedule your return travel no earlier than two days after the visa interview. The visa will allow the child to legally enter the United States. The visa package must be given to the DHS Immigration officer at your port of entry.

What to Bring for your New Baby

The Embassy cannot predict how long you will remain in Vietnam with your adopted child. Most major hotels have small grocery and sundry stores (usually with higher prices than stores you might find in the community). Nevertheless, not all western-style baby products are readily available. You may wish to consider bringing certain items with you. These might include:

• Plastic or cloth baby carrier
• Bottle nipples
• Disposable paper diapers
• Baby wipes
• Baby blankets
• Infant wear
• Thermos bottle, for hot water to prepare dry formula
• Milk bottles (plastic, glass, and disposable)
• Disposable plastic bags for milk bottles