Adopted Children Immigrant Visa Unit

General Information

Hello and welcome! U.S. Embassy Hanoi’s adoptions unit issues all immigrant visas to adopted orphans from Vietnam.  The rewards of adoption are obvious. However, potential adoptive parents should know that adopting Vietnamese orphans can be expensive, time-consuming, and difficult, involving complex Vietnamese and U.S. legal requirements. Vietnamese authorities and American consular officers give each case careful consideration to ensure that parents meet the legal requirements of both countries, for the protection of the prospective adoptive parent(s), the biological parent(s), and the child.

Prospective adoptive parents should be aware that In recent months, US Embassy Hanoi and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Ho Chi Minh City have seen an increase in the number of irregularities appearing in orphan petitions and visa applications in Vietnam, including fraudulently documenting the abandonment of children, offering monetary inducements to families for relinquishing children, and offering children for international adoption without the consent of the birth parents.  As a result, we urge adoptive parents to be extremely diligent in reviewing qualifications and standards before selecting an adoption service provider.

Please click on our "Adoption Procedures" to begin researching this multi-phase process.