If you have begun to look outside the borders of the US in your efforts to add to your family, you may be considering a foreign adoption. Babies and children are in need of good homes all over the world, and often you can adopt from a foreign country in a surprisingly easy manner. You should understand, however, that bringing a new family member into the US who was born on foreign soil requires certain types of Visas. Read on for a quick primer of how to determine what type of Visa your child will need upon returning home with you.

There are at least four types of Visas to choose from, and the one you use depends on both what type of country you adopted from and how much of the adoption was finalized overseas.

Where did you complete the adoption and what country is the child from?

Some countries require that you finalize the proceedings before you can leave the country with the child and some allow parents to take care of that step on US soil. The other two Visa variations are connected to the The Hague Convention. Whether the child was adopted from a Hague Convention country or a non-Hague Convention country will influence the type of Visa required. Here are the four Visa variations and the Visa required.

1. Completed the adoption in the foreign country and it was a non-Hague Convention country: IR-3 Visa.

2. Completed the adoption in the foreign country and it was a Hague Convention country: IH-3 Visa.

If you have final adoption papers in hand along with one of appropriate Visas listed above, your child automatically can claim United States citizenship upon entry through the border customs. Once on US soil, parents will be sent an application to have an official birth certificate issued for the child.

3. If you are bringing the child into the country without a finalized adoption from non-Hague Convention country: IR-4 Visa.

4. If you are bringing the child into the country without a finalized adoption from a Hague Convention country: IH-4.

Once back in the US, you must compete the adoption using the US courts, then you must apply for a Certificate of Citizenship. With this in hand, you can then apply for a birth certificate.

Even if you finalized your adoption overseas, you might want to follow up with the US courts. There is the potential for some states to not legally recognize foreign adoptions, which could cause problem later if there is a potential to be deported for some reason.

To learn more about the legal requirements for adopting a child from a foreign country, speak to a family law attorney at firms like Reagan, Melton, & Delaney LLP.