Ukraine is a beautiful country with beautiful people!  Hand in Hand has worked with Ukraine in past years and is renewing that relationship now.  

Ukraine is not a party to the Hague Adoption Convention but can still complete adoptions with the United States.  Adoptions with non-Convention countries like Ukraine require the filing of USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) forms I-600A and I-600 instead of I-800A and 1-800.  

Ukraine’s Adoption Authority

The Department for the Protection of Children’s Rights and Hosting Programs within the Ministry for Social Policy of Ukraine is Ukraine’s central adoption authority.  This department will review your dossier and match you with a child.  

The Process

The process for adopting a child from Ukraine generally includes the following steps:

1. Choose a U.S. Accredited or approved adoption service provider to act as your Primary Provider and complete your application, training and adoption home study

2. Apply to USCIS to be found suitable and eligible to adopt (Form I-600A)

3. Apply to Ukraine’s Authorities to adopt, and to be matched with a child

4. Adopt the child in Ukraine

5. Apply for your child to be found eligible to immigrate to the United States as an orphan

   (Form I-600)

6. Apply for a U.S. Immigrant Visa for your child and bring your child home to the United States.

WHO CAN BE ADOPTED?

• Eligibility for adoption: In order for a child to be eligible for inter-country adoption in Ukraine, the child must have first been found eligible for domestic adoption and listed on the local register for 14 months. If no suitable family has been found in Ukraine after 14 months of being listed on the local register, and if the child is over the age of five, the child’s name is added to the inter-country adoption registry and the child becomes eligible for inter-country adoption (unless an exemption applies).
  

• Age of Adoptive Child: Ukrainian law requires that orphans be at least five years old before they are eligible for inter-country adoption, with certain exemptions for children with special needs, relative adoptions, and sibling adoptions.

WHO CAN ADOPT?

• Age of Adopting Parents: Prospective adoptive parents must be at least 21 years old to adopt from Ukraine. They must be at least 15 years older than the adopted child. There is no maximum age difference requirement. If a child is being adopted by a relative, the age difference is not considered.
  

• Marriage: Only married, heterosexual couples are eligible to adopt from Ukraine. Single individuals are only permitted to adopt from Ukraine if they are related to the child being adopted.
  

• Minimum Income: Ukraine uses the U.S. Health and Human Services Poverty Guidelines as a standard requirement for all immigrants from Ukraine, as well as for prospective adoptive parents adopting children from Ukraine.
  

• Other requirements: Ukraine will not allow persons who have been declared completely or partially disabled (both mentally and physically) to adopt children from Ukraine. Also, anyone who has previously had parental rights or a previous adoption, guardianship, or foster care relationship terminated involuntarily will not be allowed to adopt from Ukraine.

Travel Requirements

The adoptive family will take one trip and should plan on an extended stay of approximately 8-12 weeks. A foreign service provider who works for Hand in Hand will meet you at the airport and will serve as your translator, help you find lodging, orient you to the city, attend your appointments with you, familiarize you with the culture and traditions of the country and provide you with recommendations for sight seeing.

TimeFrame

Intercountry adoption in Ukraine may take approximately three months to one year to complete.  After Ukraine’s Adoption Authority registers the prospective adoptive parent’s dossier, it generally takes between two to six months to get an adoption appointment for matching with a child.  

After a Ukrainian civil court approves an adoption decree, the judgement will not go into effect until 30 calendar days have passed to allow for an appeal to be filed. After this period, adoptive parents may be given physical custody of the adopted child and may then apply for a new birth certificate, passport, and finalize the adoption. This process may take up to twelve weeks including visa application and medical processing.  

Your child’s adoption is finalized in Ukraine. Children receive a U.S. visa and become citizens upon arrival in the U.S.