USA Green Card Immigration Blog

On April 1, 2010, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had announced the centralization of processing and adjudications of all new orphans’ petition with the agencies in Missouri who have a specialized adoption team.

The USCIS’ Dallas Lockbox facility will accept filing of petition to classify orphan as an immediate relative (Form I 600) and application for advance processing of orphan Petition (Form I 600A), from prospective parents. For processing and adjudication of the case the file will be forwarded to the Orphan Unit at USCIS’ National Benefit Center (NBC) by the USCIS’ Dallas Lockbox facility. A receipt notice with the NBC address and contact information will be sent to the applicant involved in orphan adoption for eventual follow-up and communication.

Such proceedings will help personnel’s opting for orphan adoption and also enable the USCIS to take immediate course of action for processing of the application and petition. The work process can be made systemized thus increasing the service consistency of the USCIS.

In accordance with the current filing instructions, requests to extend and change conditions for approved Form I-600A will be accepted at the Local USCIS field offices in the USA. U.S. citizens abroad, involved in orphan adoption could continue the filling process of Form I-600A at a U.S. consulate or Embassy. The filling can also be done at an authorised USCIS office abroad, which has the legality to accept the petition. In case of orphan adoption in a foreign country, the prospective parent should have an approved Form I-600A and also be physically present in the adopting child’s country to file the Form I-600 petition abroad. Filing of Form I-600A by prospective parents living abroad can be done at an overseas USCIS office or the Dallas Lockbox facility.

Clients, who need information regarding orphan adoption, can seek the aid of a toll-free NBC adoption telephone line dedicated by the USCIS. The USCIS has also published an Orphan Home Study Tip sheet (Form M-760) intended to provide apt information for prospective adoptive parents.