The I-600A is the first form you will fill out with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS). This form is completed before an orphan is located or has been identified for an adoption by you. Do NOT confuse this form with the I-600 form which is the Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative.
The following must be sent with the completed I-600A form:
File the I-600A with your local BCIS District or Sub-Office. See the BCIS page for locations. Scroll down to the I-600A where you can also find a printable I-600A form. You can NOT file electronically.
After your I-600A is approved the BCIS will send you the I-171H. It's a good idea to have a copy of this sent to the consulate in the country you plan to adopt from.
Note: Your approved I-600A remains valid for 18 months. Your fingerprints remain valid for only 15 months.
The I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (orange form), is a form which allows prospective adoptive parents to receive advance approval to adopt abroad before a specific child has been located. The I-600A should be filed with the local office of the BCIS in the U.S. before going to the foreign country, when the prospective parents know that they wish to adopt a foreign child but have not yet located a particular child to adopt.
Prospective adopting parents should make sure that the BCIS sends notice of approval of the I-600A to the appropriate U.S. Embassy or Consulate. An approved I-600A is valid for 18 months from the date of approval. When the Embassy or Consulate has a current I-600A on file, the processing for an orphan visa is normally done at that location.
The BCIS approves prospective adoptive parents to adopt a specified number of children based on the home study. Therefore, the BCIS approval received by the Embassy or Consulate will state that the adopting parents are approved for one child, two or more children, a sibling group, and so on, as applicable. They can only issue immigrant visas to the number of children the adopting parents have been pre-approved for. If adopting parents wish to adopt more children than they have been pre-approved for, they must contact the BCIS office in the U.S. where they files their I-600A to ascertain whether they can be approved for additional children. In some cases, it may be necessary for the adopting parents to submit an updated home study in order to receive approval to adopt additional children. The recommendation is made that prospective adopting parents made sure before they leave the United States that they have BCIS approval for the number of children they wish to adopt.
If prospective adopting parents are residing outside the United States, their I-600A application should be filed with the appropriate overseas office of the BCIS. The Embassy can provide prospective adoptive parents with information on how this should be done.
Once the adoptive parents have identified a particular child or children they wish to adopt, they must file a form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative (blue form). The I-600 is a petition to approve the adopted child as an orphan eligible to immigrate to the United States. A visa cannot be issued unless a valid, signed I-600 has been submitted on behalf of the child. If the adoptive parents already have an approved I-600A on file at the Embassy or Consulate, the I-600 should be filed at the same location.
The I-600 must be signed by each adopting parent. If one parent remains in the United States during the adoption process, or returns to the U.S. without going to the Embassy or Consulate, that parent must complete and sign the I-600 after the child has been identified. The signed I-600 should be brought to the Embassy or Consulate by the other parents to be submitted. Please note that one parent cannot sign the I-600 for another parent even with a power of attorney. An I-600 which was signed before a particular child was identified is invalid and cannot be accepted.