Here we go, again: readoption, revisited.

I really wanted to file our son’s paperwork with the court this morning, to begin the re-adoption process. But as with all the best-laid plans, our morning schedule had to be rearranged to fit in a last-minute trip to the pediatrician’s office for an ear infection diagnosis. As we were leaving the doctor’s office, it started to rain and I really didn’t want to have to unload all of the kids at the courthouse and trudge everyone through the rain (and possibly get our paperwork all wet, too).  I decided to go on to the courthouse, despite the pouring rain and hoping there would be a break in the showers. I told the kids if it was still pouring when we got there, we would just come back another day. As I got closer to the government center, the rain tapered off to a light drizzle. And when I pulled in the parking lot, there was a spot right at the front, across from the main entrance. How cool is that! God works out even the smallest details. Thank you, God!

Some of you may be wondering why we need to re-adopt our son. His adoption was final in Taiwan and we are his parents. The Commonwealth of Virginia did change its laws last year, allowing some families to obtain a birth certificate for an adopted child without the need to re-adopt. However our son’s immigration visa requires re-adoption in our home state. The re-adoption step is relatively simple and will ensure our son does not run into immigration issues later in life. He will have access to a birth certificate here in our state, rather than relying on a copy of his birth certificate from Taiwan. And his adoption will be recognized in our home state as well. Once this step is complete, we will have his Certificate of Foreign Birth in his American name, and we will request his Certificate of Citizenship from the US Government. The paperwork never seems to end but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel getting brighter…

New Virginia law helps some adoptive families

A new Virginia law that went into effect in July 2011 will help some adoptive families skip the need for re-adoption.

“Recognition of foreign adoptions. This law provides that in certain cases the adoption of a child in a foreign country will be recognized in Virginia and the adoptive parents will not be required to readopt the child. This law also streamlines the process to obtain a certificate of birth for a child adopted in another country and brought into the United States.” – From the Virginia Division of Legislative Services via http://www.scribd.com/doc/57562491/New-VA-Laws-Effective-July-1

Unfortunately for us, since our son came home on an IR-4 visa, we cannot take advantage of this new law. I found the full text of the new law and it states that this new procedure is only available to those adoptees granted an IR-3 or an IH-3 visa. You can read the full text of the amended law here on Virginia’s Legislative Information System website.

The amended law states the procedure an adoptive family must follow in order to obtain a certificate of foreign birth:

“. . .B. In cases in which an adoption of a child was finalized pursuant to the laws of a foreign country and the child was admitted to the United States with an IR-3 or IH-3 visa, the adoptive parents may submit a report of adoption to the State Registrar of Vital Records on a form furnished by the State Registrar, which shall (i) include evidence as to the date, place of birth, and parentage of the adopted person; (ii) provide information necessary to establish a new certificate of birth for the adopted person; (iii) include a certified copy of the final order of adoption entered by the foreign court, together with a certified translation of the final order of adoption in cases in which the original order is not in English; and (iv) include an affidavit from the adoptive parents indicating that they are receiving supervision from a licensed or approved child-placing agency in the United States. Upon receipt of a report pursuant to this subsection, the State Registrar shall establish a new certificate of birth for the adopted person, and such certificate of birth shall be registered in accordance with the provisions of § 32.1-261.” – For full text of law, click here for the Legislative Information System.

This is not legal advice. If you have questions about the new law, check with your adoption attorney or social worker.

Re-adoption DONE!

We received our Final Order of Adoption in the mail today – this is for the re-adoption of our son we adopted from Taiwan in September 2009. I feel like I have accomplished a great feat: we saved about $1,000 in attorney’s fees and successfully navigated the civil court system to complete this task. Now we await his new birth certificate from the Department of Vital Records, then I can begin the process of changing his legal name to match the name we have been calling him for 18+ months.

My search for form VS-21

The VS-21 form is a document needed to complete our son’s readoption. It is the “Report of Adoption” required for our son’s Virginia birth certificate. It is submitted to the court, certified by the clerk then forwarded to the Department of Vital Records along with our application for our son’s new birth certificate. I thought it would be pretty easy to find this form. I was wrong.

• First, I searched the Internet. Adoption agencies and Virginia law guides list the form as a document needed for readoption, but no links are provided to the document.
• I checked with the court clerk’s office and she suggested social services or our adoption agency. Our social worker did not know anything about the document. And my search of the state’s social services website and calling them turned up nothing.
• The clerk’s office in another Virginia county lists on its website the document is available in its office. I called them, hoping they would fax it to me – no such luck.
• I called the Department of Vital Records only to be told a “processor” would send it to me after the court submits the final order of adoption and they determine the form is needed. I asked to speak to a “processor” and had to leave a message on someone’s voicemail. Still waiting for a return call. (Addendum: the “processor” called me back this afternoon and is mailing me the form.)

I finally decided to go to the courthouse and turn in our other paperwork. I asked again about the form and they said the Department of Vital Records should be able to send me one. I explained my earlier conversation with that department. The assistant in the clerk’s office asked me if I had talked to our county social services office. No, actually, that was one office I had not contacted. The office was just around the corner so instead of calling, I trekked into the office with all my kids in tow. We waited in the lobby while the office tried to track down the person who handles adoption paperwork – we also said a prayer that we would find the form. The woman finally returned to the front window with the form! She said they had to search for it and it was the last copy in their office. Thank you! Meanwhile, I received a more recent version of the form in my email through another friend who is a social worker.

To save other Virginia adoptive families much time and searching, here is the document: Download VS-21 Report of Adoption

Juggling Adoption and Re-Adoption Paperwork

Some good news, although this involves our other son’s re-adoption court case here in Virginia: I received a phone call this morning from the circuit court clerk’s office, telling me our re-adoption case is moving forward. Re-adoption essentially ensures our son’s adoption is recognized by our state and allows our son to have a certificate of foreign birth on file with the department of vital records. We are also seeking to legally change his name. (His Chinese name is currently used for our medical insurance and all of his legal documents.)

We completed our third and final post-placement report with our social worker for our first adoption last fall – this was required by our state before we could re-adopt. I had called a few attorneys in our area and learned they charge upwards of $1000 or more to complete a re-adoption case on our behalf. An adoptive family who had completed their own re-adoption emailed me a template and instructions for the court documents, and I learned the filing fee is just $39. The frugal side of me opted for the “do-it-yourself” option.  About the same time we were getting ready to file the re-adoption paperwork, our adoption agency called with news about our son’s little brother in Taiwan. The re-adoption paperwork sat unfinished on my desk until last month, when the whirlwind of our home study and dossier paperwork subsided, and I finally submitted it to our local court. (A downside of the “do-it-yourself” option: paperwork gets ignored when life gets busy!)

The next step for our re-adoption: our social worker will complete a report for the court, and then the judge will hopefully sign off on our final order of reference and petition to change his name. In some states, families have a court hearing and even take a picture with the judge following the proceedings. We will likely just receive a copy of the signed order in the mail. But I plan to celebrate this milestone whenever it is completed!