Readoption in Indiana

Depending upon the country where you adopted, you may need to do an a Readoption or an Acceptance (domesticating) of Foreign Adoption. “Readoption" is the common term used for both processes but in actuality you will likely just need an Acceptance of the Foreign Decree. For some countries (i.e. India and Philippines) you have to actually do a full domestic adoption (readoption) here in the U.S. In addition, you may have to do this full domestic adoption or readoption in the US if your foreign documents are insufficient or your immigration status requires it. However, most foreign adoption can be easily domesticated (given full credit or acceptance in the U.S) without a full domestic adoption and we term this an Acceptance.

For an Acceptance, I file a Petition for Filing of Foreign Decree and Order. This requests the Court make an Order stating that the Foreign Decree be recorded as an Indiana Adoption Decree and the thus the child receive all of the rights that would be afforded to a child adopted in Indiana. It is like the Foreign Decree is given Full Faith & Credit. The most important aspect of this process is that the Decree orders the Indiana Health Dept. to issue a new Indiana Birth Certificate. Another important aspect for children brought home on an IR4 visa is that it will provide the sufficient documentation for the US citizenship. Lastly, an important aspect of the process for some country’s adoptions are that I do a name change with the Petition. Often the Foreign Country’s Decrees did not have the name you wanted for your child. With the Readoption process I can accomplish a name change as well.

Once I have all of your information and paperwork, it will take me 4-6 business days (as long as I am not out of the country on adoption work) to send out to you the Petition and forms that you will need to complete and sign. After I receive the documents back from you it takes 5-10 business days for me to obtain the Court Order. After the Court Order is obtained, it will take approx. 90 days to get the new Indiana birth certificate from the Health Dept. However, you can use the Court Order prior to receiving the birth certificate for most purposes (taxes, USCIS & SSN). I file a Petition, Order, Appearance and 2 Indiana Specific forms with the Court. These are all provided for you with instructions.

Cost: $600-1,000 (one child) Feel free to call me at 317-632-9411 or 317-875-0058

Michele L. Jackson, Attorney at Law