Samoa

Anticipated travel will entail approximately 7-14 days. Clients are expected to travel to Samoa for a 2 day stay to be united with their child. Clients will then travel to Auckland, New Zealand, for an additional 3-5 days to attend the embassy appointment and receive the child’s orphan visa. Due to the fact that Samoa is a pilot program, travel requirements may change. If parents cannot travel or do not wish to travel, escorting may be available.  

 

All adoptions in Samoa are completed through a collaborative effort with a Samoan attorney and our foreign staff, as well as with strict compliance to Samoan law in regards to international adoption. Our foreign staff ensures all children available for adoption are classified as true orphans under USCIS definitions and available for adoption. This includes insuring all biological parental rights have been terminated and no family members are available to care for or adopt the child.    

 

Currently referral times are three – six months after receipt of prospective adoptive parents’ 171H approval letter from USCIS. Referral times may change as this program becomes more popular.  A Samoan adoption application must be completed. Your dossier will be submitted to our foreign staff in Samoa to be submitted to Samoan authorities for adoption approval.

 

Upon acceptance of a referral, the child is removed from the shelter/orphanage and placed with a pre-screened foster family. Adoptive parents will provide payment to the foster family for child care and medical expenses until the adoption is complete. These costs are reflected on the cost sheet provided. Upon placement with a foster family medical testing is provided for the child.

 

Current time frame is expected to be 12-14 months to complete an adoption.

 

To learn more about Samoa please request information.

 

Country information is to be considered general information and subject to change. The information is based upon state, federal, foreign, and international law, as well as our own business policies.