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Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000
P.L. 106-279
Overview
H.R. 2909
Enacted October 6, 2000
Purpose: To provide for implementation by the United States of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption
Major Provisions of the Act
- Established the U.S. Central Authority within the Department of State with general responsibility for U.S. implementation of the Convention and annual reports to Congress
- Allowed the State Department to enter into agreements with one or more qualified accrediting entities to provide for the accreditation of agencies (nonprofit) and approval of persons (for-profit agencies and individuals) who seek to provide adoption services for adoptions covered by the Convention
- Permitted accrediting entities to:
- Process applications for accreditation/approval
- Be responsible for oversight, enforcement, and compliance by adoption service providers with the Convention, IAA, and implementing regulations
- Perform information collection activities
- Authorized U.S. adoption service providers to provide services for Convention adoptions only if they have been Convention-accredited or -approved
- Mandated the Department of State and INS to establish a case registry for all intercountry adoptions—incoming, outgoing, Hague Convention cases, and others
- Authorized the State Department to:
- Monitor each accrediting entity's performance of its duties and their compliance with the Convention, the Intercountry Adoption Act (IAA), and applicable regulations
- Issue certificates to cover Convention adoptions/placements for adoptions made in the U.S. necessary for their recognition so long as the department has received appropriate documentation to establish that the requirements of the Convention, IAA, and regulations have been met
- Established that Convention adoptions finalized in other countries party to the Convention to be recognized throughout the United States
- Provided procedures and requirements to be followed for the adoption of a child residing in the United States by persons resident in other countries party to the Convention
- Outlined certain case-specific duties to be performed by the accredited agency, the approved person, or the prospective adoptive parents acting on their own behalf if permitted by both countries involved
- Prohibited State courts from finalizing Convention adoptions or granting custody for a Convention adoption unless such a court has verified that the required determinations have been made by the country of origin and the receiving country
- Amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for a new category of children adopted, or to be adopted, under the Hague Convention and meeting other requirements to qualify for immigrant visas
- Preserved Convention records on individual adoptions held by the State Department and INS without affecting Federal laws concerning access to identifying information
- Preempted State laws only to the extent that they are inconsistent with the IAA
- Had no effect on the Indian Child Welfare Act