INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION


CAPE VERDE
 
March 2007
 
DISCLAIMER: The following is intended as a very general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child from a foreign country and apply for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. Two sets of laws are particularly relevant: 1) the laws of the child’s country of birth govern all activity in that country including the adoptability of individual children as well as the adoption of children in country in general; and 2) U.S. immigration law governs the immigration of the child to the United States.

The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and our current understanding. It does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the laws of a child’s country of birth and is provided for general information only. Moreover, U.S. immigration law, including regulations and interpretation, changes from time to time. This flyer reflects our current understanding of the law as of this date and is not legally authoritative. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.


PLEASE NOTE:   If an American prospective adoptive family is interested in a child who has living biological parents, Cape Verdean law requires the biological parents to legitimate the child in order to relinquish their parental rights. (A sizeable percentage of Cape Verdean children are born out of wedlock.) Even if this step to comply with Cape Verdean law is undertaken, however, the child may still not qualify as an “orphan” under U.S. immigration law, which is extremely difficult when there are two living birth parents.


PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION OF ADOPTED ORPHANS TO THE U.S.: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect that only two Cape Verdean children have received U.S. orphan visas within the past five fiscal years.
 

ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN CAPE VERDE:   There is no governmental division (executive branch) with authority over adoptions in Cape Verde. Adoptions are handled by Instituto Caboverdiano da Crianca e do Adolescent.


ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS:
  • Must be between 25 and 60 years old;
  • Must be able to exercise full civil and political rights in their home country;
  • Must possess good morals and economic means to ensure the complete development of the child;
  • Must have apparent good health and reasonable education;
  • The difference in age between the prospective parents and child must be more than 16 years and no more than 40 years.
 

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS:   There are no residency requirements for an adoption in Cape Verde.  However if the adoptive parent has lived in Cape Verde and established a relationship with the child, this can assist a judge in determining the suitability of the parent for adoption purposes.


TIME FRAME:   An adoption in Cape Verde is likely to be affected by administrative and judicial delays.  The length of time it will take to process an adoption case depends on how full the court docket is and may take up to a year. Once all of the Cape Verdean procedures have been completed and an adoption decree has been issued, an appointment needs to be made with the U.S. Embassy in Praia. It usually takes a minimum of two weeks for an interview to be scheduled. If everything is in order, a visa can be issued in one to two working days.


ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS:   Cape Verde does not have a local adoption agency, nor does the U.S. Embassy in Praia know of an international adoption agency that works with Cape Verde at this time. There are, however, orphanages in Cape Verde that can release a child for adoption. Should prospective adoptive parents wish to hire a Cape Verdean attorney to assist with the adoption, a list of attorneys may be obtained from the U.S. Embassy in Praia. 

Prospective adoptive parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services.  For U.S.-based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adoptive parents contact the Better Business Bureau and/or the licensing office of the appropriate state government agency in the U.S. state where the agency is located or licensed.

Please see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at the Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs web site travel.state.gov .


ADOPTION FEES IN CAPE VERDE:   The court fees for an adoption average around 38,000 Cape Verde Escudos (CVE) (approximately $475 USD).  Attorney costs vary, but generally range from 250,000 to 300,000 CVE (approximately $3,000 to $3,750 USD).


ADOPTION PROCEDURES:    To begin the adoption process, an initial petition is filed with the court requesting that a party be allowed to adopt a child, citing the legal authority. After reviewing the document, a judge then summons the parties for a hearing to determine if the adoption would be in the best interests of the child. The judge may order an investigation to be carried out by Instituto Caboverdiano da Criança e do Adolescente (Cape Verdean Institute for Children and Youth) to ascertain whether the adoption would meet the best interests of the child.  In some cases, the judge may choose to dispense with this investigation, if s/he deems that there is enough evidence to convince him/her that the adoption would be in the child’s best interests.  Once the judge is satisfied that the adoption is appropriate, a final adoption decree is issued.


DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION IN CAPE VERDE:  Prospective adoptive parents should be prepared to provide the following:
  1. Proof  that they are in good health and mentally and physically capable of adopting (U.S. medical reports should be translated into Portuguese);
  2. Proof that they have adequate finances to care for a child (should include most recent federal Income Tax Return);
  3. Birth certificates of the prospective adoptive parents and of the child;
  4. Other form of identification (passports);
  5. Police records, no more than one year old;
  6. Marriage certificate (if applicable); and
  7. Divorce Decree (if applicable).


AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD:   The language describing the process of authenticating U.S. documents to be used abroad is currently under review. Please click on the following link for more information until the new language is finalized: http://www.travel.state.gov/law/info/judicial/judicial_701.html.


CAPE VERDEAN EMBASSY AND CONSULATE IN THE UNITED STATES:

Cape Verdean Embassy
3415 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20007
Tel:  (202) 965-6820
Fax:  (202) 965-1207

Consulate General of Cape Verde
607 Boylston St., 4th Floor
Boston, MA  02116
Tel:  (617) 353-0014 
Fax:  (617) 859-9798


U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS:  Prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to consult the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) publication M-249, The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions.  The USCIS publication is available at the USCIS web site. The Department of State publication International Adoptions can be found on the bureau of consular affairs web site,travel.state.gov , under “Intercountry Adoption.”

Before completing an adoption abroad, prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to read the requirements for filing Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.  Please see the flyer “How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States” at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs web sitetravel.state.gov .


U.S. EMBASSY IN CAPE VERDE:   Americans living or traveling abroad are encouraged to register with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov/, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within the country of travel.  Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.  By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency.  The Consular Section is located at:

Rua Abilio Macedo 6
Caixa Postal 201
Praia, Cape Verde
Tel: (238) 260-8900
E-mail: praiaconsularsection@state.gov
Embassy website: http://praia.usembassy.gov


APPLYING FOR A VISA AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN CAPE VERDE: If an I-600A was previously filed and approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States, and the Embassy has received a notification of the approval (Visas 37 cable), the adoptive parent(s) can file the I-600 at the Embassy after the adoption is final.  In order to do this, the adoptive parents should go to the Embassy on a Thursday morning between 8:00a.m. and 12:00 noon to get the Immigrant Visa instruction packet. 

If no I-600A was previously filed, then the Embassy does not have the authority to adjudicate an I-600 petition. In this case, the adoptive parents must either:

(a) submit the I-600 to the U.S. Embassy in Praia (paying the required fee) and the Embassy will forward it on their behalf to the regional U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service office in Accra, Ghana (only if adoptive parents are resident in Cape Verde); or
(b) go back to the U.S. without the child and file the I-600 there.  Once the file is approved, it will be sent to the U.S. Embassy in Praia for the final immigrant visa processing.

The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy is on Rua Abilio Macedo in the Plateau area of Praia.  It is open from Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The Consular Section is closed on both U.S. and Cape Verdean public holidays.


ACQUIRING U.S. CITIZENSHIP: The language describing the acquisition of U.S. citizenship for adopted children is currently under review. Until the new language is finalized, please click on the following link for further information: http://travel.state.gov/family/adoption/info/info_457.html.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Specific questions about adoption in Cape Verde may be addressed to the U.S. Embassy in Praia. General questions regarding intercountry adoption may be addressed to the Office of Children’s Issues, U.S. Department of State, CA/OCS/CI, SA-29, 4th Floor, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20520-4818, toll-free Tel: 1-888-407-4747.

Useful information is also available from several other sources:

Telephone:
  • Toll Free - For information on intercountry adoption and international parental child abduction, call Overseas Citizens Services at 1-888-407-4747. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-202-501-4444.
  • U.S. Department of State Visa Office - recorded information concerning immigrant visas for adopting children, (202) 663-1225.
  • U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - recorded information for requesting immigrant visa application forms, 1-800-870-FORM (3676).

Internet :

  • Adoption Information Flyers: The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs web site at: http://travel.state.gov/ contains intercountry adoption information flyers like this one and the International Adoptions brochure.
  • Country Specific Information: The State Department has general information about hiring a foreign attorney and authenticating documents that may supplement the country-specific information provided in this flyer. In addition, the State Department publishes Country Specific Information for every country in the world, providing information such as location of the U.S. Embassy, health conditions, political situations, and crime reports. If the situation in a country poses a specific threat to the safety and security of American citizens that is not addressed in the Country Specific Information for that country, the State Department may issue a Travel Alert alerting U.S. citizens to local security situations. If conditions in a country are sufficiently serious, the State Department may issue a Travel Warning recommending that U.S. citizens avoid traveling to that country. These documents are available on the Internet at: http://travel.state.gov/ or by calling the State Department's Office of Overseas Citizen Services Toll Free at 1-888-407-4747. This number is available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Callers who are unable to use toll-free numbers, such as those calling from overseas, may obtain information and assistance during these hours by calling 1-202-501-4444.
  • USCIS web site - http://uscis.gov/.