Ask the Consul

In this forum, the Embassy's consular section answers general policy questions from the public about visas and other consular issues. Please submit your questions by email. We will select one or more each week and answer them in the space below. Note that we will not reply directly to your email. Questions about specific visa applications should be sent to publicwrw@state.gov.

Most Recent Questions and Answers:

1. I am a Polish-American dual national (I have passports from both the United States and Poland). Can I adopt a child in Poland domestically?
   
   

   If your permanent place of residence is in the United States or any other country than Poland, you cannot adopt a child domestically, as a Polish citizen.
   
   According to Polish family law any adoption involving the change of residence of the adopted child to another country must be considered an intercountry (international) adoption, no matter whether the adoptive parents are Polish citizens or citizens of any other country. So it's the place of their permanent residence that counts, not their citizenship.





2. I am a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) of the United States and a citizen of Poland. I would like to adopt a child in Poland. Is it possible?

   
   
   

   As a Polish citizen you are allowed to adopt a child in Poland, but it will be extremely difficult for you to obtain an immigrant visa and take the child to the United States.
   
   Under American law only a US citizen may file an orphan petition, which is done at DHS/USCIS offices in the United States, which allows that citizen to apply for an immigrant visa for their adopted child right after the adoption process has been completed abroad. Legal Permanent Residents of the US are unable to file such petitions.
   
   We would strongly recommend that LPRs planning to adopt a child in their homecountry contact our Embassy or the Children's Issues office of the State Department before they undertake any steps towards that process. Please check our Polish adoption flyer for more information.




3. We are American citizens of Polish descent. We have no children of our own and would like to adopt my wife's teenage cousin from Poland to give him a loving home and good education in the US. Can we do it?

   You must be aware that any child that you want to adopt abroad must meet certain criteria under the US law. Specifically, In order to qualify for an immigrant visa as an adopted child of an American citizen, the child must be under the age of 16 at the time of the filing of the immigrant petition and meet the definition of "orphan" in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act. The only exception to the age criterion is for a child under age 18 who otherwise meets the definition of orphan and who was/will be adopted together with a sibling who is under age 16.
   
   Under this law, an "orphan" is a child who has no parents because of the death or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from both parents. An orphan is also a child whose sole or surviving parent has forever and irrevocably released him or her for adoption and emigration because that parent cannot properly care for the child. For a detailed definition of an orphan please contact the Embassy or the Childrens Issues office.
   
   Any child who has both living parents, whose parental rights have not been earlier terminated by a proper court in Poland so that the child has become a ward of the State, cannot be considered an "orphan" under the US law, and further receive any immigrant visa to legally enter the United States.




4. How long does the adoption process take in Poland?

   The adoption process in Poland is quite lengthy and requires usually two trips of the adoptive parents (with the first stay for the so-called bonding period with the children for at least 2 -3 weeks). For more details on the adoption process in Poland please check our adoption flyer.





5. Archive of Previously Asked Questions