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Chinese Adoption Procedure

1. A CCAA-licensed agency may submit adoption applications directly to the CCAA for consideration. A listing of CCAA-licensed agencies can be found on http://www.china-ccaa.org/ Included with the application should be all the required documents along with authentications and translations. In addition, each application should indicate any preferences the prospective adoptive parents may have about the child’s age, sex, physical/medical condition, or region of origin within China. The application package should also include a cover letter, written along the lines found at the following web site: http://www.gwca.org/adoption/faqs/p_faq.phpωfaq=30.

2. The CCAA reviews the documents and advises the prospective adoptive parent(s) – either directly or through their adoption agency – whether additional documents or authentications are required.

3. Once the CCAA approves the application, it matches the application with a specific child. The CCAA then sends the prospective adoptive parent(s) a letter of introduction about the child, including photographs and the child’s health record. This document is commonly called a ‘referral.’ Prospective adoptive parents who still have questions about the child after reviewing this information may follow up with the CCAA either directly or via their adoption agency.

4. Prospective adoptive parent(s) then either accept or refuse the referral and send the document to their agency, which forwards it to CCAA. CCAA requires a response on a referral within 45 days of sending a referral to a family. If prospective adoptive parent(s) are considering refusing a referral they should discuss with their agency the possibility of getting a second referral. (Please note that all communications with CCAA must be done via the adoption agency.) CCAA will only accept referral rejections if there is a justified explanation provided. If the reason for the rejection is considered justifiable (such as a medical problem), then CCAA will refer the second child to the PAPs within a month’s time. If CCAA regards the rejection as unreasonable, the PAPs will have difficulty obtaining a second referral and CCAA is more likely to suggest that the PAPs withdraw their application for adoption in China.

5. Prospective adoptive parents who have accepted a specific referred child will receive an approval notice from the CCAA ("Notice of Coming to China for Adoption"). This document will bear the "chops," or red-inked seals of the CCAA. Prospective parents must have this approval notice in hand before departing for China to finalize the adoption.

Important Note: Prior to traveling to China, prospective adoptive parents must also already have been in contact with the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and must have an approved I-600A form. (See the “U.S. Immigration Requirements” section below for additional information.)

6. With the CCAA’s sealed approval notice in hand, prospective adoptive parents arriving in China may proceed directly to the city in China where the Civil Affairs Bureau with jurisdiction over the appropriate Children's Welfare Institute is located.

Although the CCAA is headquartered in Beijing, prospective adoptive parents will not be required to travel to Beijing during this process. The CCAA will have already forwarded a copy of the adoption approval notice to the locality where the child resides. Local Child Welfare Institutes, provincial Civil Affairs officials and Chinese notarial offices will not process adoptions unless they have seen this notice allowing the prospective adoptive parents take legal custody of the child.

Americans adopting in China will usually meet with a notary in the provincial capital for an informal interview before they notarize documents such as birth certificates or abandonment certificates. Chinese Adoption law does not require notarization of the adoption documents (birth certificate, and abandonment), but the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou does. The notary may conduct a brief interview with the prospective parents prior to notarizing the documents. This is not uncommon. A Chinese notary is not comparable to a notary public in the United States, but rather is an official

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