Change of Country

Prospective adoptive parents may file for a change of country at any time. 

Prior to Approval

Prior to the approval of the Form I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition or Form I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country:

• You must notify the USCIS National Benefits Center (NBC) in writing for the change to be made.
• There is no fee associated with a change of country prior to the initial approval of the Form I-600A/I-800A.
• For a Hague Convention adoption case,  you must submit an amended home study specifying the new country.
• For Orphan cases, you may need to submit a new home study if the recommendation for the child to be adopted was country specific.

After Approval

After Approval of the Forms I-600A/I-800A:

• All requests must be submitted in writing to the NBC.
  • Please note that only first change of country request is to be sent to the NBC.  All later significant change of country requests must be filed according to the directions for Form I 600A or Form I 800A
• There is no limit to the number of change of country requests that may be submitted. 
• There is no fee for the first change of country request.
• For an Orphan adoption case: for any subsequent change of country request, you must submit Form I-824, Application for Action on an Approved Application or Petition, with fee.
  • You may need to submit a new home study if the recommendation for the child to be adopted was country specific. 
• For a Hague Convention adoption case: a change of country request is made using Form I-800A, Supplement 3 and an amended home study.

Change from Hague to Orphan process, or from Orphan to Hague Process

Prospective adoptive parents may not simply change from the Hague process to the Orphan process, nor from the Orphan process to the Hague process. 

• Someone who has started the Hague process may withdraw a Form I-800A or Form I-800 and begin the Orphan process by filing a Form I-600A or Form I-600, with a new filing fee. 
• Someone who has started the Orphan process may withdraw a Form I-600A or Form I-600 and begin the Hague process by filing a Form I-800A with a new filing fee.

The filing fee for the earlier case will not be refunded.