Samoa Adoption Program - Relative Program Only

• Relative only adoption program. According to US Immigration, children 16 and under or 18 and under (if part of a sibling group) can be adotped to the US.

Married couples and singles may adopt from Samoa.  Married couples must be between 23-55 years of age.  Singles must be at least 24 years old at the time of the I-600A filing and 25 years old at the time of the I-600 filing.  Applicants must be in good health, show financial stability and the ability to provide financially and emotionally for a child through adulthood.  

1. Submit application to Nightlight Christian Adoptions
2. Complete your adoption home study and submit form I-600A to USCIS.
3. Begin to assemble your dossier. We will give you detailed instructions.
4. Once USCIS has approved you to adopt from Samoa, you will receive your I-171H approval notice.
5. Once your USCIS approval has been received and your dossier is complete, you will complete an official referral review with Nightlight’s Social Services Department
6. Upon referral acceptance, you will complete the Court legal process and Attorney General approval process, which generally takes 9 – 12 months to complete.
7. Upon Court approval of your adoption, the attorney in Samoa will obtain your child’s post-adoption birth certificate, Samoan passport and your child’s New Zealand travel visa.
8. Upon completion of your legal adoption process in Samoa, NCA will assist with filing your form I600.
9. Upon provisional approval of U.S. form I600, your file is sent to the U.S. Embassy in Auckland, New Zealand for visa processing.
10. Once your child’s visa is approved by the U.S. embassy, you will travel to Apia Samoa to meet your child, then onto Auckland New Zealand for visa medicals and final visa processing.
11. Once your child’s visa is received you travel home with your child!
12.  

Only one trip is required to Samoa to complete the Embassy appointment and obtain the visa for your child.  The case will be finalized in the court prior to you traveling based on a POA given to the attorney working on your case.  When you are invited to travel, you will know the date of your embassy visa appointment (U.S. families). U.S families travel to Samoa to be united with their child(ren), and then travel to Auckland, New Zealand to attend the child’s visa medical appointment, the embassy appointment, and receive the child’s Orphan Visa

Nightlight Christian Adoptions is committed to preparing families for the adoption of a child with special needs. We provide pre- and post-adoption education and information regarding medical resources.

Within 30 days of your arrival home, you must have a home visit by your home study provider. Your home study provider will prepare a full post-adoption reports and submit them to Nightlight Christian Adoptions at 6 months, 12 months, and 24 months from the date of placement and pictures of the child with family, every three months for the first year e-mailed to the parents’ program director.  Reports include your child’s developmental progress and pictures. This is a very serious commitment; Nightlight Christian Adoptions is committed to showing the Samoan Government and birth families that children adopted by US citizens are healthy and well cared for. Compliance with post adoption reports is also required by the U.S. Department of State.  Therefore, Nightlight charges a fee to monitor and process these post placement reports and also requires families to pay for the cost of the post placement report in advance.