Nightlight Christian Adoptions is happy to announce we are licensed to work in Portugal and are currently accepting applications for families looking to adopt internationally! Most children available are over the age of 7 and there are sibling groups available. There are some children who are healthy but most children available from Portugal have different level of medical needs. We receive files of children periodically that are waiting and these are sent to all agencies licensed to work in Portugal. We are able to match waiting families with these children or advocate for them on AdoptionBridge.org.
In order to adopt from Portugal, you will want to consider the following eligibility criteria:
- You should be between the ages of 25 (30 if you are single) to 60 years old. There should be no more than 45 years age difference between the youngest parent and the child to be adopted.
- Couples must be living together for 4 years and married for at least 2 years. Single women and men are allowed to adopt as well.
If you are interested in adopting from Portugal, the first step is to inquire with Nightlight to determine if you are eligible. If it is determined that the program is a good fit for you, you will follow these steps.
- Fill out an application with Nightlight Christian Adoptions.
- Complete an orientation with your program coordinator.
- Begin a home study for an international adoption. If you live in one of the 10 states where Nightlight is licensed, you will be required to use us for the home study process. If you live outside of our licensed area, we will let you know which agency is preferred for your home study.
- File your I-800A application with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- Complete your dossier for Portugal.
- Once your dossier is registered with the central authority in Portugal, they will begin looking for an appropriate match. They have regular meetings where a committee looks at the families that are waiting and matches them with the children available. The wait time for a match will vary depending on your openness to age, gender, sibling groups, and special needs.
- After you have been matched, you will complete a referral review with Nightlight’s social services team to ensure you are prepared for the placement.
- You will then file your I-800 with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.
- When you travel to Portugal, you must prepare to be in country for 6-8 weeks. There will be a 1-week bonding period prior before the child is transferred into your care. With the help of our attorney you will complete the guardianship process and will obtain the US visa for the child.
- After you arrive home, you will need to contact an attorney in your State to process a full and final adoption.
- Also you will be required to complete post-placement reports and submit them to Nightlight at one month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months after you arrive home. If you have not finalized your adoption in the 12 months after arriving home, you will be required to continue a post placement visit with your social worker to be submitted to Portugal every 3 months until finalization.
We would love to talk with you more about adoption from Portugal if this sounds like a program that would be right for you! Our Portugal program coordinator is Viktoriia Serediuk-Buz. You can contact her by email at viktoriia@nightlight.org, by phone at (317)875-0058, or you can fill out our Online Inquiry Form and indicate your interest in Portugal and she will contact you.
