Burkina Faso Adoption Program

• Both boys and girls are available for adoption; gender preference may be specified.
• Available children range in age from infancy to teens.
• Sibling groups are typically rare.
• Children are of African descent
• Children with special needs, including those with known needs ranging from correctable to severe, are available for adoption, including older children (6 and older) with no identified medical needs.

Couples who have been married five years or more can adopt from Burkina Faso. At least one spouse must be a minimum of 30 years old and neither spouse may be older than 53. Adoptive parents must also be at least 15 years older than the adopted child. Preference is given to couples without a child, followed by couples with only one child. Burkinabe law allows for a maximum of two children in the home after the placement of the adopted child(ren). If prospective adoptive parents already have one child in their home, they are not able to adopt more than one child from Burkina Faso. However, this requirement can be waived if the family is adopting a child with special needs or a child 6 years of age or older.

1. Submit your application to Nightlight Christian Adoptions.
2. Begin your adoption home study and submit form I-800A to USCIS.
3. Begin to assemble your dossier. We will give you detailed instructions. 
4. Once USCIS has approved you to adopt from Burkina Faso, you will receive your I-797C approval notice.
5. Once your USCIS approval has been received your dossier is translated, your dossier will be registered in Burkina Faso.  
6. You will be added to the list of waiting families and it can take 2-4 years to receive a match from the central authority.
7. Complete official referral review with Nightlight’s Social Services Department 
8. Upon referral acceptance, Nightlight will begin assisting you with processing of your I-800.
9. Upon provisional approval of your I-800, Your file is submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso and the Article 5 letter is issued.
10. Your legal adoption process is completed in Burkina Faso.
11. You will then travel to Burkina Faso for a period of 15 days to meet your child and begin the finalization process.
12. The final step is to obtain the US visa for your child, obtain exit approval, meet with the central authority and returning home with your adopted child.
13. The children reside in orphanages or foster care while awaiting adoption.  
14. Burkina Faso adoptions will take approximately 18-24 months to be finalized after a referral is accepted.  

After being matched with a child, the adoptive parents are required to take one trip to Burkina Faso.  The trip is approximately 15 days, wherein the couple are united with their child and attend multiple appointments, allowing the child to exit the country and return to the U.S. with their new family.

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 post-adoption reports and submit them to Nightlight at 1 month, 12 months and 24 months from the date of placement and then every 3 years from the date of placement until the child turns 18, with at least ten printed photos to include pictures of the whole family and pictures of the child alone. Reports must be notarized and apostilled.  These reports include your child’s developmental progress and pictures. This is a very serious commitment; Nightlight is committed to showing the Burkina Faso 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 Hague Convention.  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.