Nightlight began offering adoption services for the children of the nation of Nigeria in 2016. Nigeria is located in West Africa and has the largest population on the continent of Africa. For this reason, it is often referred to as the “Giant of Africa”. The capital of Nigeria is Abuja and the largest city is Lagos. The fees for adoption from Nigeria are reasonable, and it is estimated that the process will take approximately 1.5 years from application to adoption completion depending upon the type of child you are seeking to adopt.
Nightlight Christian Adoptions has partnered with a local non-governmental organization (NGO) in Nigeria known as Morgan Hill Children’s Foundation. Their mission is to promote literacy, education, care, support, and to empower children. Children in Nigeria are often abandoned due to poverty, social problems, and parental illness. Nightlight is committed to helping families prepare for the adoption of children from Nigeria by providing educational information to assist with potential developmental delays and health issues.
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Nigeria Adoption Program Details
CHILDREN AVAILABLE
View Children Available Here. There are children 2-15 years old available in Nigeria. Children that are 2-5 years old often have some minor identified special need(s) and children that are 5+ years old do not. There are however, children also available that do have more significant identified special need(s) of all ages. The wait time will be the longest for healthy children under the age of 5 years old. Children living in poverty and raised in institutional care often have both developmental and emotional needs. There are also children available for adoption that have minor and correctable to moderate and severe special needs. Children who would otherwise have little hope for a future can have a better life with the emotional and physical security that a loving family can offer, along with the availability of excellent medical care in the United States. There are also sibling groups available for adoption.
ELIGIBILITY TO ADOPT
PROCESS
- Complete an application to Nightlight Christian Adoptions.
- Apply to Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth & Social Development
- Begin your adoption home study and submit form I-600A to CIS.
- Begin to assemble your dossier. We will give you detailed instructions.
- Once USCIS has approved your adoption home study, you will receive your I-171H pre-approval notice.
- Once your dossier is approved and mailed to Nigeria, you will wait to receive a referral of a child in Nigeria. The wait time will depend on your openness to age, gender, and special needs.
- Complete official referral review with Nightlight’s Social Services Department
- Once you have accepted a match of a child, Morgan Hill will add the child’s paperwork to your dossier and file with the Ministry for approval.
- You will receive permission to travel and go to Nigeria for the bonding and court period (minimum 12 weeks).
- During your second trip (2-3 weeks), you will apply for your child’s passport, complete the Embassy doctor appointment, complete the visa appointment at the US embassy and then bring your child home!
TRAVEL
You receive a referral of a child from Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The referral will include a photo, brief social history of the child, the current health and development of the child, and lab test results for HIV, Hepatitis B & C, Sickle cell, Syphilis and TB. We highly recommend that you have this information reviewed by a doctor who specializes in international adoption before you make a decision. Once you decide to accept a referral, you will be considered “matched” with the child. Once you receive permission to travel from the Ministry, you will then make plans to travel to Nigeria for the bonding period. You will need to make plans to travel to a Nigerian consulate before you leave to obtain a visa before you are able to fly to Nigeria.
Families are required to take two separate trips to Nigeria. The first trip is a minimum of 12 weeks for the bonding and court processes. After the adoption is finalized in the court, you will return home and file the I600 with USCIS to apply for the child’s visa. After the I-600 application is submitted, the Embassy in Lagos performs the I604 investigation. This I604 investigation can take several months and there is little communication from the Embassy about your case during this time. Once the case is approved, you will receive an Email from USCIS and your case will be returned to the US embassy in Lagos to schedule the visa interview. You will return to Nigeria for the second trip at that time which requires about 1-2 weeks in country. Both parents must be present for the first trip at the start of the bonding period as well as for court. The in-country stay gives you time to visit and live with your child daily and to begin the bonding process. It is also a great time to learn more about the culture and history of Nigeria.
NIGHTLIGHT’S COMMITMENT
POST ADOPTION
Within 30 days of your arrival home, you must have a home visit by your home study provider. This one-month social worker report is required by Morgan Hill and we will be sending them this one-month report along with 6-8 updated photos of your child. If your child comes to the U.S. on an IR3 or IH3 visa, their Certificate of Citizenship should be mailed to them. Nigeria also requires reports to be sent to the ministry each year until the child turns 18 years old. The one-month report, first year report and second year report from your child being home, needs to be completed by a social worker. After you are home for 2 years, you can begin self-reporting on the child until they turn 18 years old. All reports need to include 6-8 updated photos of your child with at least one photo with both parents, which Nightlight will mail to Nigeria. These reports include your child’s developmental progress and pictures. This is a very serious commitment; Nightlight is committed to showing the Nigerian government and birth families that children adopted by US citizens are healthy and well cared for. Nigeria has also informed us that The Ministry of Youth and Social Development will no longer send us child referrals should families not comply with Post Adoption Report Requirements so this is a very important requirement for all families to complete. Therefore, Nightlight charges a fee to monitor and process these post placement reports and requires families to pay for the cost of the post placement reports in advance. Shipping costs for the post adoption reports to be sent to Nigeria until the child is 18 years old is $1,600, which will be collected prior to the family traveling to pick up their child.
Please contact Kate Lubsen at kate.resh@nightlight.org or (502) 423-5780 with any questions.
- Children will be 5 years and older. Children ages 2-5 years are available with special needs.
- Adopting parents must be at least 25 years of age and singles must be at least 35 years of age.
- Referral time will be an estimated 1-3 years depending on the family’s openness to age, gender, and special need
More Information on Nigeria Adoptions
Nigeria Adoption Overview and Fees
U.S. Relations with Nigeria
Intercountry Adoption Information on Nigeria
Ministry of Youth & Social Development