Romania is a small Southeastern European country that borders Black Sea, Hungary, Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Romania is known for its beautiful forests in Transylvania region and Carpathian Mountain. The capital is Bucharest. Romania is party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention). Therefore, all intercountry adoptions between Romania and the United States must meet the requirements of the Convention and U.S. law implementing the Convention.
Romanian adoptions are conducted through a collaborative effort of a Hague accredited adoption agency in the US and by the Romanian Central Adoption Authority (National Authority for the Protection of the Child’s Rights).

• Both boys and girls are available for adoption.
• Children as young as 3 years and as old as fifteen are available for adoption. (wait time for a referral of a child under 5 years old can be up to 2 years.)
• Sibling groups are available.
• Children with Special Needs are available for adoption.

Applicants must be at least 18 years older than the child they are adopting. Both married couples and single women may adopt from Romania. At least one applicant must be a Romanian citizen. Romania will not accept applicants with a criminal history, history of drug/alcohol abuse, or a history of pornography. Romania is reluctant to accept families with significant medical, psychological, psychiatric conditions.

1. Make 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 your adoption petition, you will receive your I-797C provisional approval notice.
5. Once your USCIS approval has been received and your dossier is complete, you will be registered to adopt in Romania.
6. The Romanian Central Authority will add you to a list of waiting families and it can take 12 to 24 months to receive a referral.
7. Upon referral acceptance, Nightlight will begin processing the family’s I-800.
8. Once I-800 provisional approval is received, Visa application form DS-260 is filed in order to obtain Article 5 Letter.
9. Romanian Central Authority will then invite you to travel to Romania to meet and bond with your child (a minimum of 30 days for bonding).
10. At the end of the bonding period, your adoption court hearing will be scheduled.
11. You must wait 15 business days to receive the final court decree.
12. Once you have received the court decree, the local authorities will help you obtain a new birth certificate and passport for your child.
13. The final step is to obtain the US visa for your child and returning home.
14. The children reside in orphanages or foster families while awaiting adoption.
15. Romanian adoptions can take on average from 18 to 36 months to complete.

You receive a referral of a child from Romanian Central Authority through Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The referral will include a brief social history of the child, and the current health and development of the child. 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. You will then wait for an invitation to travel to Romania. Once you travel to Romania, you will remain in Romania a minimum of 60 days to process the adoption. Depending on the region, you may be able to make 2 trips to complete your adoption. After 30 days, you will attend your court hearing. You must wait for 15 business days before the final written decree will be issued. In some regions, the judge may waive this waiting period. Once you receive the court decree, you will obtain a new birth certificate and passport and begin the visa process. Both parents do not have to remain in Romania the entire time. Both parents must fulfill the initial bonding requirement and attend the court hearing.

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 on a quarterly basis for 2 years after the adoption is finalized. These reports include your child’s developmental progress and pictures. This is a very serious commitment; Nightlight is committed to showing the Romanian Adoption Authorities 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 adoption reports and also requires families to pay for the cost of the post adoption reports in advance.

Please contact Viktoriia Serediuk-Buz, at viktoriia@nightlight.org or (502) 423-5780 with any questions.