One Parent Adoption Travel

Due to work complications, child care issues, or finances, many adoptive couples are unable to travel to China together to complete the adoption. This is the situation our family has found ourselves in for both of our China adoptions.

Fortunately, it's not a problem! Under the Hague/I-800 system, there is almost no extra paperwork involved, and it won't affect your child's citizenship or adoption finalization at all! Let's look at several of the issues here.

Paperwork

• Power of Attorney

If one spouse is unable to travel, the traveling spouse will need to carry a notarized, state certified, and fully authenticated power of attorney authorizing them to sign any documents pertaining to the adoption of their child in their spouse's name. Most agencies also encourage you to take along several extra notarized power of attorneys as well.

Some provinces require the Power of Attorney to be less than six months old. Check with your adoption agency about your province to see if this will be an issue for you.

Note: Your adoption agency will likely have a standard Power of Attorney that they like their clients to use. Email your agency and ask them to send it to you. You can then sign, notarize, and fully authenticate as needed. DO NOT attempt to draft your own power of attorney.

• Letter of Explanation

Some provinces require the non-traveling spouse to write a letter of explanation as to why could not to come to China. Your agency will have samples for you if they think this is necessary. This letter is usually notarized, but NOT state certified or authenticated.

• Tax Documents

Some agencies ask you to bring copies of your most recent tax return and pay stubs. This is usually not required, but a few agencies ask you to bring it anyway.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Always bring every document your agency asks you to bring to China, whether or not you or anyone else thinks you'll need it. For our last adoption, our agency asked us to bring these financial documents. We never needed them, but I am glad I brought them anyway just in case.

Citizenship/Finalization

The US Immigration Process

For more information about citizenship, click here.

Also, the adoption of your new child will STILL be final in China even though one parent traveled. There is no legal reason to readopt here in the United States, although most adoptive families feel it is still a good idea. But one parent travel will have no affect upon the finalization of your adoption in China.

Click here for information on travel agents.

Obtaining a Chinese Visa

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