Advantages of citizen applying for child than a resident?

well, you wouldn't be able to bring an adopted child into the US as a legal permanent resident. you would first have to have adopted the child for at least 2 years, cared and supervised him at home and then, after establishing a legal child/parent relationship with him, file for him as your son. and that would take another 2 1/2 years from the time you filed.

second, as a citizen, your ability to bring an adopted child into the US will depend on how old the child was when you adopted him and whether or not he meets the legal definition of an orphan. the child must be under 16 at the time of the adoption. and if the child is not an orphan, again, you''ll have to have the child under your care and supervision, outside of the US, before you can file a petition, an IR-3, for adoption or an IR-2 as your son, as by that time, the child/parent relationship would be established legally and you could file either one. the IR-2 would be much easier to file.

there's no wait on an adoption petition, but it does take time to process and get approved. however, once it is approved, it's valid for use immediately. still, you have to wait for an interview date, but most embassies priortize scheduling for adoption cases. assuming the adoption is finalized before the child enters the US and is under 18 when he gets here, he would be a US citizen at the time of entry.

I'd highly recommend taking a long look at http://adoption.state.gov/ tons of very useful information on that site, including country specific information on adoption laws and procedures on practically every country in the world. you won't find a better source anywhere.

John,

adoption is regulated by state law, or laws of the country where the adoption takes place, and those laws are quite different.

What you are asking is more of an immigration question.

In order for the child to get any immigration benefits to the United States, 3 requirements need to be met:

1) The adoption has to be completed before the child turns 16

2) Both of the child's parents need to be dead or incapacitated

3) The purpose of the adoption cannot be to provide a child with immigration benefits to the United States.

To elaborate on number 3: you can't adopt a child just in order to get this child to the U.S., and you can't adopt an "illegal alien" child in order to get this child residency either.

If not all 3 requirements are met, you may be able to adopt the child, but the child would not get an immigrant visa, or a Green Card, nor would the child become a US citizen.

Worse, let's say you adopt a child in Guatemala and become the adoptive parent and the adoption is perfectly legal in Guatemala, yet you can't get an immigrant visa for the child to the United States, perhaps because the child's mom is still alive or you can't document that she's dead, then you will have to move to Guatemala to take care of your child, or you'd fact criminal charges for child abandonment, not only in Guatemala, but in the U.S. as well. That would mean the end of your Green Card followed by deportation. So this is not something you can do on your own, not even if your name is Madonna or Brad Pitt.

But I applaud you for wanting to adopt a child. That's a wonderful thing to do.

How long this process takes depends on whether you adopt a child from the village next to where you live, or the South Pole. I have no idea. There is NO difference whether you start the process as a Green Card holder or citizen though.

good luck its a long and arduous but rewarding task

get good lawyers

http://adoption.state.gov/index.php