Purpose: Petition for visa approval for a yet unidentified orphan to be adopted from another country.
Submitted to: USCIS (local office)
Fee: $545 + $70 fingerprint fee for each adult 18 years and older


Once the homestudy is completed, or shortly before it's completion, the I-600A should be filed with the USCIS (Unites States Citizenship and Immigration Services). This form is 6 pages in length and generally asks questions about your residence, your citizenship, and other questions of that nature. The I-600A is known as the advance processing of orphan petition. This is done because there is no specific child named at this time. This form basically approves you as the prospective parent who will be adopting the child. It streamlines the process once the I-600 is filed later in the process.

Download the I-600A form

This form will be submitted to the local office of the USCIS according to where you live along with your homestudy. You will receive notification from the USCIS of a fingerprinting appointment (referred to as "biometrics"). Each person in your household over the age of 18 must have their fingerprints taken. This is actually a fairly easy step according to personal experience and that of others who have commented on their experience. You will be fingerprinted at your local office.

Once your fingerprints clear, it takes approximately 9 weeks for your I-600A to be approved. This is of course an average. There are plenty of cases which have taken far less time and others which have taken longer. Much depends on the workload of the office to which you must submit your form to. The USCIS requests that no calls be made regarding the status of a case until after that 9 week time period has elapsed.

When the I-600A form is completed, form I-171H will be mailed to the residence listed on the form. Form I-171H is your approval notification. At the same time that the I-171H is mailed to your residence, a fax or electronic notification is sent to the US Embassy in Guatemala City. This electronic notification is called the Visa 37 Cable.

Once the adoption has been completed with the PGN in Guatemala and the documents are submitted to the US Embassy, you must have a completed but not signed I-600 form. This is the actual petition that identifies your child as the applicant for the visa. Having had an advance petition already submitted and approved allows this step to be very quick. Many times a family will travel home with their child the same week that their papers are submitted. Again as with every office, this can depend on the workload, holidays, and specifics within the adoption.

To read further on these forms, visit the USCIS website