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Disclaimer: The following is intended as a very general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child in Sierra Leone and apply for an immigrant visa for the child to come to the United States. Two sets of laws are particularly relevant: 1) the laws of Sierra Leone govern all activity in Sierra Leone including the adoptability of individual children as well as the adoption of children in country. 2) U.S. Federal immigration law governs the immigration of the child to the United States. The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and our current understanding. It does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the laws of Sierra Leone and is provided for general information only. Moreover, U.S. immigration law, including regulations and interpretation, changes from time to time. This flyer reflects our current understanding of the law as of this date and is not legally authoritative. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.
PLEASE NOTE: Adoptive parents are required to travel to Sierra Leone to attend the court hearing for the adoption. The old practice of waiving personal appearance of adoptive parents has now ended.
Immigrant visas for Sierra Leonean citizens, including adopted orphans are issued at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. Due to a high rate of document and adoption fraud in Sierra Leone, the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal carefully scrutinizes all immigrant visa petitions. The U.S. Embassy in Freetown, Sierra Leone will conduct field investigations into the circumstances surrounding the adoption as warranted. The U.S. Embassy in Dakar will return all immigrant visa petitions (I-600s) to the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services if, after an investigation, the relevant adoption court orders are determined to be fraudulent and/or the prospective adopted children are determined not to be orphans under section 101(b)(1)(F) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION OF ADOPTED ORPHANS TO THE U.S.: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to orphans from Sierra Leone.
| Fiscal Year | Number of Immigrant Visas Issued |
| FY 2004 | 39 |
| FY 2003 | 56 |
| FY 2002 | 32 |
| FY 2001 | 8 |
| FY 2000 | 23 |
| FY 1999 | 28 |
ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN SIERRA LEONE: The government office responsible for adoptions in Sierra Leone is the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs. All petitions for adoptions are filed in the High Court, which issues an adoption court order (a document granting adoption if all legal requirements are met).
Credits: U.S. Department of State
