Juan Pineda is unable to initiate international adoptions in Honduras. In some cases he can handle Honduran paperwork and legal proceedings for an adoption that has already been legitimately initiated with IHNFA or with an adoption agency that is authorized to perform adoptions in Honduras.
There are very few foreign adoptions of Honduran children in Honduras. All adoptions in Honduras must go through the Honduran Children and Family Institute (Instituto Hondureño de la Niñez y la Familia [IHNFA]), which is a social welfare agency charged by the Honduran government with overseeing local and international adoptions. There are no private adoptions in Honduras.
Who can adopt a child from Honduras?
According to Honduran law, at least one of adoptive parents must be between 25 and 50 years of age. The child to be adopted must be at least 15 years younger than the youngest member of the parents who adopt.
What do you need to adopt a Honduran child?
There are four steps to adopt a child in Honduras. You must first complete documents and assemble the information required by the governments of Honduras and the country where it originated. This can take from 2 to 4 weeks. A U.S. citizen plans to adopt an orphan Honduras but has no specific child in mind must file a Form I-600A with your local INS office. Requests approved I-600A is valid for 18 months. You may want to hire an attorney or the U.S. to assist in filing the petition I-600A.
In Honduras, you must file a petition to adopt a child with IHNFA. A Honduran lawyer can assist you to acquire the appropriate documents and complete them correctly. However, the initial petition for adoption must be presented personally by the concerned parents. It can not be made through an intermediary. In practical terms, this means that while a lawyer can help set up the papers and make contacts, both members of a couple wanting to adopt a child must come to Honduras.
Once you have completed the procedure IHNFA, both members must appear personally to file a petition to adopt to the appropriate Family Court. Once the court has accepted your request and determined that you meet the legal requirements to adopt, ask the IHNFA to provide them with a report of their social, psychological and economical to adopt. His lawyer continued to process in court to make sure everything is developing according to the provisions of the Act IHNFA normally takes about twelve weeks to complete this report. At the same time, the court ordered his lawyer to publish its intent to adopt a publication in the official government newspaper ("the Gazette") and a local newspaper. Your attorney will send copies of these publications. The immigrant visa unit of the U.S. Embassy original required. If everything is in order, a final decree of adoption be published in about three weeks.
Your lawyer has the final decree of adoption, and proof of publication to the Office of National Registry of Persons to enroll your child and obtain a new birth certificate showing the new name of your child and describes his new parents.
A certificate of adoption is also published. This process usually takes from one to five days.
For additional information, see the Embassy of the United States in Honduras Web page, Information Regarding Honduran Adoptions, or the U.S. Department of State Web page on intercountry adoption, Intercountry Adoption.