No Need For Readoption in Foreign Adoptions

The 2011 General Assembly revised Virginia adoption law to eliminate the need to readopt in Virginia after a foreign adoption.
The law provides that in cases in which a child has been adopted pursuant to the laws of a foreign country and enters the United States with an IR-3 or IH-3 visa issued by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, the adoptive parents shall not be required to readopt the child in Virginia and the adoption shall be recognized by the Commonwealth and the rights and obligations of the parties shall be determined as though the order of adoption was entered by a court of the Commonwealth. This bill also establishes a streamlined process whereby adoptive parents of children adopted pursuant to the laws of a foreign country and brought into the United States with an IR-3 or IH-3 visa may obtain a certificate of birth for the child.