Can I Adopt My Niece From the Philippines to the USA?

Adopting a niece from the Philippines to the United States is legally possible, but the case has to run through the Hague Convention adoption process, and your niece has to fit a narrow definition of a child eligible for intercountry adoption. Being her aunt or uncle helps at several points, but it does not remove the requirement that her parents be unable to care for her and formally release her for adoption. Most families should plan on one to three or more years from start to finish.

Whether Your Niece Qualifies

The Philippines is a party to the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, so your case goes through the Convention process, not the older “orphan” route. That means Form I-800A and Form I-800 with USCIS, and your niece must qualify as a “Convention adoptee.”¹²

A child qualifies as a Convention adoptee only after the Philippine Central Authority (the National Authority for Child Care, or NACC) has determined she is eligible for intercountry adoption, and one of these must be true:

Both parents are living, have consented, and have irrevocably released the child for adoption and emigration. If they release her directly to you rather than through an authorized child welfare institution, you must also show they cannot provide proper care.
The sole or surviving parent has consented and released the child, and the other parent has died, disappeared, abandoned, or deserted her.
Both parents have died, disappeared, abandoned, or deserted her.

The first category is where most niece cases run aground. If your niece has two living parents who simply want her to have better opportunities in the United States, that alone does not qualify her. The parents must formally release her, and if they release her directly to you, you must demonstrate that they cannot meet her basic needs by local standards in the Philippines. Extreme poverty, serious medical conditions, or long-term incarceration can satisfy that test.³

The petition must be filed before your niece turns 16. That extends to 18 if she is the biological sibling of another child you have adopted or will adopt through the same Convention process.⁴

Whether You Qualify

You need to meet two sets of rules: the U.S. rules for petitioning to adopt, and the Philippines’ own rules for prospective adoptive parents. The Philippine rules are often stricter.

On the U.S. side, only U.S. citizens can petition through the Hague process, and married couples must adopt jointly. The case starts with Form I-800A, which asks USCIS to determine that you are eligible and suitable to adopt from a Convention country.⁵ A home study by a licensed social worker is the centerpiece of that application; it covers your home, finances, family background, health, and parenting readiness, and it cannot be more than six months old when submitted.⁶ Home study fees typically run from about $900 to $5,400 depending on the provider and your location.

On the Philippine side, the NACC applies its own criteria:

You must be at least 27 years old and at least 16 years older than the child, and the age gap cannot exceed 45 years.
If married, you must have been married at least three years. The NACC may accept one year if you lived together before the marriage, and it will consider applicants with up to two prior divorces while evaluating the stability of the current marriage.
Household income must be at least $40,000 per year.
You need at least a high school diploma.
You cannot have a conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude under Philippine law.

These apply whether you are adopting a relative or an unrelated child.¹

What Being an Aunt or Uncle Changes

Being related to your niece helps on both sides of the process. It does not, though, replace any of the core legal requirements.

The Prior-Contact Exception

Hague Convention rules normally prohibit contact between prospective adoptive parents and a child’s birth parents before certain steps are completed, to prevent improper inducement. Federal regulations create an explicit exception when you are already related to the child, and aunts, uncles, and first cousins are listed by name.⁷ Your existing relationship with your niece and her parents will not, on its own, trigger a denial.

Philippine Shortcuts for Relative Adoptions

Republic Act No. 11642 gives relative adoptions several real advantages. The child does not need to first be declared legally available for adoption, which cuts out a step that can take months for unrelated children, and the normal publication requirement can be waived.⁸

If you and your niece have lived in the same household for at least two years, the formal matching process can be skipped entirely.⁸ The Philippine government may also waive residency requirements for former Filipino citizens adopting a relative within the fourth degree of consanguinity, or for someone married to a Filipino citizen who is jointly adopting a relative of that spouse within the fourth degree.¹ A niece falls within the fourth degree, so these waivers can apply.

What Stays the Same

The Convention adoptee eligibility rules on the U.S. side do not bend for relatives. Your niece’s parents must still consent and release her, the NACC must still determine she is eligible for intercountry adoption, and the same USCIS forms apply.

The Two Processes, in Order

Your case moves through the Philippine adoption process and the U.S. immigration process in parallel, with certain steps that must happen in order.

You start on the U.S. side by filing Form I-800A. Once USCIS approves it, the approval is valid for 15 months from the date USCIS receives your fingerprint results, with one free extension available and a second for a fee.²

You must work with a U.S. adoption service provider accredited to handle Hague cases and authorized by the NACC to operate in the Philippines. That agency acts as your intermediary throughout.¹ With that agency, you assemble a dossier: home study, birth certificates, marriage certificate if applicable, financial records, police clearances, medical evaluations, and character references.⁹

The NACC reviews the application. For an unrelated child, this includes a formal matching step; for a relative adoption where you and your niece have lived together for at least two years, that step can be waived. The DSWD prepares a child study report on your niece’s background, medical condition, and needs. Once the NACC approves the placement, it issues a Placement Authority and a six-month trial custody period begins, during which your agency files progress reports.⁹

After your niece has been identified and proposed as your match, you file Form I-800 with USCIS to classify her as a Convention adoptee.¹⁰ Provisional approval sends the case to the National Visa Center and then to the U.S. Embassy in Manila for the visa interview.

Before that interview, your niece must complete a medical examination at St. Luke’s Medical Center Extension Clinic in Manila, the designated facility for U.S. visa medical exams in the Philippines. For children under 15, the fee is approximately ₱13,910. A parent or legal guardian who knows the child’s medical history must accompany minors.¹¹

The consular officer decides the visa. If approved, your niece receives one of two immigrant visas:

An IH-3 visa if you (and your spouse, if married) finalized the adoption in the Philippines before she enters the United States. She acquires U.S. citizenship automatically on admission as a lawful permanent resident.
An IH-4 visa if the adoption was not finalized in the Philippines, or only one spouse of a married couple completed it abroad. She acquires citizenship after you finalize the adoption in a U.S. court, provided the remaining requirements are met before her 18th birthday.¹²¹³

After She Arrives

Even where citizenship is automatic, file Form N-600 to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship. The certificate documents her status in USCIS records and is sufficient to apply for a U.S. passport. If she entered on an IH-4 visa, you must first complete the adoption in a U.S. court before she qualifies for the certificate. Children 14 and older may need to take an Oath of Allegiance before a USCIS officer.¹⁴

Re-adoption in a U.S. state court is strongly recommended even after an IH-3 entry. It gives you an English-language decree, lets you formally change her name if needed, and ensures every state recognizes the adoption if you move. If she entered on an IH-4 visa, state-court finalization is required for her citizenship to take effect. State-court filing fees for adoption petitions typically range from $0 to roughly $400.

Costs and Timeline

Philippine-side charges include an NACC application fee of approximately $200, a processing and placement fee of roughly $2,000, and post-placement report costs of about $200 to $500 total. On the U.S. side, budget for USCIS filing fees for the I-800A and I-800 (check the current USCIS fee schedule, which changes periodically), the home study at roughly $900 to $5,400, and the SLEC medical exam. Your accredited adoption service provider will also charge its own fees, and those are often one of the larger cost components.

The federal adoption tax credit offsets part of the cost. For the 2025 tax year, qualified adoption expenses are capped at $17,280 per child. The credit phases out for households with modified adjusted gross income above $259,190 and disappears entirely above $299,189.¹⁵

Timelines vary with caseload, paperwork, and whether Philippine relative-adoption shortcuts apply. Standard intercountry adoptions from the Philippines commonly take three or more years from initial application to travel. Even a well-documented relative case will not go below one year in practice; the six-month trial custody alone is a fixed minimum.

Obstacles That Come Up in Niece Cases

A few problems appear over and over in relative adoptions from the Philippines. Work through them before you commit money to the process.

The NACC moratorium. In February 2023, the NACC implemented a moratorium on accepting new intercountry adoption applications. Confirm with your accredited agency or with the NACC whether the moratorium has been lifted and whether relative adoptions are exempt.¹

Living parents who can care for the child. This is the wall most niece cases hit on the U.S. side. If your sibling is alive, employed, and capable of raising the child, your niece will not qualify as a Convention adoptee no matter how willing everyone is. USCIS will look closely at whether the adoption is motivated by the child’s welfare or by a desire to move a family member to the United States more quickly than the standard family visa system allows.³

Philippine priority for domestic placement. Philippine law requires that intercountry adoption proceed only after possible domestic placements have been exhausted.⁸ Your family tie helps here, but the principle still applies.

Concerns about circumventing the visa system. Nieces and nephews are not “immediate relatives” under U.S. immigration law, so family-based visas for them run through preference categories with long waits.¹⁶ If USCIS suspects an adoption is primarily an immigration workaround, it will deny the petition. The cases that succeed pair a clearly documented inability of the birth parents to care for the child with a genuine parent-child relationship forming between you and your niece.

1
U.S. Department of State. Philippines Intercountry Adoption Information
2
U.S. Department of State. Eligibility to Adopt
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 5, Part D, Chapter 4 – Eligibility Requirements Specific to Convention Adoptees
4
U.S. Department of State. Adoptees
5
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.310 – Filing Requirements for Form I-800A
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 5, Part B, Chapter 4 – Home Studies
7
eCFR. 8 CFR 204.309 – Factors Requiring Denial of a Form I-800A or Form I-800
8
Lawphil. Republic Act No. 11642
9
National Authority for Child Care. Implementing Rules and Regulations on Inter-Country Adoption
10
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country
11
St. Luke’s Medical Center Extension Clinic. U.S.A. Visa Applicant
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Your New Child’s Immigrant Visa
13
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 5, Part F, Chapter 1 – Purpose and Background
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. U.S. Citizenship for an Adopted Child
15
Internal Revenue Service. Adoption Credit
16
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Family of U.S. Citizens