(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish
guidelines for the procedure of filing adoptions for residents of
the State of Texas who adopt children in foreign countries.
(b) A certified copy of the decree of adoption granted
in a foreign country and information with translation into the English
language relating to the adoptive parent(s) and adoptee should be
submitted to a court of competent jurisdiction of this state for validation.
It is the responsibility of the applicant(s) to have all required
documents translated into the English language. An official certificate
of adoption must be prepared and submitted to the Vital Statistics
Unit by the clerk of the court validating the foreign adoption.
(c) Certificate of birth. The State Registrar shall
prepare a new certificate of birth for a person born in a foreign
country, and adopted under the laws of a foreign country or under
the laws of this state, when the State Registrar receives the following
from a resident of this state:
(1) a request by the resident adoptive parent(s) to
file a new certificate of birth in the adoptive parent(s') names;
(2) an official certificate of adoption prepared and
filed in accordance with the laws of this state by the court which
registered or validated the adoption; and
(3) payment of all applicable fees.
(d) Guidelines. The State Registrar shall use the following
guidelines when preparing a new certificate of birth.
(1) The State Registrar shall not alter or change the
place of birth or the date of birth from the information contained
in the documentation presented.
(2) The new certificate shall be prepared on the current
certificate form in the same manner as an in-state adoption is prepared
and reflect the foreign country of birth.
(3) As prescribed in the Health and Safety Code, §192.008,
all documentation used to prepare the new certificate of birth shall
be placed in a sealed file and accessed by an applicant only upon
presentation of a certified copy of an order from the Texas district
court that validated the foreign adoption.
(4) Once a file is sealed, a standard fee shall be
charged for a search for a file and any copies of records issued as
prescribed in Health and Safety Code, §191.0045.
(e) Exceptions. The guidelines, as stated in subsection
(d) of this section, do not apply if a child was born in a foreign
country and was a citizen of the United States at the time of birth.
This record may only be processed by the United States Department
of State.
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Source Note: The provisions of this §181.29 adopted to be effective July 17, 1995, 20 TexReg 4687; amended to be effective July 3, 2003, 28 TexReg 4904; amended to be effective July 22, 2004, 29 TexReg 6936; amended to be effective August 11, 2013, 38 TexReg 4896 |