Korea Post Adoption Reports & Documentation

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Photo Due Dates & Requirements for Post Adoption Reports

Permanent Case File Documents

After your child’s arrival to the U.S., please send copies of documents received overseas to secure in your permanent case file: 

1. Certificate of Citizenship
   This is required to be sent overseas and should arrive 90 days after arrival home.

Optional Documents for your Permanent Case File

Our post adoption services department receives thousands of inquiries from adoptive parents and adult adoptees requesting copies of their case file. You are welcome to submit documents for Holt to keep in your child’s case file. Most families find this is a helpful, safe and confidential way to keep a backup record in case of document loss, theft, fire, etc. If you would like to provide these documents at any point, feel free to email them to us.

1. U.S. Adoption Decree 
   Issued after re-finalization (IH-3 cases)
2. New State Birth Certificate
   In most states, this document is only available after your child’s adoption is re-finalized or finalized in your local court.
3. U.S. Passport
   It is optional if you want us to add this to your file. Apply for a passport if you plan to travel outside the U.S.
4. Social Security Card
   It is optional if you want to provide this document for your permanent file or not.

Contact us at [email protected] if you have further questions or if your case file has been closed.

Steps for Documentation of U.S. Citizenship

This applies to all families who have completed an adoption (1600A/1600) from Korea. Because your child arrived on an IR-3 visa, he/she qualifies for automatic U.S. citizenship. Documentation steps in this process are outlined below.

For more information, visit our FAQs on Documentation of U.S. Citizenship

Contact us at [email protected] if you have further questions.

Foster Family Correspondence

Holt International is happy to help you communicate with your child’s foster family after arrival home. If you would like to send photos and letters/cards for translation to the Holt Eugene office, we will forward them to Korea on your behalf. Please remember that we cannot accept packages or gifts due to international shipping costs and complications with customs clearance. You are welcome to send photos and letters to your child’s foster family as often as you would like. Foster families really appreciate this!

Foster family correspondence can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to the Korea program staff at:

If you have any questions about Holt Korea or foster family correspondence, please contact the Korea program staff directly. They handle this type of correspondence once children are home.

Birth File Confidential Intermediary Services

Holt encourages adoptive parents and adoptees to correspond with birth family members if they are known and open to communication. Even if birth parents are not known or not currently in communication, adoptive parents and adoptees may send letters and photos to keep in the file in their birth country — available for birth parents to view. Although birth parents have relinquished the right to parent the adoptee, they and the adoptee have an ongoing tie.

If you decide to send letters and photos through Holt, please consider the following: 

• Label the letter and photo with the adoptee’s birth name only. Please do not use your child’s American name or his/her case number. They raise too many questions by casual observers for birth families to have to handle. 
• Holt Korea is now only able to accept one letter and one photo annually as of April 2014 to place in the birth file. We will not be able to send multiple photos, photo books or albums as there is simply not enough space to store these in individual files. 
• Families may send a single DVD or flash drive with multiple photos to accompany the letter.
• Include a cover letter with your identifying information and specify that you wish the items to be sent to the birth family. This ensures that this information reaches your child’s birth file in Korea.
• Include only non-identifying information in the letter to the birth family, such as height, weight, developmental milestones, skills, interests, education, family composition and traditions. Check to be sure that you have not accidentally included identifying information, such as your name, address, phone number, email address, occupation or organization that you are connected with.

Please send your letters and photos, with cover letter, either by email to [email protected] or by mail to our office in Oregon:

We do track correspondence to and from birth families and are able to tell you when your letter and photos were mailed to the birth country if you request this. We are, however, unable to confirm receipt by the birth family and cannot guarantee a response.

Post Adoption Services from Holt International