The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) had announced on April 1, 2010, the centralization of processing and adjudication of all new orphans' (Non-Hague) petitions with the agency's specific adoptions team in Missouri. The filing of petition to classify orphan as an immediate relative (Form I 600) and application for advance processing of orphan Petition (Form I 600A) by prospective parents will be accepted at the USCIS' Dallas Lockbox facility. The file will be forwarded to the Orphan Unit at USCIS' National Benefit Center (NBC) by the USCIS' Dallas Lockbox facility for processing and adjudication of the case. The USCIS' Dallas Lockbox facility will send a receipt notice with the NBC address and contact information to the applicant for further proceedings and contacts.

The prior mentioned proceedings will enable USCIS to take immediate course of action for processing of the application and petition. This course of action will also allow the USCIS to streamline and regulate the work processes. Such measures are taken intending the benefit of the parents involved in orphan adoption. Based on the NBC's implementation of the USCIS Hague Adoption Convention program in 2008; the parents who intend orphan adoption are benefited by experiencing the specialized skills of the NBC Non-Hague Adoption Unit.

Requests to extend and change circumstances for the approval of Form I-600A will be accepted at the Local USCIS field offices in the USA, in relevance to the current filing instructions.

Overseas U.S. citizens involved in orphan adoption can continue to file Form I-600A at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate abroad, which has the legal rights to accept the petition. However the petitioner involved in orphan adoption abroad, should be physically present in the adoptive child's country and have an approved Form I-600A. Citizens of the United States living abroad can continue to file the Form I-600A with an overseas USCIS office or the Dallas Lockbox facility.

For further clarifications in orphan adoption, the interested prospective parents or guardians can go through http://www.uscis.gov/adoptions.