Can a non-citizen adopt a stepchild in New Jersey?

Citizenship is not one of the New Jersey requirements listed here, but how your immigration status applies to your adoption is something to confirm with the Superior Court clerk in your county or with an attorney. Your status can raise questions that depend on your facts, so it is worth checking before you file.

What New Jersey does require, and how it relates to you:

• Residency: New Jersey has no minimum residency period for the adoption (N.J.S.A. § 9:3-42). You do not have to wait out a set number of months before filing.
• Court: Stepparent adoptions are filed in the Superior Court in your county. New Jersey has 21 counties, and the clerk's office can tell you about local filing details.
• Home study: It is waived in stepparent adoptions (N.J.S.A. § 9:3-48).
• Your stepchild's wishes: The child's consent is not required. A child 10 or older attends the final hearing, and the court considers the child's wishes (N.J.S.A. § 9:3-49).
• The other parent: The abandonment period is 6 months (N.J.S.A. § 9:3-46). Whether it applies depends on your family's facts. If the other parent's location is unknown, New Jersey allows service by publication after diligent search efforts. If the other parent may contest, talk to an attorney about that issue.

Questions about your immigration status:

• If you hold a green card, a work visa, a student visa or another status, or have a pending application, ask the clerk how the court handles your situation.
• If you are concerned about how the adoption could interact with your own immigration case, or about your stepchild's status, an immigration attorney can answer that for your circumstances.
• Bring your questions about identification and documentation to the clerk too, so you know what to include with your filing.

Time and cost: Stepparent adoptions in New Jersey typically take 3-6 months. The court filing fee range is $200-$350, and the total typical cost is under $1,000, compared with $3,000-$5,000+ when hiring an attorney. New Jersey also allows a name change as part of the adoption at no additional court cost.

How we help: StepParent Adoption 360 is a document preparation service, not a law firm. You answer questions online, and we prepare the complete court document package for your county. You then file it yourself without an attorney. The price is $349 for the first child and $99 for each additional child. Court-ready documents arrive within 24-48 hours after you finish the questions, and we back them with a 100% court acceptance guarantee. We have helped 1204 New Jersey families, and 34,000+ families nationally since 2001.