22 CFR § 97.1 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t22/s97.1"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "22 CFR § 97.1 - Definitions."
title_number: 22
title_name: "Foreign Relations"
section_number: "97.1"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF STATE"
subchapter_number: "J"
subchapter_name: "LEGAL AND RELATED SERVICES"
part_number: "97"
part_name: "ISSUANCE OF ADOPTION CERTIFICATES AND CUSTODY DECLARATIONS IN HAGUE CONVENTION ADOPTION CASES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (done at The Hague, May 29, 1993), S. Treaty Doc. 105-51 (1998); 1870 U.N.T.S. 167 (Reg. No. 31922 (1993)); Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, 42 U.S.C. 14901-14954."
regulatory_source: "71 FR 64456, Nov. 2, 2006, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "97"
---


# 97.1 Definitions.

As used in this part:

(a) *Adoption Court* means the State court with jurisdiction over the adoption or the grant of custody for purpose of adoption.

(b) *U.S. Authorized Entity* means a public domestic authority or an agency or person that is accredited or temporarily accredited or approved by an accrediting entity pursuant to 22 CFR part 96, or a supervised provider acting under the supervision and responsibility of an accredited agency or temporarily accredited agency or approved person.

(c) *Foreign Authorized Entity* means a foreign Central Authority or an accredited body or entity other than the Central Authority authorized by the relevant foreign country to perform Central Authority functions in a Convention adoption case.

(d) *Hague Adoption Certificate* means a certificate issued by the Secretary in an outgoing case (where the child is emigrating from the United States to another Convention country) certifying that a child has been adopted in the United States in accordance with the Convention and, except as provided in § 97.4(b), the IAA.

(e) *Hague Custody Declaration* means a declaration issued by the Secretary in an outgoing case (where the child is emigrating from the United States to another Convention country) declaring that custody of a child for purposes of adoption has been granted in the United States in accordance with the Convention and, except as provided in § 97.4(b), the IAA.

(f) Terms defined in 22 CFR 96.2 have the meaning given to them therein.