An agency or person engaged in intercountry adoptions does not necessarily have to apply for accreditation or approval to perform adoption services in Convention adoptions.  It may instead choose to work under the supervision of another provider that is accredited or approved, or to provide only certain limited services that may be provided in Convention cases without being accredited or approved or supervised.  It may also choose to provide services only in cases not subject to the Convention.

In every Convention adoption case, an accredited agency or approved person must be identified as responsible for ensuring that the six adoption services are provided.  This agency or person is called the primary provider. If the primary provider relies upon an outside individual or another organization to carry out one or more of the adoption services, that individual or organization must generally operate under the supervision of the primary provider.  These individuals and organizations are called supervised providers. Supervised providers may be agents, facilitators, attorneys, or other organizations working either in the United States or a foreign country.  Supervised providers are not required to be accredited, temporary accredited, or approved.  They must, however, be supervised by a primary provider.

Exceptions to Supervised Provider Rule

There are some exceptions to the supervised provider rule. The following are not required to be accredited, temporarily accredited, or approved, or to operate as a supervised provider to provide some or all of the six adoption services: