I want to adopt my girlfriend's three year old daughter and giver her my last name. My girlfriend already has sole custody of her. What can I do or where can I go to start the adoption? The only thing that I am concerned about is that I am not a legal resident of the United States. Will that affect the adoption?

Please pay more attention to posting guidelines. There is a Read First sticky in the Adoption forum (where this was moved from) that directs questions of a legal nature to this forum.

First, in most states you need to be married for a period before an adoption will be approved.

Second, yes, not being a citizen may adversely affect your petition.

But the place to start is with a Family Law attorney. They will tell you what the requirements are. They will then prepare the petition, including the bio father's agreement to a termination of his rights.

For starters you need to be married in most cases. Another thing your going to need is the bio fathers permission. Why in the world if your not married would she allow the child to have your last name ?