International Adoption Process

• 1). Find a licensed, Hague-accredited international adoption agency. You can find such agencies online, but it's best to talk to other adoptive parents about their experiences and get referrals. International adoptions rarely go to conclusion without some bumps along the way, so look for agencies that have established programs in the foreign countries where you are seeking a child and experience in all the things that can happen during the adoption process. Choose an agency that is Hague accredited to insure you're adopting eligible children. The Hague Convention was established to help prevent the abduction and traffic of children and to insure that adoption is in the best interest of the child. Many countries will only work with families who are home studied by Hague-accredited agencies. If you're thinking of adopting from Russia, you'll need an agency that is accredited by the Russian Federation.
  
  
• 2). Decide which country you'd like to adopt from. Each country has its own requirements and process for adopting children. For example, several agencies in South Korea won't accept parents who are 30% overweight for their height. Many don't accept single people as adoptive parents. Some issues to consider when choosing a country include:
  1. Which countries adhere to the Hague Convention?
  2. Which countries accept your family characteristics such as age, years married, etc.?
  3. Which countries have children that fit your criteria for age, race, etc?
  4. What do the countries require from adoptive parents? If money is tight, you may want to avoid countries that require you to travel there twice or stay for several months.
  
  
• 3). Begin the home-study process. All adoptions require a study of your home and family that is done by a state-licensed agency. During the home-study process you'll need to gather papers such as birth certificates, employer verifications and personal references, submit fingerprints and other documents for background checks, and have at least three interviews with a social worker. At the end of the process, the social worker determines whether to approve you for an adoption and prepares a document called a Home Study that provides your family information (background, medical, financial, clearances, etc) and the formal approval. Home studies take several weeks to complete, so the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll be traveling to pick up your child. If you live in the same state as your international adoption agency, it will be able to do the home study for you. If you're in a different state, you'll be referred to an adoption agency in your area for the actual home study. Your international agency can help you in selecting a home study agency.
  
  
• 4). Submit an advance application for your child's visa to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. To speed the process of getting a visa and returning home once you've adopted your child abroad, the United States lets you start the visa application process before you have a referral for a specific child to adopt. Submit form I-600 A. Your international adoption agency should have forms and instructions on how to apply. Your USCIS office will send you information about providing fingerprints. In most cases you'll need to visit a USCIS office who will take your fingerprints. These are separate from the prints your home study agency will want. When your home study is completed and the paperwork is sent to your international agency, the agency will forward it to your USCIS office. Then you wait for USCIS approval.
  
  
• 5). Create your dossier. It's not always called a dossier, but each country does have its own application process. Your international adoption agency will know what forms and materials you need to gather for your country of choice. These items will need to be notarized and often also apostilled (authenticated). You'll send them to your international adoption agency, which will arrange for translation of the documents and forward them to the country.
  
  
• 6). Travel abroad and adopt your child. Once you have a referral and are approved for traveling, you have two final approvals to get. The first is to have a judge in the foreign country grant the adoption. Your international adoption agency will have all the paperwork and the team of professionals (lawyer and translator) to help you through the adoption process. Once the adoption is complete, you can then head to the U.S. Embassy to file the I-600 visa application. Since you've been preapproved, the process is fairly straightforward. Again, the international adoption agency representatives will assist you.
  
  
• 7). Participate in required supervision. Once you're home, you're required to have follow up visits from a social worker. This will usually be done by your home study agency. Most require three visits over six months, but some countries require additional yearly visits for up to four years. Some parents resent this. However, the visits are designed not only to insure the safety of the child but to provide support to the family. The reports are sent to the child's country of origin. When officials there see that the adoption is going well, they are more likely to continue to allow international adoptions.