|
|
In the beginning of 2005, my wife Erica and I decided to adopt a baby from Armenia. We spoke to two couples who had previously adopted from Armenia, and both said that the process, from start to finish, would take between 12 and 14 months. Their estimations were accurate. We started the process in March 2005 and brought Liliana home in April 2006. Below is a timeline of our journey, with links to the agencies and entities that were integral to the process. There were 4 major steps: 1) domestic home study; 2) Federal government approval; 3) submission of paperwork to the Armenian Embassy for translation and verification; and 4) a final review by the Armenian Government.
In each section below I describe the process generally and then give some insight into our specific situation. Please note, however, that the description below is NOT an advertisement for adopting in Armenia. SOAR, as a charity organization, is neither in favor of nor opposed to adopting in Armenia. That said, adopting and orphan populations are so inextricably linked that to omit details of the adoption process (information that is already publicly available) would do a disservice to our loyal supporters. As you read the information below, keep your eye on the prize, and try to enjoy the process!
Step 1: Domestic Home Study
A home study is required by the state and federal governments. Individuals who are interested in adopting internationally are required to submit an approved home study by an adoption agency to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Home studies usually consist of three interviews involving the adoptive parents and an adoption counselor, lasting approximately 1-2 hours each and addressing the following topics: motivation for and understanding of adoption, the home study process, social history of both adoptive parents, children in the home, other persons and pets in the home, marriage and family lifestyle, child care and child rearing philosophy, employment, financial and health situation, references, and clearances.
The adoption counselor makes an assessment that results in a recommendation regarding the adoptive parents' ability to care for an adopted child or children. Adoptive applicants must submit four names of personal references, employer references, medical summaries, criminal background checks, and background checks for child abuse and neglect. The references will be contacted by the adoption counselor and asked for a confidential letter. It takes approximately six to eight weeks to complete the home study process and the home study report.
Our Story: We initiated the home study process in March 2005 with the Adoption Home Study Associates of Chester County, Pennsylvania (www.adoptpakids.org). There were three steps to our home study: an office visit, a home visit, and a final office visit. Our first office visit was April 27, 2005. During this initial meeting we reviewed the necessary paperwork, asked a multitude of questions, and provided our adoption counselor with basic background information.
We had our home visit on May 5, 2005. We were interviewed together and then separately about our motivations and attitudes toward adoption, our family histories, and our attitudes toward discipline. She toured the house and gave us feedback about "childproofing" the house.
Between the initial visit and the final appointment, we submitted several documents that would ultimately be used in determining our suitability for adoption: 1) four letters of reference (from family and friends); 2) a current financial status worksheet; 3) medical clearances; 4) child abuse clearances; and 5) criminal background checks. The final appointment with our adoption counselor was in her office on June 30, 2005, during which time we were told that our home study application was approved!
While our home study process took approximately two months to complete, its duration is dependent entirely on your individual schedules and how quickly you can complete and submit the required deliverables. Two months seems like a reasonable time frame, but it probably could be done more expeditiously. The total cost for the home study was $1,450.00.
Step 2: Department of Homeland Security
After receiving home study approval, the next step in the international adoption process is approval from the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) (http://uscis.gov). The required form is the I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/i-600a.pdf). You cannot apply for DHS approval until after home study approval has been secured. The purpose of this form is for DHS to assess the qualifications of prospective parents and to inform the federal government of the country from which you plan to adopt. On this form you can also indicate the maximum number of children you would like to adopt. The form should take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Subsequent to submitting the form, applicants are required to be fingerprinted in their local CIS office. The fingerprinting step is referred to as "biometric services."
Our Story: Shortly after receiving home study approval, we submitted our I-600A form. It was received by DHS on July 13, 2005. A week later we received a letter from DHS indicating that we had 30 days to report to our local CIS office for biometric services. On August 19, 2005, we received approval to adopt up to 2 children. The total cost for DHS approval, including the biometric services, was $665.00.
Step 3: Armenian Embassy
A dossier of documents must be translated into Eastern Armenian before submission to the Government of Armenia. This translation can be done by the Armenian Embassy. Please see www.armeniaemb.org/ConsularAffairs/Adoption/revisedadoption.htm for a list of the required documents.
Before the documents can be translated and verified by the Embassy, however, they must first be notarized and legalized (apostilled). An apostille is used by foreign governments to assess the authenticity of an official signature. When the Pennsylvania Department of State certifies a document with an apostille, for example, the Department is verifying that the person who signed the document is a State official and the Secretary of the Commonwealth has given "full faith and credit" to the official's seal and signature. Please note that the Embassy will NOT translate or verify documents that have not been legalized by the State in which you live.
These 4 steps - notarization, legalization, translation, and verification - are very important and must be done sequentially. To reiterate the sequence: 1) the document (e.g., recommendation letter) is created; 2) the document is taken to a notary public and stamped with an official notary seal; 3) the now notarized document is mailed to your Department of State to be legalized/apostilled; and 4) the now legalized/apostilled document is sent to the Embassy for translation and verification. Each document required by the Embassy must be individually notarized and legalized.
It is important to note that compiling your dossier for the Embassy can begin at any time. You will save time if you are aware of what your deliverables are so that you can begin compiling them BEFORE you are eligible to submit them. As noted above, some documents required by the home study are also required by the Embassy. Do not reinvent the wheel during these comparable steps - RECYCLE!!!
It is of course acceptable for applicants to translate their own documents. That said, the Embassy reserves the right to return the dossier without verification if the translation is not adequate. The Embassy knows exactly how these documents should read and will not verify them if they are not translated properly.
Our Story: We had been compiling our Embassy deliverables since July, but we could not submit our dossier to the Embassy until our I-600A request had been approved. After receiving the DHS approval (August 19, 2005), we sent our dossier to the Pennsylvania Department of State (www.dos.state.pa.us) for legalization. Three weeks later they sent them back to us, unprocessed, because we failed to get them notarized. We subsequently got them notarized and reshipped to the State. Three weeks later, each of the necessary documents had been legalized. Be prepared for delays at this step of the adoption process. We were told that the legalizing process itself takes no more than 30 minutes (for all of the documents combined), but that there is always a backlog of requests that can sometimes delay requests for weeks. In Pennsylvania, each apostille is $15. Estimate approximately $375 for the legalization of all documents (remember that while there are only 15 documents, some must be submitted individually for each spouse).
After receiving the legalized/apostilled documents from the Pennsylvania Department of State in mid-September, we sent the dossier to the Embassy for translation. By the end of September, the dossier had been translated and verified by the Embassy Counsel. This verification step is exactly what it sounds like - a confirmation that the translation is accurate and ready for submission to the Armenian Government. The total cost of translation and verification was approximately $4,000.00. Please note that the documents can be translated at a considerably reduced cost in Armenia.
Step 4: Submission to the Armenian Government
After the dossier is complete, it can be submitted in person or through an authorized person to the Government Adoption Committee of the Republic of Armenia. Once submitted, the dossier must receive approval at various governmental levels: 1) preliminary approval, which can take up to 12 weeks; 2) final approval, which can take up to 8 weeks; 3) signature of the President of Armenia, which can take up to 2 weeks; 4) court approval, which can take up to 2 weeks; and 5) issuance of final immigration documents by the United States Embassy.
Our Story: Rather than submit the dossier ourselves, we used an adoption coordinator that had been recommended to us. At the beginning of October 2005, we made three copies each of the English and Armenian versions of the dossier and sent them to her. Our preliminary approval did not come until the end of December 2005. We received our final approval at the end of February 2006. The President signed the petition during the second week of March 2006.
Our first court date was March 31, 2006. We were questioned by the judge for approximately one and a half hours. His questions were primarily designed to confirm the information we had submitted in our dossier.
Our second court date, which involved only picking up the final written approval, was on March 14, 2006. Also on March 14, 2006, we received Liliana's adoption certificate, her new birth certificate, and applied for her passport.
The United States Embassy requires a medical report prior to their final interview - this was done on April 15, 2006.
We received her passport on April 17, 2006, and the final United States Embassy interview was held on April 19, 2006. We received her travel visa on April 21, 2006. We returned to the United States on April 23, 2006! Please note that the travel visa was necessary only for Liliana to leave Armenia and to enter the United States - children adopted abroad automatically become citizens upon entrance to the United States.
|
|
