Assistance From An International Adoption Agency For Foreign Adoption

Families are often demoralized by the immense paperwork needed for the home study method of international adoption. I usually inform families that though the list seems complex, it is achievable and can be done fairly swiftly, if a family can get their paperwork together quickly. The approximate time to get a home study done is between 6 weeks and 2 months. I often tell families that there are two components to the home study. The first phase is completing the paperwork, to submit items such as: fingerprint clearances, physicals, collecting financial information, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and reference letters. Another new thing to these requirements is ten hours of parent education preparation courses, which can be done through on-line courses or in person. It is very helpful that clients contact Adoption Options or any other home study agency when they receive their home study list and packet so that the items can be reviewed. The second phase of the home study process is the discussion with the social worker. Each family is assigned a social worker who will come to your home to do a home tour for the purpose of interviewing and meeting all the members of the family. This is also a way for the social worker to help educate the family on international adoption and internationally adopted children.

Once the home study paperwork for international adoption has been submitted and the clients have had a meeting with their social worker, the home study document is prepared. The report is usually submitted by the social worker and is 5-6 pages. The social worker incorporates information gathered from the interviews and home tourand the documents that have been submitted as part of the paperwork. The home study is signed by both the social worker and the executive director and notarized.

After the home study is completed, it is ready to go to immigration. Those families who are adopting from countries who have not signed the Hague Convention submit their application and the related fees to the local USCIS office prior to the home study. After the study is done they will submit it alongwith the necessary fingerprints and after the USCIS approves it the approval will be sent to the family as well as the National Visa center and the country from where the child is being adopted

Families adopting from Hague Convention countries must wait to submit their Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country (I-800A) including the application and fingerprint fees and attachments until their home study has been finished. At that time, the home study including the aforementioned documents should be sent to the centralized USCIS lock box. The home study will then be transferred to the National Benefits Center where an adjudicating officer will review the home study. Once approved by USCIS, the adjudicating officer will issue an approval called I-797C. At this stage the family can receive a referral of a child from a Hague Convention country.