Choosing a Country and Agency
The international adoption process starts by choosing a country from which you would like to adopt a child. It is important to take into consideration factors like language barriers and the amount of bureaucratic red tape there is in the countries in which you are interested. Other considerations include the child's health, age, sex and ethnicity. Once you have decided which country from which to adopt, you will need to decide what agency you would like to help you with the actual adoption process.
Paperwork
There is a great deal of paperwork involved in any adoption process, particularly in international adoption. Prospective parents have to apply to an international adoption agency that offers adoption possibilities from the country you have chosen.
Parents have to meet all the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) guidelines before being able to start finding a child through an adoption agency. The USCIS must also approve you before you can begin the adoption process. To gain approval, you have to file a I-600A form and provide supporting documents. These documents include marriage licenses, birth certificates and divorce decrees. The USCIS also demands that the adoption agency you apply to does a home study before you can be approved by the USCIS and the adoption agency.
Any adoption agency with which you work will also require that you create a portfolio that includes relevant details and photographs of your family, your house, job and other aspects of your life in the United States. Then your adoption agency can send this portfolio to the government of the country from which you have chosen to adopt to help you start finding a child. Your adoption agency will work with you to authenticate your portfolio and translate it into the appropriate language, depending on your choice of country.
Waiting
The next stage of the international adoption process involves a great deal of waiting. This can be a challenging and frustrating time. Your home study has to be approved, and prospective parents have to wait to receive a pre-approval form (called the I-171H form) from the USCIS. You then wait for a child referral from your country of choice. When you receive a referral, you will then be requested to provide additional documentation to your adoption agency or the government of the country from which you chose to adopt. The next step involves waiting for your child referral to be accepted. After that, you have to wait for pre-approval from your adoption agency and an invitation to visit the country in which your prospective child lives to continue the adoption process.
A lot of countries require you to spend a lengthy period of time in the home country of your prospective child before you can finalize the adoption process and go back home.
Post-Adoption
Once you have finalized the adoption and returned home to the United States, you will have to fill out post-placement evaluations.
