What does it take to be "paper ready" for international adoptions?

Question

What does it take to be "paper ready" for international adoptions?

Answer 1

In a nutshell: having all of the documents in order and a completed homestudy, I-600A filed, etc.  

You should follow your agency's guidelines as to when to get fingerprinted by INS (or whatever they changed their name to now.  UCIS, I think).  because if the fingerprints expire before the adoption happens, you'll have to do it again.

Best of luck!

Answer 2

There are several steps adopting parents must take in order to be "paper ready".  

First, the adopting parents must arrange to have a homestudy performed by a social worker and/or agency licensed in the state in which they reside.  

Second, parents must file form I-600A with USCIS (formerly INS) as the first step in receiving approval to classify the child you will adopt as a member of your immediate family for immigration purposes.  {You may complete the I-600A prior to knowing what child you wish to adopt.}  

Finally, parents will prepare their "dossier".  The dossier is an accumulation of documents required to complete an adoption.

You really need to know where you wish to adopt from first.  Different countries require different paperwork/documents.

Good luck!

Answer 3

It depends very much on the country you are trying to adopt from.

While the U.S. specifications are the same, the paperwork for the placing country varies greatly.

I adopted both my kids from China. But we had previously been waiting to adopt in Ecuador, and had completed all the paperwork before being told that Ecuador had temporarily shut down. It was a very different process, requiring some very different things.