Zarina- 18 mos.

Determine How Many Children, Sex, Ages, Financial Plan:  I decided to adopt two children, a boy and a girl, one as young as possible and the other age 2 or under.  The costs for adopting a second child are not that much higher.   The adoption benefits to offset the costs of adopting both children, far outweighed the amount of the benefit if I only adopted one child.  Your financial plan should be a part of this step as well.  The typical adoption for one child (infant) ranges from around $20,000 (all costs) to around $35,000 (all costs) for two children.  MBNA and First Union offer financing options to help with the costs of adoption.

Select a Home Study Agency in your Area:  I used Blessed Trinity Adoptions in Houston, TX.  I was required to provide a copy of my marriage license, birth certificate for each household member, current medical exam letter for each household member, copy of most recent tax return, insurance verification (health & life), 3 letters of reference from non-family members, letter of police clearance from local police station, verification that one parent is a U.S. Citizen, and an autobiography for each parent.

Homestudy fees can vary from $500- $2000 depending on where you live.  A social worker will schedule a visit to your home and conduct interviews of you and any household members.  Additionally, the home study agency will submit a child abuse clearance check for your state.

Filing Form I-600A with U.S. Department of Immigration & Naturalization Service (INS):  You will want to call the INS to request a copy of the I-600A packet as soon as possible (800) 870-3676.  This packet should include FD-258 Fingerprint cards (4 each), I-600A Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition, and Form I-864 Affidavit of Support (this will be needed when you travel).  The I-600A should be filed as soon as possible.  Some states require that you submit your completed homestudy WITH your I-600A, however, as in our case, we were able to submit the completed homestudy and agency's license AFTER submitting the I-600A to the INS.

You are required to be fingerprinted at an approved INS site.  A list of locations should have been provided to you.  Two sets of prints per person will be submitted with the I-600A, appropriate filing fee (as a money order), birth certificates or passport, marriage certificate, applicable divorce decrees (from previous marriage), the homestudy, and agency license.

The Wait Begins (Part I):  The wait begins for several things to happen.  Fingerprints are submitted to the FBI for clearance, the State should be processing the child abuse clearance report, the homestudy should be completed, and all aforementioned will be submitted to the INS for approval.  Once this happens, you will receive the golden key from the INS: I-171H Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition.  Note:  Many agencies will not even begin to pursue a referral until after you have received your I-171H.

While waiting, select the agency with whom you will want to work with in obtaining the referrals of your children (if not already done so, or if using the same agency that did the homestudy).  We used Victoria (now Frank) Adoption Center in Raleigh, NC.   Frank Adoption Center works in conjunction with the Frank Foundation located in Washington, D.C.

Apply for U.S. Passports if you do not already have them.

The Dossier, Notarization, & Apostilles (Paper Ready):   The key here is copies, copies, and more copies or "originals, originals, originals" as mentioned above.  If you have already applied for a Referral Agency, you should be provided with a list of documents that you will need to obtain to complete your dossier (prounounced dos-ee-ay).  Our dossier consisted of the following: In-Country Application, Marriage Certificate, Post-Placement Schedule, Medicals (completed on agency-provided form), Employers Reference Letters (position, salary, in good standing), copy of first two pages of Passports, color copies of recent photos, copy of Police Letters of Good Conduct, Petition to Adopt, Power of Attorney, INS I-171H, Residence Verification Letter, Home Study, Home Study Agency Commitment to perform post-placement, Home Study Agency Letter of recommendation to adopt, Agency License, Visa Application, misc. Legal Contracts, and fees.

All of these documents must be notarized and or certifed (depending on the state).   Additionally, each notarization must be apostilled (pronounced apo-steel-ed) by your state.  An apostille basically authenticates your document via verification of the notary through the Secretary of State's office.  The cost of apostilled vary by state but typically cost around $10 per apostille.  I had to prepare two separate dossiers, one for each child.

The Wait (Part II):  By now everything has been submitted to the referral agency, including the most important I-171H, INS approval.  You now will simply wait for your referral(s).

Referral(s):  A referral is received with some medical information and perhaps a picture and/or video.  It is very important that you make copies of this and send it off to an International Adoption Specialist for assessment.  We used Dr. Jenista in Michigan.  She is really wonderful and very straightforward.  She cautiously informed us of possibilites which needed further investigation (e.g. FAS- Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) and provided much relief for some of the other scary-sounding diagnoses' that many Russian orphan children are given.

Once accepting a referral, you will be given or wait for a court date.  Things to work on now are a Travel List, shopping for orphanage donations and gifts, and start packing.  Most importantly, the I-864, Affidavit of Support should be completed (one set for each child).

I-864 Affidavit of Support:  The I-864 Affidavit of Support is hand-carried to submit to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.  This document must be completed and notarized and you must also include a copy of Federal Income Tax returns from the most recent 3 tax years, a letter from employer on business stationary showing beginning date of employment, work, and salary, and the Form I-864A which includes spouse information.

Other documents to have on hand for after you arrive home are the Application for a Social Security Card for each child and Form N-643, Application for Citizenship.

Travel Time: Once the court date is set, you will want to book your flights A.S.A.P.  We flew via Delta Airlines.  Additionally, you will want to call the Embassy in Moscow to confirm the INS cable has arrived (011-7-095-956-4231).   The final steps include fees to agency, amount of $$ you will take with you, passports, visas, I-864 Form and last 3 years tax returns, additional dossier set (if needed)

Home At Last/ Readoption:  Upon arriving home, complete the application for Social Security Card and Form N-643 Application for Citizenship.   Note:  Once the child becomes a U.S. Citizen, a NEW application for Social Security Card should be filled out again to change the child's status from Permanent Resident to Citizen.

I am now in the readoption process.  Main reasons to readopt include a State's unclear position of international adoption, inheritance issues for the child, and to obtain a U.S. birth certificate.  There are two ways to readopt, or you may choose to obtain a birth certificate without readopting.  One way to readopt is to reaffirm the Russian Court's decision of termination of parental rights.  The second way is to do a complete readoption and re-terminate parental rights.  Different states may pursue this differently and have different requirements.  NOTE:  Russian Law states that it is unlawful to contact the child's birth parents.  Under NO circumstances should you attempt to do this if your court requires this during a re-termination.  A copy of the Russian Law should be provided to uphold International Legal Codes.