The Russian Adoption Process

1. Home Study with a local adoption agency. Time frame for ours is 6 weeks, started in March of 2007, hopefully it will be completed by May 1st.
2. USCIS I600A. This is the immigration paperwork that ultimately leads to approval by US government to adopt your child and make them a US citizen. Time frame for our USCIS office is eight weeks upon completion of home study. Initial application March of 2007, eight weeks starts once home study is submitted.
3. Dossier to Russian government. This is the time consuming portion. It is a compellation of paperwork including marriage license, physical, phsych exams, home study, criminal background checks, etc. All of it must be notarized or certified copies then sent to the Florida Secretary of State, translated and sent to the Russian govt. for your approval to adopt in their country. At this point you must select a region of Russia that you want to adopt from, everything is done in the region except the US side of things.
4. Referral of child. You usually receive minimal background information including some medical information along with a photo and possibly a short video of the child. You then submit all of this to an international adoption physician and they review it to assist in medically assessing the child. Based upon that information you have to decide if you want to travel to Russia for trip one to meet the child. If not, you decline the referral and wait for another one. Time frame for referral from completion of dossier can be two weeks to several months depending upon your request. Right now our agency is saying 2-4 weeks for a boy. We are hoping they are right.
5. Trip #1. This usually takes place within a month or two of acceptance of the referral. This is usually a one week trip. You meet your child at the orphanage and decide whether or not to officially accept the referral. If your physician had additional information needed you can try to obtain it, sometimes they need more pictures, etc. You then email the information to the Dr. and they get back with you pretty quick since you have to sign paperwork before you leave the region . If you do not accept the referral while in country one of two things can happen, you may get another referral while there or you may have to return home to wait for another referral and start all over.
6. Trip #2. This hopefully will take place a month or two after you return home but may be much longer. This trip is usually a couple of weeks. You travel to the orphanage and see your child before your court date. You then go to court for a hearing for a judge to hopefully approve the adoption. Here is sticky part, Russia has a 10 day waiting period after the judge's approval which sometimes is waived. If it is not waived you may or may not get to have your child with you for the ten days, once again depending on the region. You may spend the 10 days visiting him at the orphanage or some people return home and do trip #3 to bring him home. You then have paperwork to finalize in region so you are there a few more days. Depending on that you must then travel to Moscow to complete the US immigration paperwork at the US Embassy.
7. Home at last!! The minute the little touches US soil he is a dual US/Russian citizen. They must decide at 18 which one to relinquish.