|
International Adoption Services
Detailed Description of International Adoption Services
International Adoption Services
NOTE: At this time Adoption Assistance Agency is not providing International Adoption services. This is due to fact that the United States signed the Hague Treaty in April 2008, which changed the accreditation requirements for agencies who were doing international home studies. We are no longer accredited to do international home studies, and there is currently no agency in the state of New Mexico who is accedited for us to operate under. We will be looking into pursuing accreditation in the future. Thank you for your understanding.
AAA Adoption Assistance Agency does not currently do the actual placement of the child with your family in the foreign country. Therefore, you will need an agency that is qualified to do that placement in the country in which you are interested. A few of those international agencies with which some of our families have had a good experience are listed below:
European Adoption Consultants www.eaci.com e-mail: inquiry@eaci.com
Families Thru International Adoption www.ftia.org e-mail: adopt@ftia.org
Gift of Love Internat. Adoptions www.giftoflove.org e-mail: adoption@giftoflove.org
America World Adoption Association www.awaa.org
Your homestudy must be completed in the state in which you reside by a non-profit adoption agency licensed by that state to provide adoption services.
AAA Adoption Agency is a non-profit adoption agency licensed by the State of New Mexico to provide adoption services. If you live in New Mexico, our agency can:
-conduct your Pre-Placement Study (homestudy) and will work with your international agency to make sure that it will satisfy their requirements as well as those of your designated country, if the international agency will work with us as a "supervised provider".
-help in the preparation of documents needed for your Dossier
-provide training in preparation for bringing your child home
-provide the required Post Placement Supervision and Post Placement Reports.
An international adoption plan must be evaluated and accepted by the United States Citizen and Immigration Service (USCIS, formerly INS) in order to make provision for your adopted child to enter the United States legally and to become a citizen of the United States. Therefore, in addition to the work you do for the country and your international agency, and the paperwork and interviews required for you homestudy, there is a process and paperwork, which must be completed through USCIS.
To begin your international adoption process:
-contact and decide on an international agency and make application to that agency
-make application to AAA Adoption Assistancy Agency
-Once you have been approved by both agencies to begin your homestudy, make application to USCIS by filing your I-600-A which you can obtain on the USCIS website www.uscis.gov
I-600-A and Fingerprints:
File your I-600 A and have your fingerprints made with CIS as soon as you know you are approved to begin your Pre-Placement Study. You will have more fingerprints made and processed through our agency as a part of your Pre-Placement Study. It is unfortunate that there is this overlap but because of the way the reports are processed through each entity, it is not possible to avoid this duplication. CIS can process your I-600-A while the Pre-Placement Study is in progress but it cannot be completed until your approved Pre-Placement Study is submitted to them for review.
For Northern New Mexico*: For Southern New Mexico:
Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)
1720 Randolph Rd., SE 1545 Hawkins Blvd., Suite 167
Alb., NM 87106 El Paso, TX 79925
(505) 241-3854
Office Hours: M-Th 8:30-3:30, Fri. 8-12 7:30am-3:00pm
*Northern NM counties include: Bernalillo, Catron, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, DeBaca, Guadalupe, Harding, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Quay, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Miguel, Sandoval, San Juan, Santa Fe, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Union and Valencia.
The homestudy will be submitted to CIS once it is completed and approved by this agency and by your international agency.
Notarization and Apostilling of Documents
1- Typically all paperwork submitted to a foreign country in the pursuit of an adoption must have notarized signatures and then be apostilled.
2- The requirements for who may notarize, how notarial language is to be worded and placed, the appropriate circumstances and verifications for notarizing, etc. are established by each state and are enforced by the Secretary of State in New Mexico. It is a process by which a person (the notary public) has taken an oath to only place their stamp and signature on documents that are properly signed by the individuals whose signatures are required and who have produced satisfactory identification verification. Identity is typically established using a valid picture ID issued by a federal, state or tribal government agency. The notary's responsibility is a serious legal obligation.
3- Apostilling or Certification of documents is a process performed by the Secretary
of State's office in Santa Fe. They are certifying with an official seal that the notary public is duly recognized and licensed for this responsibility. They have the right and the responsibility to reject any document that does not meet their standards for notarization. Occasionally, a format that has worked for other families' documents will no longer be acceptable and you may be asked to use a different format.
In order to proceed with an adoption in the foreign country you will need an approval on your homestudy to adopt through this agency, an approval through your international agency, and an approval through CIS (the I-171-H described below). Of course, the foreign country adoption authority/courts have final authority to approve or disapprove the adoption.
I-171-H
This is a form sent to you by CIS notifying you of your approval through them to adopt internationally. This will be sent to you when all other paperwork has been processed through them.
Dossier
Your dossier is a packet of paperwork required by the country from which you are adopting that typically you carry with you when you travel. It may also be submitted by your international agency in some other fashion. Typically, your international agency will provide you with detailed instructions regarding the documents required, what must by apostilled, etc. If you wish for us to prepare this packet, you must submit or have your agency submit detailed instructions and the appropriate documents to us. There is an additional fee for this service.
Costs of International Adoption
Fees will be based on the particular international agency you choose to use, the country from which you adopt, the homestudy agency and CIS requires payments for processing your documents through them. International fee sheets, which will list fees for AAA Adoption Assistance Agency only may be obtained by calling (505) 821-7779 or e-mailing your request to info@adoptionassistance.org
Questions to ask when deciding on an international agency or on the country from which you wish to adopt:
1- Will our adoption be finalized in our child's country of origin before we bring the child home?
2- Will we be able to meet and select a child/children or is that done by the adoption authority or the orphanage?
3- What are the post placement requirements for the country from which we are adopting? (Some countries have as few requirements as a 6-month post placement visit and report and a 1-year visit and report. Others require yearly visits until the child is 18. There are costs associated with the post placement requirements and failure to comply can have serious consequences.)
4- How soon after our paperwork is approved and submitted will we get a referral? (a match with a child/children)
5- How long after getting the referral do most families get to travel to get the child?
6- Do one or both parents need to travel to the country to get the child?
7- Who makes travel arrangements?
8- What kind of medical and social background information will be provided to us on the child? (With international adoption it is most common NOT to have a lot of family background information. It might be important to you to have a competent medical assessment of the child.)
9- How many trips and of what duration are required for the adoption in our designated country?
10- What are the costs associated with that travel?
11- Will there be individuals in our designated country who will help us once we are in the country to get around and to help us with the adoption?
12- In the country we are choosing, can the child/children we have selected or been matched with be changed at will by the orphanage or adoption authority?
13- What are the possible mental, physical, emotional, attachment and developmental issues associated with the adoption of children internationally?
14- What kind of training or support does your agency provide for children with any of these issues?
15- What fees, if any, are refundable?
|
|
