Are you planning on submitting immigration paperwork anytime before the end of the year? If so, you'd be wise to get moving soon on this paperwork. The USCIS has announced a hike in immigration application fees starting July 30. These new fee increases will affect most adoptive families at two points: when they are submitting their I-600A, and when they are applying for a certificate of citizenship for their children.

Orphan Petitions

The fee for the I-600A Orphan Petition will increase... more

For a couple weeks I've been gathering a little heap of things that I've been planning to bring to Ethiopa: instant oatmeal packets, my hot pot, some birr that my sister had left over from her last trip to Ethiopia. The growing heap is getting a little precarious on my closet shelf, and I've thought about getting out one of my big suitcases and officially start the packing. But I've resisted the urge. I told myself that I really ought to wait at least until our case is submitted to court in Ethiopia.

Well, guess what? That suitcase is comin’ out! Our agency director, who is currently in Ethiopia, just emailed me to say that our case was submitted to court last Friday! I am just... more

A friend asked if there is a way to tactfully encourage a social worker to get the homestudy written up in a timely manner. I think it is an excellent idea to address the issue directly. In fact, that was one of the first questions I asked when we had to switch homestudy agencies for this past adoption.

But I do think you need to be tactful and friendly. You don't want to kill any positive vibes right from the start, and you also don't want to sound unreasonable with your requests.

There are probably a variety of ways to approach it. But here is an example of how I would frame a discussion like this:

"I am planning to have all my documentation to you by June 1,... more

In a previous post I shared the projected costs for the adoption that my husband and I are currently doing. Here I thought I'd explain our costs a bit and show you what to look for when you are picking an agency and counting up costs for yourself.

Fees for more than one child-

A fee that really varies from agency to agency is the fee for an additional child. I have heard that some agencies charge $4000-$6000 more for the adoption of a second child. Our agency charges $8000 to adopt two children over the age of 7, which is exactly the same fee they charge for ONE infant. AAI is... more

One of the most common adoption-related questions I get is the money one: just how much does it cost to adopt from Ethiopia? I briefly considering getting a run down on every cost for every agency, but then I realized that would take forever and I remembered I have a life beyond this blog. So what I've done is add up my costs as exactly as possible. I'll share some details in a future post that will help you estimate your own costs a little more closely.

For previous adoptions I have added up the major costs-- agency fees, homestudy and immigration paperwork, and plane tickets-- and estimated the total costs from that.... more

Celebration's going on here today: our dossier left for Ethiopia today!! This is a huge step in the process, and I have to say I am just amazed at how fast everything has come together. It has only been 7 weeks since we made first contact with our agency for this adoption. Delays could still happen, but if everything progresses normally, we have a really good chance of getting through court before the court closure over the Ethiopia New Year. Hooray!

Also pending is the delivery of the welcome... more

In honor of getting our referral (HOORAY!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!) I thought I'd tell you more about what to expect from a referral. When you're waiting for a referral, you can spend a lot of time day-dreaming of the day that you hear who your child is going to be. Just how much information can you expect to get? Procedures vary by agency, but there are some fairly standard bits of information.

Pictures

Usually you will get at least a photo or two of your child. Some agencies will also share a short... more

This afternoon, I overnighted our agency our complete homestudy. As of tomorrow morning at 10:30, they should have every speck of paperwork they need to officially offer us our referral. That means next week I will once again be stalking our mail carrier!

In other news, our dossier was reviewed and passed, and the appropriate parts of it were sent on to Washington D.C. for authentication. Everything looked good except my husband's Medical letter. It had been prepared on plain paper instead of letterhead. I'd had a bad feeling about that, but risked sending it as is. Sure enough, we had to redo it.

The first time the doctor produced the letter, he was kind enough to go over... more

Today a burden was lifted from our hearts.

Today we received a great gift.

I've heard rumors for awhile that the Ethiopian government might be getting more restrictive about large families adopting. We've been hoping our adoption would work out despite those rumors. But in the back of our minds we've been wondering if Ethiopia might not be an option for our family any more.

Today we got an email from our agency director letting us know that Ethiopia will be letting us adopt again. Furthermore, our girls are on tentative hold for us!

Yes, it's a girl.

Times two.

I know-- back... more

This evening we got an email from our wonderful social worker. Attached was OUR HOMESTUDY for me to review! This gal is good-- our interviews were finished a mere 9 days ago. Monday her boss reviews it. After that AAI reviews it, and if all goes well it will be signed and notarized and we'll have a hard copy in our hands on Wednesday!

Immigration

The homestudy is the Golden Key will allow us to file our immigration paperwork with our local USCIS office-- Friday, hopefully! In the past our immigration office allowed us to file... more