Green Card

You'll want to keep an eye on your mail box. Within a couple months you should be receiving your child's 'welcome letter' and green card in the mail. The timing of this varies widely. Some families receive these within a few weeks of arrival. Some families get two 'welcome letters'. Some families wait up to a year to get anything in the mail. And some families never get a green card. if you do not get your child's green card within a couple months, you may want to contact your local USCIS office just to make sure your card is on its way.

Re-Adoption

Re-Adoption is a court decree by your local family court stating that you have legally adopted your child. Your homestudy agency will need to provide a court report, and you will also need to supply a variety of documents to the court, such as birth certificates, marriage license, and your child's Ethiopian adoption decree. Requirements vary by state, so check with your homestudy agency for more information regarding procedures.

Many families hire a lawyer for this part of the adoption process. However in most states if you can get the proper documents gathered and filled out, it is possible to do the re-adoption and represent yourself in court.

Re-adoption is important for several reasons.

- It creates a local record of birth, which is easier to replace at a later time if needed than the Ethiopian one, and makes it easier for your child to get a social security number, and a passport or other proof of citizenship.
- It gives you a chance to legally change your child's name, if desired. (Your Ethiopian adoption decree will most likely list your child's Ethiopian name in front of the adoptive father's first and last names.)
- It also gives you a chance to legally change the child’s year of birth, if after homecoming it becomes obvious that the child's age estimate was off.