Many of you have expressed interest in our adoption process and questioned why it is going to take so long for us to bring little boy #2 home from China. So, here is the cliff notes version of our adoption process and the timeline that takes us to November or December 2015 before we travel to bring him home.
I need to start by saying that this time around we are working through the process out of order. Usually a family does not receive a referral for a child until after their home study is complete. In our case, and because of how our little guy is classified, we were able to accept his referral before our home study.
Adoption Steps:
1. Home Study
This is usually a 3 to 4 month process. There are 4 different visits with a social worker, books to read, online training to complete, and paperwork to gather. And no, we cannot reuse any of the documents we obtained for Zeke's adoption.
2. USCIS Paperwork
Once the home study is complete you have to send it to US Customs and Immigration. They review the home study, take fingerprints to do a national background check and issue a denial or approval based on their findings. It usually takes 1 to 2 months to receive the necessary documentation from USCIS.
3. Certification & Authentication
The home study, USCIS approval and all other documents required by China have to be sent to the State of Washington for certification and then to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco for authentication. These two steps combined, because of government turnaround time and mailing, can take 1 to 2 months.
4. Dossier to China
All of our paperwork is sent to China for review. It usually takes 2 to 3 weeks for them to log in that they have received a dossier. If it is accepted we will receive a official notice of Referral Acceptance. This makes our EA (our current pre-approval paperwork) official and we can share photos of our little guy. It usually takes about 3 months to receive an RA.
5. Chinese Visas & Travel Approval
After the RA is received Chinese visas must be obtained (this takes about 1 month) and then you wait for Travel Approval (this takes approximately 1 more month).
6. Travel!!
Once the Travel Approval is issued travel can happen anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks later.
As you can see, it is the government turnaround time (on both sides) and the number of agencies that need to review our paperwork that makes it take longer than one would think. And for every step there is another bill (or two or three!). Someone asked me today what an international adoption costs and when I said roughly $40,000 all in (paperwork, fees, travel, in-country costs, orphanage "donation") jaws dropped. It is a unique process but it is the way God has called us to grow our family!
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!
Robyn, Randy, Zeke & #2
