"How blessed is he who considers the helpless..." Psalm 41:1

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Adoption Steps

This can be very confusing and I don't understand it all myself, but this is to clarify some of your questions :)

It certainly doesn't help that Haiti is constantly changing how adoptions will be handled and ways of locating children and different orphanages may vary just a bit. However, maybe this can be a general guideline as to what the process currently is:

Step 1: Gathering your dossier and sending it off to Haiti
Step 2: Orphanage puts together dossier for your child or children
Step 3: Your dossiers go to Minister of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), 1st legal - This is where my papers are authenticated in Haiti (2-4 weeks)
Step 4: Your dossier is submitted to
IBESR, Haiti's Social Services Department - This is four stages of approval (3-6 months)
Step 5: Once your dossier is approved by
IBESR you enter Parquet (1-3 months)
Step 6: Enter Civil Court Legalization, 2
nd Legal- This is where your child or children legally become yours in Haiti! (1-2 months)
Step 7: Application for the child's Haitian Passport which starts at Ministry Of Interior (MOI) and then to Passports for printing (1-3 months)
Step 8: While the passport application is in the works your I-600 (your I-600A should have already been done during your wait) should be completed and approved.
Step 9: Visa application is filed and adoptive parents appointment in Haiti to receive the visa is scheduled. (1 week lead time)

Congratulations, It's time to bring home your child!!!

Very rough and oversimplified, but it always helps me to have a list :) I believe I'm in Step 3. Also
, my I600 was processed and approved. I receive the form I-171H. This form means I am pre-approved by the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) to adopt from Haiti!

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