Russia


Process

PRELIMINARY APPLICATION/FORMAL APPLICATION
Both applications must be completed before you can formally begin your Russia adoption. The preliminary application is available on Bethany’s website at www.bethany.org/prelim Upon approval of your preliminary application, your local Bethany branch office will contact you and send you the formal application. Bethany’s Russia team must approve both applications.

ADOPTIVE HOME STUDY
The Home Study will be completed by a social worker from your local Bethany branch. The Home Study is an educational and information gathering process. The Home Study helps to assess your readiness to adopt a child from Russia. During and/or after the Home Study process, you will also complete the required parent training.

IMMIGRATION PRE-FILING
Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Form I-600A) should be completed upon your social worker’s instructions. You will file your USCIS Form I-600A with your local U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office and be fingerprinted. You will then receive Form I-171H (or 797-C, depending on the state) from USCIS approving you for international adoption. Call USCIS to order the I-600A Orphan Packet at 1.800.870.3676 or access their website at www.uscis.gov.

The USCIS approval is valid for 18 months from the date of completion, and fingerprints are valid for 15 months from the date you are fingerprinted. Your fingerprints and/or USCIS approval could expire before travel and you may need to reapply. This is because there may be a longer wait for referrals. This is also a good time to apply for a current passport if you do not already have one.

DOSSIER COMPLETION
Your dossier will be completed with your social worker’s guidance. All dossier documents must be notarized and apostilled in accordance with the country’s requirements (see Instructions for Preparing your Dossier). Your completed dossier will be submitted to Bethany’s international office in Grand Rapids, MI, along with your Dossier Fee, PAR Translation Fee payment, and Dossier Translation Fee (see Schedule of Fees). After review, it will be sent to Russia for translation and authentication.

WAITING CHILDREN
All children available for adoption in Russia are either relinquished by birthparents for adoption or the parents’ rights have been terminated by the court. Children available for intercountry adoption must be registered on a local database, regional database, and federal database for a total of 8 months. The adoption committee of the local Ministry of Education reviews the dossiers of prospective adoptive parents and the available children and recommends a specific referral in accordance with the child desired in the Home Study.

CHILD REFERRAL AND ACCEPTANCE
When a child is identified for your family, your social worker will contact you and provide as much information as is available (this can be very limited). Some regions will provide a picture and a brief medical and social history, and others will not provide any information prior to the first trip. This is called a “blind” referral. If you decide to travel and meet the child identified for you, your social worker will contact Bethany’s International office in Grand Rapids, MI, and Russia will be notified of your decision. The referral is official after the family travels, receives permission from the Ministry of Education to meet the child and makes a decision to accept the child for adoption. Adoptive families must be aware that at any time before the court hearing, the court will give priority to a Russian citizen or a member of the child’s birthfamily if they want to adopt or reclaim the child.

FIRST TRIP
All Russian adoptions require two trips for both parents. The purpose of the first trip is to identify and accept an appropriate referral. This trip can take from 7 to 10 days. Once you are notified about the travel dates, you will work with a travel agency (Bethany will make a recommendation of an agency) for your travel visas and tickets. (See the travel packet and fee schedule for additional information and payment of fees). On this trip, you will meet your child(ren) at the orphanage and complete acceptance documents. After the acceptance documents are signed, a request is made by the Ministry of Education to the federal database in Moscow.

BETWEEN TRIPS
You now complete the balance of your dossier documents and additional documents for the court hearing. Once these documents are received in Russia and the child’s dossier is completed (in Russia), the file is submitted to the court and a hearing date can be determined. Before making your second trip, you will also gather all the documentation necessary for the appointment at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for your child’s visa to enter the U.S.

SECOND TRIP
There can be 2 to 6 months between the first and second trip. The Russian staff will inform you about the travel dates after a court date is established. These dates are not flexible and the trip will take about 3 to 4 weeks. Again, you will work with the travel agency for your visas and tickets. You will arrange to fly into Moscow and then travel by air or train to the region or, if you are adopting from the St. Petersburg region, you may fly directly to that city. There is a 10-day wait after the court hearing before the final order will be signed by the judge. When the court order is signed, approximately 2 to 3 more days are needed in the region to complete the documentation, including the child’s new birth certificate and passport.

MOSCOW/U.S. EMBASSY
Russian staff will assist with the arrangements to travel from the region to Moscow for your U.S. Embassy appointment. You will spend 3 to 5 working days in Moscow and will be assisted through this process. Your child(ren) will have a medical exam by one of the physicians approved by the U.S. Embassy. You will have an appointment at the Embassy to present your documents and later that day or the next will return to the Embassy to pick up your child’s visa.

REGISTRATION WITH THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE
Russian law requires that all adoptive parents register their children with the Russian Consulate in the U.S. This can done in Moscow immediately after you receive your child’s visa or the family can return to the U.S. and immediate register their child with the appropriate Russian Consulate.

POST-PLACEMENT REPORTS
Soon after you and your child/children arrive home, your social worker will contact you to arrange an arrival visit with your family. Your social worker must complete a series of reports for the Ministry of Education. These reports, along with several pictures, are due in Russia at the following intervals: arrival, 6 months, 12 months, 24 months, and 36 months from the date of your court decree.

FINAL ORDER OF ADOPTION
Your Final Order of Adoption is issued in Russia. In some states, you will need to re-adopt your child in order to receive a U.S. birth certificate. Please check with you local Bethany office for this process. We highly recommend that you apply for a U.S. birth certificate for your child.

CITIZENSHIP
Your child is a U. S. citizen upon arrival in the U.S. USCIS will mail the Certificate of Citizenship soon after arrival in the United States for children processed within the IR-3 visa category. For more information, please refer to www.uscis.gov.

For more information, please call 1.877.64.ADOPT, e-mail us at bcsinternational@bethany.org, or fill out our contact form.