FANA- Help with money, citizenship and agency fees question

1. Is your spouse a U.S. citizen? Remember that, under U.S. law, an adoption visa will NOT be given to an internationally adopted child unless at least one parent is a U.S. citizen. As a result, if neither parent is a U.S. citizen, the only way to bring a child into the country would be to live overseas with the child for at least two years, and then apply for a regular dependent visa for him/her. For most people on green cards or work visas, this would mean losing their current visa status. 2. Remember that agency and foreign fees are NOT the total costs of an adoption: The agency and foreign fees together will run about $5,000 to $15,000, depending on the agency and on whether you adopt from a Colombian government program or from a private orphanage. Some agencies include in their fees an orphanage donation to support programs of benefit to children who will never be adopted because of age or disability. Agency and country fees are not discounted for people of Colombian origin, but agency fees may be discounted if you adopt a school aged child or a child with special needs. Beyond the agency and foreign fees, first off, you will need a homestudy, which, nowadays, can result in costs in excess of $5,000 depending on where in the U.S. you live, whether the agency doing your homestudy is the same one that's doing your placement, and the requirements for the foreign country. The homestudy will have to be consistent with Hague requirements, since both Colombia and the U.S. have ratified this important adoption treaty. ALL people adopting domestically or internationally require a homestudy; there is no way around this requirement, and there is no discount for adopting from your country of birth. Nowadays, homestudy fees are increasing because the Hague Convention requires more preadoption preparation for families, and because many agencies are recognizing the importance of preadoption preparation. As an example, families may be required to take a preadoption course, in person or on-line. Second, you need USCIS approval to bring a child into the U.S.; you will be filing the I-800A to start with, and then the I-800 after your child is identified. The application process costs over $600, not counting the cost of the homestudy or documents that must be submitted with it, and you will also have U.S. government fees for the child's visa to enter the U.S. All told, you'll probably spend at least $1,000 here. Third, most foreign countries require that you submit a dossier of documents about yourself, and that you have those documents notarized, certified, and authenticated. Acquisition of documents such as original birth and marriage certificates usually involves fees to your state government agencies, and fees are also charged in the process of notarization, certification, and authentication. And in obtaining the various documents, you may need to use overnight delivery services, couriers, faxes, and long distance phone calls, all of which will cost you money. Count on a few hundred dollars for this process, or maybe more if you have to acquire some documents from Colombia, because you were born there. Fourth, both spouses will need to make at least one trip to Colombia during the adoption process. You are probably going to spend at least $1,000 per adult on round trip airfares and in-country travel, plus about 10% of the adult fare for a child under age two traveling on a "lap ticket" without an assigned seat, or the full adult one way fare for an adopted child over two or a younger child with an assigned seat. While coach fare is the cheapest, some parents prefer to fly business class, so that they have more room, and prefer to buy a seat even for an infant, to make life easier; this can raise the price by several thousand dollars. Because your travel plans may be made at the last minute or require changes, you may find that you cannot use frequent flyer miles or take advantage of "restricted" tickets that charge a steep penalty for changes. Fifth, Colombia requires the spouses to spend significant in-country time -- often about six weeks. This means fairly significant hotel bills, meal expenses, guide/translator/driver services, and so on. Some people budget about $6,000. While people with extended family in Colombia may be able to spend less, many adoption professionals do not want to see the parents move in with extended family during the stay, as the spouses will need to spend time alone, bonding with their new child and adjusting as a couple. All in all, it's easy to see why many agencies figure that parents will spend about $30,000. While you may be able to spend less -- for example, because you probably speak Spanish and won't require a guide/translator -- you probably won't save too much, just because you are of Colombian origin. 3. Since Colombia has ratified the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption, you will not be able to adopt independently. You will probably have to use an agency that is licensed in at least one U.S. state, and that is also Hague-accredited. Go to the website of the U.S. State Department to see a list of Hague-accredited agencies. If Colombia allows it, you may be able to use an American attorney who is "Hague-approved", but you won't save any money this way, and many countries prefer that you work with a NON-PROFIT U.S. agency. I hope that this helps. Sharon

Thank You!

Might I suggest that you join COLOMBIANS ADOPT COLOMBIANS a yahoo group for people just like you.