get a home study done (with social worker, get references, go through multiple sessions)
get background checks done (local, state, federal. finger printing, record check)
get permission from homeland security (or kids visas)
those are the big ones
now adoption approaches vary from country to country, and riussia may ask for ppl to go through some agencies rather than on their own, so you need to investigate that as well.
here is more info.
Intercountry Adoption Russia
INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
April 2008
Disclaimer : The following is intended as a general guide to assist U.S. citizens who plan to adopt a child from a foreign country. Three sets of laws are particularly relevant: 1) the laws of the child’s country of birth govern all activity in that country including the eligibility of individual children for adoption, as well as the adoption of children in that country in general; 2) the laws of the adoptive parents’ state of residence establish qualifications they must meet in order to adopt; and 3) U.S. immigration law governs the immigration of the child to the United States. In addition, the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption, to which the United States became a party on April 1, 2008, establishes legal and regulatory requirements for intercountry adoption.
The adoption of children from countries that are party to the Hague Convention must follow the procedures outlined by the Convention, and its U.S. implementing legislation, the Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000 (IAA). More information on the IAA and the Convention can be found at Hague Adoption Convention on the Children and Family pages on intercounry adoption.
The information in this flyer relating to the legal requirements of specific foreign countries is based on public sources and our current understanding. It does not necessarily reflect the actual state of the laws of a child’s country of birth and is provided for general information only. Moreover, U.S. immigration law, including regulations and interpretation, changes from time to time. This flyer reflects our current understanding of the law as of this date and is not legally authoritative. Questions involving foreign and U.S. immigration laws and legal interpretation should be addressed respectively to qualified foreign or U.S. legal counsel.
THE HAGUE CONVENTION ON INTERCOUNTRY ADOPTION
The Russian Federation is not a party to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Convention). Therefore the entering into force of the Convention for the United States on April 1, 2008, will not change intercountry adoption processing for Russia .
PLEASE NOTE: Please plan to stay a minimum of three business days in Moscow to obtain documents and complete the medical exams necessary for the immigrant visa interview. Parents should calculate a five-day “cushion time” in the validity dates they request when applying for a Russian visa. The U.S. Embassy recommends that flight arrangements for departing Russia not be finalized until the immigrant visa is issued.
PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION: Recent U.S. immigrant visa statistics reflect the following pattern for visa issuance to Russian orphans:
Fiscal Year
Number of Immigrant Visas Issued
FY 2007
2,310
FY 2006
3,706
FY 2005
4639
FY 2004
5865
FY 2003
5209
ADOPTION AUTHORITY IN RUSSIA : The Russian government office responsible for intercountry adoptions is the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation .
Ministry of Education and Science
#11 Tverskaya Street
Moscow, Russia 125993 GSP 3
Tel: 011-7-095-629-6610
ELIGIBILITY TO ADOPT: Married couples may adopt. Single persons may adopt but there must be at least a 16-year age difference between the prospective parent and the prospective adoptive child. Russia also has medical requirements for adoptive parents. Persons considering adoption in Russia should consult their adoption agency about medical conditions that may disqualify them. Theseinclude TB, active and chronic; illness of internal organs and nervous system; dysfunction of the limbs; infectious diseases; drug and alcohol addictions; psychiatric disorders; and, any disability which prevents the person from working.
RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS: There are no residency requirements for prospective adoptive parents. However, prospective adoptive parents will have to travel to Russia twice during the adoption process.
TIME FRAME: The average time for the adoption process is 6-12 months from the time the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) approves the I-600A petition to the date of the immigrant visa interview. (Please see below for further information on the various steps in the intercountry adoption process.)
ADOPTION AGENCIES AND ATTORNEYS: Adoptive parents who work through an adoption agency must use an agency that the Russian Government has accredited to provide adoption services. The U.S. Embassy discourages intercountry adoptions conducted independently without the assistance of an accredited agency. A list of accredited adoption agencies is available at The U.S. Embassy’s Web site and on the Web site for the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Washington, D.C.
Neither the U.S. Embassy nor the Department of State can vouch for the effectiveness or professionalism of any agency or facilitator. Prospective adoptive parents are advised to fully research any adoption agency or facilitator they plan to use for adoption services. For U.S.-based agencies, it is suggested that prospective adopting parents contact the Better Business Bureau and the state adoption agency-licensing office in the state where the agency is located. Please see Important Notice Regarding Adoption Agents and Facilitators at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs web site travel.state.gov.
ADOPTION FEES IN RUSSIA : U.S. citizens who have adopted from Russia report an average total cost of approximately US$20,000 - $30,000 (including travel, lodging and fees).
ADOPTION PROCEDURES: The Russian government maintains a database of children without parental care. Russian law requires that a child be registered first on a local databank for one month and a regional data bank for a month plus six months on the federal databank. Therefore, the total amount of time before a child is released for international adoption is usually eight months.
With the assistance of an adoption agency accredited by the Russian Government, prospective adoptive parents first apply to a regional Ministry of Education office for permission to adopt in that region. The prospective adoptive parent(s) does not travel to Russia at this stage. The agency obtains the referral without the presence of the parents.
The Ministry of Education, upon approving the application, directs the prospective parents to an orphanage.
Adoptive parents must travel to Russia to meet prospective adoptive children. [Note: See Embassy of the Russian Federation, main page under Consular Division regarding the requirements for obtaining a Russian visa. Russian immigration laws are strict and must be carefully obeyed in order to avoid difficulties. The U.S. Embassy and Consulates General in Russia have only a very limited ability to assist U.S. citizens who encounter immigration problems.]
Prospective adoptive parents travel to Russia , and with the assistance of their accredited adoption agency, make arrangements to visit the identified orphanage. There they may select a child and apply to the court to get a court date.
Note: Prospective adoptive parent(s) cannot pick any child from the orphanage. A child is pre-selected by the agency in cooperation with the local MinEd and according to the parameters the PAPs specified in the I-600A. If the PAP does not bond with that child they can ask for another referral. The PAPs receive whatever information the orphanage has about the orphan’s medical condition and his/her biological parents. Sometimes there is no information available. The prospective adoptive parent can review the medical information on the orphan at the orphanage at the time of the first meeting.
After prospective parents identify the child, they should fill out an adoption application (a court document), which can be obtained at the Russian court where the adoption hearings will take place.
Prospective adoptive parents may return to the United States after applying for a court date. However, the prospective adoptive child must remain in Russia during this time.Prospective adoptive parents may stay in country but the wait for the court date can be 4-6 weeks and often the PAP is not allowed to spend time with the orphan prior to the court decision. It is expensive to wait in country and there can be problems with visa validity so it is advised that the prospective adoptive parents return to the U.S. and make a second trip once the court date is established.
For their court date, prospective adoptive parents will be required to produce three additional statements on the issues below. The prospective parents must sign these statements in front of a Russian notary:
a. Prospective adoptive parents have been informed about the health conditions of the child and they accept them;
b. They will register their adopted child with the MFA [See the “Registration of Russian Orphans” section towards the end of this flyer for additional information.]; and
c. They will provide the Ministry of Education with periodic, required post-placement reports on time. Post-placement reports are periodic reports on the welfare of the adopted orphan in his American family .The first post-placement report is due six months after the court decision went into effect; the second report is due six months after the first one but not later than 12 months after the court decision went into effect. The third post-placement report is due at 24 months, and the fourth, at 36 months.
After the court hearing, the new parents will obtain the adoption certificate and a new birth certificate (showing the child’s new name, and the adoptive parents as the parents) from the civil registration office (ZAGS), after which they can obtain the Russian passport for the child from the visa and registration department (OVIR).
(Note: The child’s passport will be issued in the child’s new name, which will appear in Cyrillic characters and in the Roman alphabet. However, the Russian officials will transliterate the name from Cyrillic into the Roman alphabet and the result usually will not be spelled as your family spells it. For example, Smith will be Smit (there is no “th” in Russian); Callaghan will be Kalahan, etc. The fact that the child’s name is “misspelled” in the passport will NOT cause a problem when you travel and should not be a cause for concern.)
Once the new birth certificate and Russian passport have been issued, parents then can contact the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to make an appointment to apply for the child’s immigrant visa.
AUTHENTICATING U.S. DOCUMENTS TO BE USED ABROAD: For more information on authenticating U.S. documents to be used abroad, please see the Judicial Assistance section of our website.
RUSSIAN EMBASSY AND CONSULATES IN THE UNITED STATES
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Tel: 202-298-5700
Fax: 202-298-5735
Embassy of the Russian Federation, main page
The Russian Federation also has consulates in San Francisco, New York, and Seattle .
U.S. IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS: Prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to consult the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service publication The Immigration of Adopted and Prospective Adoptive Children, as well as the Department of State publication, International Adoptions. Before completing an adoption abroad, prospective adoptive parents are strongly encouraged to read the requirements for filing Form I-600A, Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative and Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative in the State Department flyer “How Can Adopted Children Come to the United States .”
Parents who do not have an approved I-600A must file their Form I-600 (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) with the USCIS office having jurisdiction over their place of residence in the United States . In general, a parent who has an approved I-600A may file Form I-600 either in the U.S. or at a USCIS office in the country where the immigrant visa will be issued. If there is no USCIS office in that country, the I-600 may be filed with the consular section of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where the adoption case is being processed.
APPLYING FOR A VISA FOR YOUR CHILD AT THE U.S. EMBASSY IN RUSSIA :Once the adoption has been completed on the Russian side of the adoption process, the adoptive parents’ adoption agency facilitator can then contact the Embassy to make an appointment to apply for the immigrant visa. Parents are strongly advised to read the instructions found at http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular/consular.php?record_id=adoptions on how to apply for an immigrant visa for an adopted child.
Parents are urged to closely coordinate with their adoption agencies to ensure that all documents are in order and valid and that all requirements, including the medical examination, have been met.
REGISTRATION OF RUSSIAN ORPHANS: Adopted Russian children must be registered with the Government of Russia either by registering with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) before they leave the country or by working with their adoption agency to register their adopted children with the G.O.R. when they return to the U.S. If registering prior to departing Russia ,. U.S. citizen families should do this after an adopted child has received an immigrant visa to the United States.
The following documents are needed for registration:
The parents’ passports (photocopies are not acceptable);
Letter from the orphanage (orphanage release);
Letter from the Ministry of Education of Russia;
Court decision;
Adoption certificate;
Application for Registration and two photos of the child. The Consular Section of the MFA is open for the registration of adopted children
Monday through Friday from 9:30 – 12:00 for intake, and 3 p.m-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday for issuance of completed registration and documents. The process takes two days; issuance takes place the day after the intake of documents. Since January 11, 2006, the service is free of charge.
