General International Adoption Process

This is meant to be a summary of “typical” steps in an international adoption. The exact sequence will vary by country, and often several processes are happening at the same time. Once you’re a registered CWA parent, the fully detailed adoption planner we provide will guide you through every step of the adoption process.

Choose an Agency
You begin by choosing both an international agency, and a local service agency to do your home study. Select an agency with a good reputation, good references from previous clients, with adoption programs in the countries you are interested in, and an agency YOU are most comfortable with.

Choose an Adoption Program
With the help of an adoption counselor, you decide on an adoption program (country of choice) that best meets your desires and situation.

Register with CWA
In return, you will be granted access to a CWA Adoption Planner specific to the country you have chosen. The Planner will guide you through the entire adoption process, in particular, to identify, gather and complete official paper work. You will also be assigned a Case Manager who specializes in the country you have chosen.

Home Study
You complete a home study. Your home study will be done by CWA if you live in North Carolina or South Carolina. If you reside in another state, it may be administered by a certified home study provider located near you.

Complete Your Paperwork
You collect all your documents (birth certificate, marriage license, SS card, medical exam, references, fingerprints, home study, etc.) and have them appropriately notarized, certified, and/or authenticated and then submit them to CWA.

The Referral
CWA finds an appropriate child for you. We will forward photos and medical information about the child you will consider for acceptance. Occasionally the birth country will send videotapes of the children, but this is not always possible. The referral information and process varies by country. You will be given ample time to review the referral information in order to make a decision.

USCIS Approval
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) issues its approval of your Advance Orphan Petition (I-600A) to adopt an unspecified orphan. Essentially this is USCIS approval for you to adopt an orphan. Actually it is the CIS pre-approval for the issuance of an orphan visa to your child; the adoption itself is solely between you and the foreign country.

The Adoption Proceeding
Documents are filed in the foreign courts to adopt the designated child. In different countries CWA collaborates with lawyers, facilitators, or directly with an approved government agency.

Travel
The parents travel to the foreign country to first meet their child and/or receive guardianship of the child. Also, some countries permit children to be escorted from their homelands.

Finalization
The court proceeding may take a few days, weeks or months, depending on the country, until the adoption is finalized. A final and binding adoption decree is issued and a new birth certificate and a foreign passport are issued to the child.

Immigration
An orphan visa is issued by the U.S. Embassy for immigration to the U.S. To be eligible for immigration, the child must qualify as an “eligible orphan” under the U.S. Statutes. Only a U.S. citizen parent may apply for an orphan visa for a child. Parents may live in or outside of the U.S. as long as one of them is a U.S. citizen. All referred children are both legally free for adoption and eligible for orphan visas. A medical exam by an embassy approved physician is required.

Travel Home
The happy parents travel home with child to meet ecstatic relatives and friends!

Post-Adoption Reports
Periodic reports on the child’s progress, including photos, are required by all birth countries. These reports assure the birth country’s government that the adoption was in the best interests of the child. Moreover, the reports serve to assure that adoptions will continue, which is very important for parents who wish to adopt internationally in the future.

The total time period to complete an adoption can be from 9-18 months, but 10-12 months are most common. In several of our programs things can happen very rapidly under the right circumstances. In others, events proceed at a more deliberate pace. Your Case Manager will make things happen as fast as legally possible under the circumstances. CWA fees are payable at various steps as work is completed. We will be happy to send you a complete fee schedule or to discuss this with you by phone. We believe in complete prior disclosure of all expected expenses and fees. Read More