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Update: Kazakhstan Adoption Program
CWA is happy to report that the Kazakhstan program continues to work well. The actual overall adoption time frame has become much shorter than it has been in previous years. In the past twelve months, we had three families who (even with some delays caused by the Kazakhstan officials) were able to complete their entire adoptions in less than nine months.
CWA has many years of experience that has allowed us to obtain a favorable status with the government of Kazakhstan as well as the Kazakhstan officials at the embassy in Washington D.C., and with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Education in Astana.
Adoptive parents may start preparing their dossier documents after the approval of their home study. By the time the family gets their USCIS approval, the dossier may be completed and sent for translation. Our CWA coordinator in Kazakhstan prefers a two-trip option for parents. However, if it is absolutely necessary for a family, a one-trip adoption may be arranged too. The one-trip adoption requires a fifty-two day stay in the country (including 3 days of travel time). The two-trip adoption consists of 25 days for the first trip (including travel). The second trip (just one parent or both) to pick up their child in Almaty is expected to last 7 days (including travel).
Kazakhstan is currently the only country where parents may hope to adopt a 7-8 month old infant of any gender. The two most recent CWA families brought home an eight month old boy and a seven month old girl. Children of any ethnicity are available – there should be no problem for a family who wants to adopt a Caucasian child. Parents are invited to travel to Kazakhstan only when a referral of a child is available for them to meet and accept. Past families who have adopted form Kazakhstan believe they have adopted children in good health. Our reference families for the Kazakhstan program are ready to share their adoption experience with newly registered adoptive parents at any time.
The Kazakhstan authorities still have an unofficial position in place which may prevent families from adopting two unrelated children during one adoption trip. We hope this situation may change to the better in the near future (hopefully about nine months). Adoption of siblings is welcomed.
The flexibility of the Kazakhstan program, offering one or two trip options for the families, is a strong feature of this program. In special cases, the escort of a child to the U.S. is possible too.
We hope and pray that 2007 will be a year of growth and blessing for the CWA Kazakhstan program as well as the many families that will be bringing their children home. |
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