Overseas Adoption

One of the big hurdles to overseas adoption is quite literally the distance between your home and your new baby's home country. You may be wondering if you can take the time to visit another part of the world. However, your international adoption agency will make all the arrangements for your travel abroad. They will have a timetable, based on experience, which will give you an idea of how long the process will last and what kind of travel is required.

Time Frame for Overseas Adoption

For example, if you're interested in adopting a baby from China, the referral time is usually 13 months. That's the time it takes from your initial application, to the approval to come and visit a particular child that you have selected. In a Russian adoption, the time is much less--one to three months--but a second trip is required to formalize the adoption, and the second trip is taken two to three months after the first trip.

For a Vietnamese adoption, it's five to seven months for a boy, but 15-16 months for a girl, because they are less available. For an adoption in India, it's roughly four to nine months for the referral, then a wait of six to eight months before travel. For Colombian adoptions, the wait time is 18-24 months, especially for infants.

When you compare this to a minimum of two years for a domestic adoption placement, it's a speedier process. Especially since adoptions within the United States can stretch into three and four years, depending on the home state and the circumstances. You will have an international adoption agency assisting you with your overseas adoption paperwork, your application to the INS and your court adoption proceedings with the foreign country. These agencies are able to expedite the whole process, so that when you are in the foreign country, the usual visit will last from two to three weeks. In that time, all the paperwork will be processed, the adoption will be formalized, and you are then free to take your new baby or child home to the United States.