The Home Study System for International Adoption.

When a family begins with the home study procedure for an international adoption, they are often unsettled by the list of paperwork required from them. I often advise families that although the list seems intimidating, it is completely do-able and can be done fairly swiftly, if a family is able to get their paperwork together quickly. The average time to get a home study done is between 6 weeks and 2 months. Basically there are 2 components to the home study. The first phase is doing the paperwork, which includes things such as: fingerprint clearances, physicals, collecting financial information, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and reference letters. Another addition to these necessities is 10 hours of info courses for parents, which may be studied online or in person. It is imperative that clients contact Adoption Options or their home study agency when they receive their home study list and packet so that a review can be conducted of all the items. The second part of the home study process is meeting with the social worker. Every family wanting to go for an international adoption is assigned a social worker who will come to your home to do a home tour for the purpose of interviewing and meeting all the members of the family. This is also a way for the social worker to help educate the family on international adoption and internationally adopted children.

After the paperwork is over and the process is completed and the clients have met with their social worker, the home study document is organized and submited. The report is usually 5-6 pages and submitted by the social worker. The information is extracted from the interviews and the documentation provided by the family. This document is signed by both the social worker and the executive director and notarized.

After the home study is finalized, it is ready to go to immigration. Families adopting from non-Hague Convention countries can submit their Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition (I-600A) along with application and fingerprint fees and attachments to their local USCIS office before their home study is done. After the study is done they will submit it including the necessary fingerprints and after the USCIS confirms the details the approval will be sent to the family as well as the National Visa center and the country from where the child is being adopted Families adopting from Hague Convention countries


Adoption Option provides professional assistance related to international adoption from Russian, Kazskhstan, Republic of Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Mexico. Contact us now for assistance with your foreign adoption plan!