Much debate has occurred on one of my groups about the requirement for annual post placement reports. For Max's adoption (2001) we were not told about the requirement - but for Logan's adoption (2004) we were aware of it. I wrote to the Kazakhstan Consultate, Embassy and the US Embassy in Kazakhstan for clarification. Below is the translated copy of the law and "when" it changed legally (November 12, 2002) - please see #19 on Part Two of this series:

Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan as of November 12, 2002 # 1197 About approval of Regulations for Foreign Parents Seeking to Adopt Kazakhstani Children

In accordance with the... more

I noticed on one of my groups the posting from parents just entering the adoption process and how nervous they were about their first home visit. My heart goes out to them – I remember it all too well. Rebecca’s father and I spent months preparing our home for that visit – we painted, we scrubbed, we shampooed carpets, we overhauled every closet in the house and even scrubbed garbage cans till they sparkled! I vividly remember getting pulled over by a police officer for not stopping completely at a stop sign – I had gone to borrow the edger... more

For those of you who are adopting in 2007, it is always nice to know what dates the Embassy will not be open to process paperwork (please note - some are US Holidays and some Kazakhstan)…..

http://www.usembassy.kz/embassy/holiday-2007.html

EMBASSY HOLIDAY SCHEDULE 2007

January 1 Monday New Year's Holiday

January 2 Tuesday New Year's Holiday

January 15 Monday Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday

February 19 Monday George Washington's Birthday

March 8 Thursday Women's day

March... more

As with most countries, as the number of children who join forever families grow, guidelines that weren’t in place during one year – come in to effect or are enforced during another adoption. Our requirements for Max’s post placement reports differed than the ones required for Logan – we followed each agency’s guidelines and requirements and submitted them. We are approaching our “final” post placement report for Logan this April.

What we’ve learned over the years is that Kazakhstan requires an annual report until our sons turn 18. Many parents who adopted in previous years are NOT aware of this requirement and I often wonder if they aren’t “linked” to any Internet based group –... more

The dossier documents are a HUGE step and undertaking for your adoption. I may be a little weird or maybe just a little blessed that it has always happened easily for us. I guess the plus side of never leaving “home” – we had easy access to all our documents. Your agency should be a big help with this – giving you a list of needed items – some even have in house staff to do the work for you (for an added expense). There are also available services to hire to prepare your dossier if you like to – the Assistant Stork has a link to dossier service... more

Trust me - once you are on the adoption journey awhile - you'll start understanding all the abbreviations and "lingo" that goes along with adoption. You'll also get used to the "amount" of paperwork that becomes part of your life during your adoption journey. I have heard that some agencies are requiring adoptive families to now use "dossier" services - which may be an option - but also an added expense I'm sure.

One of the very first forms that you will have to complete once you decided to adopt internationally is the I-600A. As my husband likes to tease - he was happy to "let me" take care of the paperwork. If you are working with an adoption agency at this point - they should... more