Adoption Timeline and Cost

Official contract sent into agency- 01/02/13

Application fee $300 PAID- PERSONAL SAVINGS! - 01/02/13

Preliminary referral of waiting child Mr. S! SWOON! - 01/02/13

1st set of agency fees $3500 PAID- PERSONAL SAVINGS-  01/03/13

Home study contract sent and fees $1750 PAID-PERSONAL SAVINGS-  01/17/13

Order certified copies of every document you could ever imagine :) January and February

Official homestudy visit- 01/26/13

Last of our homestudy documents sent to social worker- 01/29/13

Fingerprints for all background checks-completed 02/10/13

Homestudy approved and sent off to Adoption Agency- 02/21/13

FBI Background clearances- $100 PAID-PERSONAL SAVINGS  mailed 02/15/13

State Police Clearances $30 PAID-PERSONAL SAVINGS- mailed  02/15/13

Best case worker in the world takes trip to the DRC gifts for our sweet boy in hands! Feb 6th

 USCIS changes policies surrounding verification or orphan status making the wait for our little man 3-6 months longer- Feb. 7th

Initial USCIS paper work- $890 PAID-PERSONAL SAVINGS mailed-  03/04/13

Confirmation of accepted USCIS application-  03/11/13

USCIS Biometrics appointment - 04/04/13

State Police clearances received- 03/14/13

FBI background checks received- 03/15/13

Dossier is complete-  03/17/13

Received news that we will not be able to bring home Mr. S. heart broken but know we need to move forward we accept the referral of Mr. H and Mr. L!

Thanks to Legacy Child, and a generous donar we are $8,000 closer to our boys!

Dossier mailed to case worker for review- $6500-Paid thanks to wonderful donors!

Dossier mailed for translation- $1500 PAID thanks to wonderful donors!

Dossier cabled to DRC - $19,000 PAID Personal savings and 6k worth of fundraising! 

Immigration approval received- May 11th

Begin immunizations needed for travel-

Petition to Adopt filed with the court- June 26th

Court date is set

Adoption Decree issued- Mr. H & Mr. L is officially ours in the eyes of the DRC- July 11th!

Debut Mr. H & Mr. L to the world via our blog of course!-

Apply for visas- $1180-

Second set of USCIS paperwork mailed- US Department of State estimates their investigation will be completed in 2-6 months

wait...wait...wait

Finally we have the word and can begin travel preparations-

Tickets purchased app. $6000-

On our way- hotel stay app. $2000/ travel while in DRC $1500

Meet our little men-

We are home a family of 6-

Grand Total needed to ransom Mr. H and Mr. L = $47,520.00

Funds still needed as of 04/09/13 = $11180