[sak9645]

1. An American homestudy will usually take no more than 3-4 months. However, a lot depends on whether you can access documents from India that you may need, such as marriage certificates and such, easily. It also depends on whether your U.S. state of residence requires things like in-person preadoption classes or a certain number of in-person visits with the social worker. And in some states, there may be a shortage of homestudy social workers, so it may take time to get appointments scheduled.

2. You can do a homestudy before citizenship if it is for domestic adoption. However, if you request a homestudy for international adoption -- which has some significant differences -- your agency probably won't start it until one of you becomes a citizen, since USCIS delays are common and the homestudy could expire before citizenship occurred. Depending on your U.S. state of residence, it could expire in as little as a year, and the agency wouldn't want to waste its time and your money doing one too early.

3. If you are planning to move within your current state after your homestudy is complete, but before your child comes home, it's not overly difficult. Your homestudy social worker will have to visit your new home, to be sure that it is safe and welcoming, and he/she will have to ask you some questions about how the move affects your financial picture, your commute to work, your plans about child care, and so on. If your state requires things like a fire marshall inspection, they will need to be done. He/she will then need to prepare an update report. It shouldn't be as expensive as a whole new homestudy.

4. If you plan to move to another state, either do it now or wait till your child comes home. Most homestudy agencies are licensed in only one or two states, so if you have a completed homestudy and then move, your agency probably couldn't do a simple update. Basically, you'd need to find a new agency in your new state. That agency would pretty much need to do a new homestudy, since that state's laws would likely be very different from your first state's, and the new agency would have different policies and requirements from the old agency's. You would probably need to get new police and child abuse clearances, new employer letters, and so on. Fees would likely be almost as much as a brand new homestudy.

5. It is customary to start the I-600A process around the time you start your homestudy or somewhat before. Ideally, you'd want to have your I-600A and your homestudy report reach the USCIS at the same time, or (in states where USCIS offices permit it), to get your I-600A to the USCIS shortly before the homestudy report is completed. Don't start it too soon, however. Remember that fingerprinting for the I-600A must be redone in 15 months, if an adoption hasn't been completed by then, and that the I-600A approval, itself, must be redone within 18 months, if an adoption hasn't been completed by then.

6. You really can't do much other work on an international adoption until you get citizenship. The foreign government will usually need to see proof that you have an approved homestudy and I-600A before it will assign you a child or start approving other paperwork.

7. Since you have a while before citizenship, by all means explore domestic adoption. However, do be aware that people from India who live in the U.S. tend to form a close knit community. Few children ever wind up without a relative or other known Indian person applying to do an identified adoption. You may see very few Indian children available, either through agencies or through the U.S. foster care system. If children become available, they are more likely to be of school age or to have a significant special need. But since there ARE exceptions, you might want to prepare a generic letter to be emailed or sent to a large number of adoption agencies in U.S. cities with a large South Asian population, and to state foster care agencies in those jurisdictions.

8. If you specifically want an infant, in terms of domestic adoption, you would probably do best if you are open to a child of any race. There is a great shortage of healthy, Caucasian infants of any specific ethnic origin, and most will wind up being placed with U.S. citizens. Even healthy Black and Hispanic infants under one year of age may be hard to find, depending on where you live. You will have greater flexibility if you are also open to an older child or one with special needs, but not all families are equipped to parent such children.

9. All in all, unless you are approaching the maximum age for adopting from India, you probably should wait for citizenship if you really want a South Asian child. If you really want results sooner, you should consider a child of any race from the U.S. If finances are a factor, adoption from the U.S. foster care system is the cheapest option. A domestic Caucasian infant adoption through an agency is likely to be the most expensive option -- even more expensive than adopting internationally, with the travel and so on.

Sharon