[DaughterBound]

First off, I must state that I am NOT AN ATTORNEY AND CANNOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE. I can only tell you what I personally did.

Some call a recognition a readoption, but it really isn't. A readoption is much more involved....it used to be done (and may still be done with some countries) when the adoption wasn't final in the foreign country. Since the law has become more accepting of foreign adoptions and their finality in the past few years, a Recognition is what is typically done. In places like Russia and Guatemala, you come home with a birth cert. for your child from that country with your last name on it. That is the key element it seems, and you only need to do a recognition. Only those who visit their child first get an IR3 Visa. If you came home on an IR4 Visa as I did, you must get a Recognition of Foreign Adoption in order to get a Certificate of Citizenship issued for your child.

That being said, this is what I did to get mine:
I first applied for a MO birth cert. from the Dept. of Health and Senior Services in Jeff. City. If you contact them, they will send you the form called "Request for Filing Birth Cert. as result of Foreign Adoption." Their phone # is: 573-751-6400. They will issue you a new birth cert. when you send in the proof of your adoption. They will tell you what you need to send in. Which is: copy of foreign birth certificate, copy of adoption decree/protocolo, copy of Guat. Judgement of Adoption (the 2 to 4 pages from PGN), English translations of each, copy of child's green card, color copy of child's passport photo page, copy of Visa page in passport, Copy of Visa, and a $15 processing fee plus $15 for each copy of the cert. you want. I recommend getting a couple copies.

After I got my new birth cert. from the state of MO, I filed the paperwork with St. Charles County Circuit Court for the Recognition. Court Fees are currently $268. I don't know your county.....I recommend going to your county court house and filing in person. Ask them for the form to fill out for what is called "Certificate of Decree of Adoption" which will be filed by the court clerk in the Dept. of Vital records after the judge approves/signs the adoption. It is the only form that I officially needed from them.....what I mean by that is, the other paperwork I typed up myself and have attached to this message.
Along with the "Cert. of Decree of Adoption" I just mentioned, I filed:
-Affidavit of Expenses (you can fill in your info on the attached file)
- photocopy of Foreign adoption decree/Protocolo (with English translation)
- photocopy of child ' s Green Card
-Certified/raised seal stamped copy of New birth cert.
-Certified copy of your marriage license,
-Certified copies of you and your husbands birth certificates
-The Petition for Recognition of Foreign Decree of Adoption (you can fill in your info on the attached file)

When the court gave me a court date, I brought all of the above with me, along with a typed copy of "Judgment and Decree of Recognition of Adoption of Child In Foreign Country" for the judge to sign. After appearing in court and getting approval ---YAY! ---the court mailed me a copy of this decree with the judges signature on it a few days later. They fill in the cause number at the top. As you can see from the paperwork, it includes a legal name change. If you have any post-placement reports, I would bring that to the court hearing too. They didn't ask me to see these, but some judges might.
I will attach to this email what I typed up for:
-Affidavit of Expenses (you will fill in your own dollar amounts and have it notarized)
-Petition for Recognition of Foreign Adoption (must get notarized)
-Judgment and Decree of Recognition of Adoption of Child in Foreign Country (paper the judge signs on your court date)
So all you have to do is fill in your personal info! And that's it! If you carefully follow along and do what I listed in this message, you can do your own Recognition without an attorney.

Then you can apply for your C of C from Immigration. You can go to www.Legal-Eaze.com for instructions on how to do that and for downloading the form. Or go to USCIS Home Page . As a side note, if you came home on an IR3 and already have a CofC and you do a Recognition including a Legal name change, you will have to change the name on your CofC too. It means filing some forms and paying about $250 fee.

Glad to be of help!
Leah