[JohnnaMJH]

Just curious if it is similar to Guat, more involved, less?

THANKS!

[ocracoke]

That is hard to answer since I have no idea what the guatemala dossier is like. However, I have heard that the Ethiopia dossier is the easiest for the international adoptions. Each agency is a little different. Mine was 3 copies of about 16 documents. It seemed fairly easy for me.

Samantha

[DSTAngieB]

What were the documents that were necessary for the Ethiopian Dossier?

[ocracoke]

I am a little weary of answering this question since each agency has a slightly different dossier and the dossier requirements can change at any time. I will tell you that 2 weeks before I was ready to turn in my dossier my social worker called me to let me know that there was going to be a few changes in my dossier requirements. Luckily they made the dossier easier. So, I will tell you what was required in my dossier but I will also tell you that the best thing you can do is check with whatever agency you will be using. My understanding is that the Ethiopian dossier is easier then most countries but since this is my first adoption I have no experience with that.

Dossier:
1: Application - agency document (3 pages)
2: Financial form - agency document
3: Letter from employer
4: Letter from financial institution
5: Medical form - completed by doctor
6: Birth certificates - for all immediate family members
7: Marriage license (divorce decrees if previously married)
8: Home study report
9: Home study agency license
10: Post placement agreement (signed by home study agency)
11: I171h
12: Deed or lease
13: 2 letters of reference (non-family members)
14: Criminal records check
15: Power of Attorney
16: Letter to the government/embassy
17: Letter to the Board of the orphanage
18: Two passport photos for each adult
19: 3 copies of 5 photos of family

You need 3 originals of each document (copies are not accepted). All 3 originals of each needed to be notarized. The I171h and the power of attorney needed to be authenticated by the secretary of state.

Hope that helps.

Samantha

[DSTAngieB]

Yes!! That does help me quite a bit!! Fortunately I have a great deal of the documents needed so we're in good shape already. I just wanted to get a glimpse of the types of things that were being asked for by various agencies.

Thanks again!!

[DaniWestRN]

Angie,
Our agency's dossier is even easier. You do not need three originals of everything. We also did not need a deed/lease or a letter to the orphanage since we aren't dealing with one.
Since you have sent in your application, you should soon get a list of doccuments to gather while working on your homestudy as most of them are the same as the ones used in the homestudy. If you don't have this list, call a staff menber and ask for it.

[DSTAngieB]

Thank you so much Danielle!! I'll call if they haven't sent it by next week!

[teranga]

I can tell you in time that, at least with the requirements of the agency we used (along w/all gov't requirements), it took us one month, start to finish to complete the dossier. Admittedly, this meant getting on it day one, and hounding people to get things back right away, but it was totally done and on its way to translation one month after I received the list of necessary documents. And we had not done any of it before receiving the list.