[danabyers]

I've read online on agencys' sites that it takes 2-4 months to receive a referral for a child after a dossier is received in Ethiopia. I am unable, however, to find out how much longer it takes from referral to the actual time the child is able to come home. Could anyone shed some light on this for me?

Thanks!

[bluedaisy]

Dana, the estimate for wait for a referral varies from agency to agency, and it's longer if you are requesting a girl. There's at least one agency right now who is telling folks not to start on their dossier right now as the wait for referral could be longer.

After referral, travel seems to take from 4-12 weeks. That's a big gap, but it can vary as well.

[JenC]

Hey bluedaisy - PM me the name of that agency. Just out of curiousity

[ncal]

I have a few questions and just wondering if someone could provide some insight. 1. Does the placing agency complete the dossier? 2. How long on average does it take to comlete the dossier and have it approved?

I'm tring to get an idea of the timeframe once my homestudy is submitted and approved by placing agency. Hope this makes sense.

[JenC]

I'm not sure what you mean by the placing agency completing the dossier. The placement agency will send you the dossier packet for you to complete. How long it takes varies on a lot of things - each agency has slightly different dossier requirements. For us, it took about 2 months to get the dossier done. That's forever! Most people I think can have it done sooner. There were a few mistakes in paperwork that had to be corrected and we are having to wait for our 171-H for it to be officially done.

HTH!

[ocracoke]

You will be the one that is completing the dossier. You will fill out the paperwork and collect all the documents. As Jen stated each agency seems to be a little different in their dossier requirements so it is difficult to say how long it will take. I know some people who do it in a week. It took me 6 months! I used the same agency as Jen so obviously it can happen much quicker then what mine took. Mine took so long because I founght with the state of Indiana for 4 months in order to get my birth certificate and because my dossier required the I600a approval to be a part of it. In my case once my home study completed and approved me their report became a part of my dossier -- I assume other agencies do the same but I don't know for sure.

On a separate note Ncal, I tried to email you regarding agency information but it kept bouncing back to me as undeliverable. If you are still looking for information about that please email me directly and I will send it to you. szellinger@aol.com

Samantha

[longingforchildren]

It all depends on the agency and how smoothly everything goes through but one of the agencies I was going to go through says:

"application through arriving home with child, approximately 14-20months"


But it very well could be shorter or longer. Good Luck.

[adoptethiopiablog]

I was able to complete both our dossiers in a week or less. The slowest bits will likely be your local fingerprints-- do that ASAP-- and the homestudy.

As far as after referral, our agency took a month or two to get the case to court after referral, then 3-6 weeks for travel after that-- I think 2-3 months after referral for homecoming would be a pretty decent guess, barring, of course, the occasional paperwork snafu.

Also, people getting going on dossiers right now should aim to have them complete by April or May, to hopefully avoid court closures in August and September. of course that assumes your child referral will come within a month or two of completing dossier.....lots of variables there. But once my hubby and I decide to get going with another adoption, I tend to FLY thru my part of the paperwork. I have a post about it here on my blog Ethiopia Adoption Blog - In The Beginning: Blackbelt Paper-Pushing

[danabyers]

Are the courts closing in Ethiopia in August and September permanently? Or do they close that time every year? I'd not heard about this happening.

[JenC]

They close every year for a month or two around that time of year.

[MXmom979Jr]

From what I have been told travel is 2-4 months after you receive your referral

[ocracoke]

Originally Posted by MXmom979Jr

From what I have been told travel is 2-4 months after you receive your referral

Again, this is agency dependent. My agency required that all my paperwork (including I171-h) be in Ethiopia and ready to go prior to being offered a referral so I did travel 8 weeks after my referral. However, some agencies will give referrals (or allow you to accept from the waiting child list) before all of your paperwork is in Ethiopia on the agreement that all is submitted and approved. Because of this I have known some people who have had there referrals for a couple of months while they complete the dossiers and then need to wait for a court date and embassy date. It just depends on agency policy on how they handle referrals. Of course, there are always complications that can delay or the normal court closing. And I know a couple of people who have been waiting over a year for a court date (after referral) because of complications with their agency -- luckily this is not the norm for most agencies.

Samantha

[DaniWestRN]

As others have already stated everything is dependent on the agency. I'm pretty sure that only new agencies (who are either just starting programs or just started this last year) have a wait time of 2-4 months for a referral. Most are WELL over 6 months. I have seem referral to travel times of anything from 5 weeks to 4 months amount the different agencies! Our agency right now averages between 10-12 weeks which is a recent increase due to the popularity of the program.