[Kiana]

From submission of dossier to the time you're home with your child, what is the average length of time right now? Also, can Canadians adopt from Kazakhstan? What are the approximate costs? We were starting to think about adopting from China, but with the longer wait times there, maybe Kazakhstan would be a better fit for us. Do you still have to spend several weeks in the country?

Kiana

[2Bulgarianbeauties]

From submission of dossier to the time you're home with your child, what is the average length of time right now?

It is around 5 months until you travel. 5 - 7 weeks in country, and you are home.

Also, can Canadians adopt from Kazakhstan? I believe so.

What are the approximate costs? It is an expensive country, when you add in the travel costs. I think it is around $30,000

We were starting to think about adopting from China, but with the longer wait times there, maybe Kazakhstan would be a better fit for us. Do you still have to spend several weeks in the country? One region is 5 weeks, the rest of the country is close to 7 weeks.

[adoptkazakhstanblog]

Actually, most agencies suggest you break the trip into two shorter trips. The first trip is around 3 weeks, the second a week, with 2-3 weeks in between. Our costs were 27k; I do think that is about average. I stayed 7 weeks total and would not do it again that way. There are many good agencies out there. Kazakhstan children are beautiful and very diverse. Like any country, its process can be quite unpredictable, so dont count on it taking only 5-7 months. You will have to compile a dossier which averages at least 3 months, then its another 5-7 months from there at least. Kazakhstan is known for its regional shutdowns as well. Just keep in mind international adoption by its very nature is volatile, and be flexible, and you will be fine, whatever country you choose.

[randloar]

Estimated time to travel: We haven't completed our adoption yet so are still in the estimating zone, but we originally submitted our dossier in June last year but had to resubmit with the new reqs in October (example of the unpredictability of it all!!). We haven't traveled yet because my DH has an arrest on his FBI record (just trespassing) from over 18 years ago and this has held us up since January. So we are at 11 months now from dossier submission. We were originally told to anticipate a 4-6 month wait from when we submitted our dossier (for a healthy infant boy, non ethnicity specified; for a girl the wait is longer). Timeframes for getting referrals or clearing to travel seem to vary broadly between agencies as well as within agencies depending on what child you are waiting on.

Dossier: If you are still pulling things together for your dossier, our dossier prep was done in less than about 1.5 months, but it can take as long as you need to get it together. But getting the dossier together is something you have control over, so it can be as fast/slow as you want (barring hiccups with getting certified forms like your marriage certificate, etc).

Time in country: We have been told to anticipate 5-6 weeks for travel. Others from our agency that have just returned were in country for 44 days (plus travel days). So assuming 6 weeks seems like a fair first guess (some agencies recently have been reporting much longer travel times, so it also depends on the regions they work in).

Cost: Our estimates are for adopting 2 children, but from what I recall, we had determined that 30-35k was representative of what we would plan for the entire cost including homestudy/travel/gifts etc. This question has come up before and the range people have quoted in the past were from about 26k to as high as 38k (US dollars that is!).

Canadians: There have been people posting who are going to Kaz from Canada. You should take a look at the Yahoo groups (at the groups do a search for Kaz adoptions and you can join those forums and find other Canadians there too!).

Good luck in your decision, hope you find you country to adopt from!!

[cwhammond]

Our dossier was submitted in Feb. We're now in the consulate and hoping to be in the MFA by early June. However, we're not expecting to travel until August - which is 6 months from the time we turned in our dossier.