[MissDaisyofTexas]

Hi everyone. My husband and I are just begininng to research international adoption (specifically Rusia) and have sent away for some information from agencies. The choices are overwhelming! I am confused about the accreditation in Russia...it seems that many of the agencies that people on this board have used have lost their accreditation recently. Is that because the agency was doing something wrong? Or is it just a paperwork change, and most of these agencies will get their accreditation back in a few months? Does accreditation expire every year? When we pick an agency, how do we know how long their accreditation will last, and if we will be able to complete our adoption in that time frame? Do all accredited agencies have good reputations in Russia, or are there some that are accredited that have poor relationships in Russia? Any information you could provide would be beneficial. Thanks!

[Wendrew]

I believe all agencies have to apply to be re-accredited once a year. Several agencies expired in May, and there have been some paperwork changes, so those agencies are not yet reaccredited, through no fault of their own. The best way to know about agencies accreditation status would probably be to ask the agency whether they are accredited, and when the accreditation expires. I believe there is a website that has a list of agencies and accreditation dates, so hopefully someone will post a link to that. Also, if you have narrowed it down to a few agencies you can post a message here, and ask people with personal experience with the particular agency to send you a PM with details. Time frame is hard to predict. We used the same agency for two adoptions, the first took six months, and the second (started less than two years later) took 13 months, and was a much different experience and process. I hope this was a little bit of help, and hopefully someone with more recent knowledge can post some more specific details. Good luck!

[kretzklan]

Right now there is a layered hold-up due to the new NGO standards (Non-governmental organization) - all adoption agencies fall under that category and Russia is currently instituting some new rules and paperwork that must be completed for an agency to operate as an NGO. The guidelines for this process are not yet set - so agencies are waiting to complete that part and then re-apply for their re-accrediation. From what I've heard they are expecting three months to get approved as an NGO (once the process is set) and then another three for re-accrediation.

To answer another question - yes, some agencies who've lost or never gained accrediation did do things wrong- missing post-placements or worse. When you speak with agencies about re-accrediation get the dates and whether theirs ever lapsed and if so, why?

[MominPA]

A full list of accredited agencies currently working in Moscow is on the US Embassy Moscow website. However it does not have dates of when the agencies expire.

http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular...d_id=adoptions


The Russian website has the dates, but it is not always current. For example the agency that I used is not on this list, but was reaccredited a couple of months ago. It also shows agencies whose accreditations recently expired.

http://babelfish.altavista.digital.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ru_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww. usynovite.ru%2finternational%2fru%2fforeign_agenci es%2f

Here is the same site in Russian. You can use a website to translate for you.
http://www.usynovite.ru/structure/

Finally you can look at the JCICS website. Only members of JCICS are listed, but you can get dates here too. Members need to fax proof that they are accredited to be on this list. They also redirect you to the US Moscow Embassy's website for a complete listing.

http://www.jcics.org/

http://www.jcics.org/Russia.htm#US%20Agencies%20Accredited%20by%20the%2 0Russian%20Government


I hope this doesn't violate TOS. If it does please PM and I will forward these websites.