[JaimieC]

How long did it take you to put your dossier together? And what is included in the dossier? Our agency wont let us start working on our dossier until our homestudy is finished (which our SW is typing it up right now). So, it is almost completed. We were just told that we already have most of the documents for the dossier, but I just want to know what it is we need so we can start getting it together.

[Yash]

Jaime,

Some things in your dossier you have to wait on because they are time sensitive. Your police clearance letter can't be older than 6 months when you hand in your dossier.

Here's what my agency required for my dossier:

medical letter - my homestudy one was different from my dossier one. So my NP had to do both.

employment letter

police clearance letter

homestudy

marriage license or divorce decree

copy of passport and 4 passport pictures

171-H

power of attorney - if only one parent is traveling

my agency had their own forms I had to fill out

I also had to make an unbound copy of my entire dossier pre-certification.

Then I had to take all my paperwork to the County Clerk's office and then to the Secretary of State's office for certification and authentication.

Gathering all the paperwork didn't take that much time in terms of effort, but in driving time (depending on how big your city is or how far away all the offices are) it was considerable, plus having to work around all the various office hours.

I thought I would mail in my dossier for certification, but I was told it would add a month or two to my wait as oppossed to me coming in in person and having it done immediately. On Good Friday, I traveled nearly 90 miles between the County Clerk's office and the Secretary of State's office to get everything done. The combined wait time in both offices was less than 45 minutes. Driving to the offices and getting the kids in and out of carseats and in and out of the stroller took more time.

It can seem overwhelming, but if you take them one at a time you'll be fine. I even met another couple on Good Friday finishing up their dossier for Guatemala.


Best of luck!