So What is the Process Anyway?

A lot of people have been commenting to me, "wow - that is great that you are ____ step in the process, but what exactly does that mean? What does the process look like?". So here is a list of the major milestones, I hope it helps provide some clarity in the process.

The estimated amount of time it takes to complete an Ethiopian adoption through our agency is 12-18 months.

1. Preliminary Application
2. Home Study (6-8 weeks)
3. Adoptive Parent Training
4. USCIS Approval - State of Colorado Approval then forwarded for federal approval from United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (1-3 months)
   
5. Dossier submitted for approval by the Ethiopian Government
6. Awaiting a referral - being matched with a child (4-7 months)
7. Court date in Ethiopia to legally adopt the child from the Ethiopian government, an agency representative will stand in for us at court (1-3 months)
8. Travel to Ethiopia to meet our child and apply for an entry visa from the US Embassy to bring our child home (1 week)