One of the biggest questions we all have when we are being called to adopt is "How will we afford this adoption?" The most important advice I can give you on this is to pray and pray again. :) If it's God's will He will provide in exciting and unexpected ways. Here are a few idea's:
First check with your employer to see if they offer an adoption assistance program. My husbands work does but they pay it after the completion of the adoption at $5000 per child. We are adopting 5 children so will receive $25,000 of our adoption fees back from his company within 90 days of the completion of the adoptions. I'll keep you posted on if we caused them to change their policy. ;0 This really does not help us though until the adoption is complete so we first need to come up with the money and then wait to get it back. However, I do have friends that their company policy was different. They would receive their adoption assistance as soon as they submit receipts for their adoption payments so they would start out by making a payment and get that money back and send it in again for another payment! Very clever and handy. You may not think your company has it but it does not hurt to ask, you may be surprised. Our friends were the first and only ones that used the company's assistance (and they are on their 6th adoption so I'll keep you posted on whether or not they shut down their policy as well, kidding of course). Few people have ever used the assistance offered at my husbands work so we've had to research their policy ourselves as the entire HR department seemed unsure of how it works. :)
There is also the option of fund raisers. It would be a good idea to post on a chat site asking for idea's of what to do. Get creative, don't be afraid to ask for help! Many people are excited and honored to help you bring your child home. A couple of ideas: I've heard of one family that made and sold clay crosses and if I remember right made $30,000 towards their adoptions from this! (someone please correct me if I have the total wrong for that). There is also Kingdom Kids at http://www.kingdomkidsadoption.com/Default.aspx?tabid=37 that I know others have had great success with.
Another avenue for funds is to apply for grants. Again, ask a local chat site for referrals for these. They are usually around $1000 or so and are hard to get. We filled out many applications and each one told us that you are more likely to receive the grant if we were adopting multiple children, sibling group, older children, or special needs children. We were at the time adopting 3 siblings, 2 of them older kids, and one of them disabled from a stroke. We qualified in every way imaginable and thought for sure we would get some grants but got zip. I know of other people that are adopting single, young, healthy children, and have received grants. So, if you have the time to fill out lots of forms it may be worth going for it!
While we don't want to go into debt for these adoptions: If you are considering a loan or second mortgage to pay for your adoption it may be helpful to know that it would be a debt you should be able to pay off very quickly! If you can get adoption assistance through your work you can use that to immediately pay off a big chunk of your debt. Even if that is not an option, you almost definitely will qualify for the adoption tax CREDIT. Now I capitalize adoption credit because it is very different from a tax deduction. With a tax credit you can claim up to $10,960 (as of year 2006) per child on your taxes. This is money you will receive back from the government. Most people receive all of it back. It can take up to 5 years to receive all of the credit back but many people get it back much quicker then that. This amount covers almost all of the expenses you will need for adoption from Haiti. If you are careful to earmark this money to go directly to paying off your loan then you will not have the loan for long. For great detailed information about the adoption tax credit here is a great link: http://www.adoptionlearningpartners.org/images/tax_year_update06.pdf
It's kind of a pain that you have to come up with all the money first just to get it all back again, but at least it's encouraging to know that most people do get nearly all (or sometimes all) of their adoption fees back!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Current Step by Step process
Okay friends...I'm hesitant to post this as I often struggle to understand each step myself and it does not help that Haiti is constantly changing it's mind about how adoptions will be handled and each persons different ways of locating their child and different orphanages may vary just a bit. However, hopefully this can be a general guideline to help give someone just starting out an idea of what the process currently is:
Step 1: Gathering your dossier and sending it off to Haiti
Step 2: Make your request or receive your referral for your child or children
Step 3: Orphanage puts together dossier for your child or children
Step 4: Your dossiers go to 1st legal courts (usually a quick process)
Step 5: Your dossier is submitted to IBESR (current wait time seems to be about 3-4 months)
Step 6: Once your dossier is approved by IBESR you enter Parquet
Step 7: Enter courts for 2nd Legal- This is where your child or children legally become yours in Haiti!
Step 8: Application for the child's Haitian Passport which starts at Ministry Of Interior (MOI) and then to
Passports for printing
Step 9: While the passport application is in the works your I-600 (your I-600A should have already been
done during your wait, please see I-600A post) should be completed and approved.
Step 10: Visa application is filed and adoptive parents appointment in Haiti to receive the visa is schedualed.
Congratulations, It's time to bring home your child!!!
Again, this is just a bit of a rough draft as it does seem to change often but will hopefully give you an idea of the steps.
Step 1: Gathering your dossier and sending it off to Haiti
Step 2: Make your request or receive your referral for your child or children
Step 3: Orphanage puts together dossier for your child or children
Step 4: Your dossiers go to 1st legal courts (usually a quick process)
Step 5: Your dossier is submitted to IBESR (current wait time seems to be about 3-4 months)
Step 6: Once your dossier is approved by IBESR you enter Parquet
Step 7: Enter courts for 2nd Legal- This is where your child or children legally become yours in Haiti!
Step 8: Application for the child's Haitian Passport which starts at Ministry Of Interior (MOI) and then to
Passports for printing
Step 9: While the passport application is in the works your I-600 (your I-600A should have already been
done during your wait, please see I-600A post) should be completed and approved.
Step 10: Visa application is filed and adoptive parents appointment in Haiti to receive the visa is schedualed.
Congratulations, It's time to bring home your child!!!
Again, this is just a bit of a rough draft as it does seem to change often but will hopefully give you an idea of the steps.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
I-600 A form
Here's some tips on the I-600A to try and simplify things a bit. Please keep in mind that obviously your information may differ from ours and there may be differences due to living in a different state or your agency or orphanage. I will share with you what we did in hopes that it will give you a guideline and hope that it helps! Here is the link to download the directions and I-600A form: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/i-600a.pdf
What to include/gather for your I-600A:
Copy of birth certificate for each adopting parent
Copy of your marriage certificate
Divorce decree for both/either of you if you had previous marriages
Notarized home study done within the last 6 months
Your filled out I-600A form (we did not have this notarized)
Filling out the I-600A form: (fill it in by typing or BLACK ink)
Block 1- information about the prospective adoptive parent.
Questions 1-7 We filled out with my husbands personal information. It's okay to leave lines blank if they don't apply (for example: #4- Address abroad- just leave it blank if you don't have one). Questions 8-9 We filled out our date and place of marriage and the rest was about my (the wife’s) information. Question 10: The name and address of the orphanage/organization assisting you in identifying an orphan (If you are doing the adoption independently through the orphanage you would put the orphanages address and information here, however, if you are working with an agency you should ask them if you should put their information on these lines)
11. Do you plan to travel abroad to locate or adopt a child? (on this you would mark yes if you plan to go to Haiti at the end of the adoption to complete the adoption there (most commonly done this way), if you plan to have an escort bring your child to the US for you and do not plan at any time to go to Haiti before the completion of the adoption mark No)
12. Same as above
13. A. We put the date we estimated we would be going (even though we were WAY off as the adoption took longer, you can estimate a date, or if you have a trip to Haiti already planned put that date there)
B. Same as above if both of you are going to Haiti
C. City, province (where the orphanage is that you are adopting from, so in this line we wrote: Port-au-Prince, Haiti)
14. We actually marked no on this line. If you travel to Haiti at the end of the adoption your child(ren) will be legally adopted there in Haiti. You should not "have" to adopt them again in the US but many people do for different reasons. (It would be a good idea to ask questions about the legal requirements of the state you are in by joining a chat group for international adoptions specific to your state. They would also be a great help for finding someone local to do your home study and any specific laws you should know about in your state).
15. Mark yes if you plan on going to Haiti to complete the adoption there.
16. Fill in the USCIS office that you are required to use in your state/county. You should be able to get this information from the www.USCIS.gov website. In the past the I-600 was often filed by your orphanage in Haiti. However, very recently, there have been some rule changes in Haiti and it's best to file here in the states. If the rules change again down the road you simply have to submit a letter in writing (does not need to be notarized) with your I-600 that you wrote a different location on your I-600A and would instead like to file in Haiti.
16. Second line: The American Embassy or Consulate at (we left this line blank)
17. We are adopting 3 children so marked yes and then wrote 3 on the next line.
Certification of prospective parent: your husband's signature and date
Certificate of married prospective adoptive parent spouse: your signature and date
Again- this does not need to be notarized. When you submit it include a check for $545 and an additional fee of $70 for each person in your household over the age of 18. So if you and your husband are the only ones it would be a total fee of $685 (check the website to make sure the fees have not changed). The $70 is the fee they charge for the finger printing and back ground check. You should receive a letter and receipt from USCIS stating that they received it on (date they received it) and the fees you paid. When you file your I-600 you DO NOT have to pay the fee again unless your I-600A has expired, or you are adopting more then one child that are not siblings (there is only one fee for siblings). You do have to pay an additional fee per file for each child that is not a sibling but you only have to pay the finger printing fee once. You will also receive a letter about where and when you should go for your finger printing. They ask you to come into the office where they do that any day or time during a specific week (I think they are open on Saturdays too) and if you can't make it that week it gives you another option like to come in any time on any Wed. after that week. Once everything is processed you will receive the form I-171H. This form means you are pre-approved to adopt from Haiti!
What to include/gather for your I-600A:
Copy of birth certificate for each adopting parent
Copy of your marriage certificate
Divorce decree for both/either of you if you had previous marriages
Notarized home study done within the last 6 months
Your filled out I-600A form (we did not have this notarized)
Filling out the I-600A form: (fill it in by typing or BLACK ink)
Block 1- information about the prospective adoptive parent.
Questions 1-7 We filled out with my husbands personal information. It's okay to leave lines blank if they don't apply (for example: #4- Address abroad- just leave it blank if you don't have one). Questions 8-9 We filled out our date and place of marriage and the rest was about my (the wife’s) information. Question 10: The name and address of the orphanage/organization assisting you in identifying an orphan (If you are doing the adoption independently through the orphanage you would put the orphanages address and information here, however, if you are working with an agency you should ask them if you should put their information on these lines)
11. Do you plan to travel abroad to locate or adopt a child? (on this you would mark yes if you plan to go to Haiti at the end of the adoption to complete the adoption there (most commonly done this way), if you plan to have an escort bring your child to the US for you and do not plan at any time to go to Haiti before the completion of the adoption mark No)
12. Same as above
13. A. We put the date we estimated we would be going (even though we were WAY off as the adoption took longer, you can estimate a date, or if you have a trip to Haiti already planned put that date there)
B. Same as above if both of you are going to Haiti
C. City, province (where the orphanage is that you are adopting from, so in this line we wrote: Port-au-Prince, Haiti)
14. We actually marked no on this line. If you travel to Haiti at the end of the adoption your child(ren) will be legally adopted there in Haiti. You should not "have" to adopt them again in the US but many people do for different reasons. (It would be a good idea to ask questions about the legal requirements of the state you are in by joining a chat group for international adoptions specific to your state. They would also be a great help for finding someone local to do your home study and any specific laws you should know about in your state).
15. Mark yes if you plan on going to Haiti to complete the adoption there.
16. Fill in the USCIS office that you are required to use in your state/county. You should be able to get this information from the www.USCIS.gov website. In the past the I-600 was often filed by your orphanage in Haiti. However, very recently, there have been some rule changes in Haiti and it's best to file here in the states. If the rules change again down the road you simply have to submit a letter in writing (does not need to be notarized) with your I-600 that you wrote a different location on your I-600A and would instead like to file in Haiti.
16. Second line: The American Embassy or Consulate at (we left this line blank)
17. We are adopting 3 children so marked yes and then wrote 3 on the next line.
Certification of prospective parent: your husband's signature and date
Certificate of married prospective adoptive parent spouse: your signature and date
Again- this does not need to be notarized. When you submit it include a check for $545 and an additional fee of $70 for each person in your household over the age of 18. So if you and your husband are the only ones it would be a total fee of $685 (check the website to make sure the fees have not changed). The $70 is the fee they charge for the finger printing and back ground check. You should receive a letter and receipt from USCIS stating that they received it on (date they received it) and the fees you paid. When you file your I-600 you DO NOT have to pay the fee again unless your I-600A has expired, or you are adopting more then one child that are not siblings (there is only one fee for siblings). You do have to pay an additional fee per file for each child that is not a sibling but you only have to pay the finger printing fee once. You will also receive a letter about where and when you should go for your finger printing. They ask you to come into the office where they do that any day or time during a specific week (I think they are open on Saturdays too) and if you can't make it that week it gives you another option like to come in any time on any Wed. after that week. Once everything is processed you will receive the form I-171H. This form means you are pre-approved to adopt from Haiti!
What is USCIS?
Another acronym you may see being thrown around a lot online. It stands for US Citizenship and Immigration Services. You can find their website at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis . You will need to go through them to file your I-600A form, I-600 form, and Adjudicate Orphan Status First Petition (AOF). You can go to their website to download the forms and instructions that you need.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Traveling to Haiti- Coming Home
When we got to the airport at Port-au-Prince we needed to show our passports before even entering the airport and went through a bit of security right there at the entrance to the airport. The ticketing counters were right there, easy to find, and we had no problem at all checking our bags on and getting on our flights back home. The employees spoke English and it all went very smoothly. Since you should be there a couple hours early we had some time to kill so we went upstairs in the airport where you will find a couple of snack bars and some little shops that were so fun to look through, including duty free shops that people were walking out of with big boxes of liquor! :) The only downside of this (for me anyways) is that smoking is allowed in that area and since I'm extremely allergic to cigarette smoke I had to leave and head to the terminal before I became terminal.
Then when it was time we went to our gate. Once again you walk outside, up the stairs and onto the plane. On the way back we filled out a different and easy form (since we were US citizens). When you get off your first flight back in America you will have to go through Immigration again. This again was no biggie except for waiting in lines. You will give them the form you filled out and your passport. If you have a connecting flight you have to go and collect your luggage (yes, even if it's on the same airline and tagged for the next flight) and take that luggage through customs again. Again, no biggie...just more waiting in lines and this time with your luggage. After getting through customs they have locations that you just take your suitcases and hand it to someone with the airline your flying with. I did not have to wait for this or have anything done. Your bags are already marked for the connecting flight when checking in at Port-au-Prince. So I just walked over. Left my suitcase and headed towards the terminals. From then on it's all back to "normal" flights home. :)
Then when it was time we went to our gate. Once again you walk outside, up the stairs and onto the plane. On the way back we filled out a different and easy form (since we were US citizens). When you get off your first flight back in America you will have to go through Immigration again. This again was no biggie except for waiting in lines. You will give them the form you filled out and your passport. If you have a connecting flight you have to go and collect your luggage (yes, even if it's on the same airline and tagged for the next flight) and take that luggage through customs again. Again, no biggie...just more waiting in lines and this time with your luggage. After getting through customs they have locations that you just take your suitcases and hand it to someone with the airline your flying with. I did not have to wait for this or have anything done. Your bags are already marked for the connecting flight when checking in at Port-au-Prince. So I just walked over. Left my suitcase and headed towards the terminals. From then on it's all back to "normal" flights home. :)
Traveling to Haiti: The roads
I borrowed the above pictures that I found online to show some of the different types of tap tap's we saw. basically if it moves...it could be a tap tap!My camera was on the fritz. I wish so much that I could have video and pictures for you of what it was like to be on the roads of Haiti! It was like being in another world!! I was so fascinated by all that was around me and tried to take it all in. One thing you learn quickly in Haiti is there are no driving laws...and if there are any they sure are not enforced! It was CRAZY. I thought it was really fun but could see how someone would find it terrifying (I just happen to really like a good adrenaline rush). Our driver just flew through the streets laying on his horn and every car and person better get out of our way. There was no order. There was one road that had lanes but no one paid any attention to them and drove where ever there happened to be a space. It was hysterical to watch. The view along the drive was sometimes absolutely fascinating and at others so heartbreaking. I couldn't believe the things they could carry on their heads without even using their hands! It was amazing. At some places the sides of the street were covered with food, clothes, or other items to sell. Small outdoor "markets". This is how the birth mom of our children used to make her income too. It was also amusing to watch the tap taps! I've seen lots of pictures of them and heard stories of them but it was unreal to see them in person! Tap Taps are the Haiti version of public transportation! Some are just old pick up trucks that tons of people pack themselves into the back of (you wouldn't believe how many people were packed in!) other tap taps looked more like a bus type vehicle (sort of) and is in really bright colors and wild designs. As we got more away from the downtown area it became much sadder as everywhere you looked there was huge piles of garbage everywhere and people had the saddest looks on their faces as if they were all tired and discouraged. There were some of the "markets' just about anywhere you went. On the less busy streets our driver continued full speed ahead. What made this a little scarier for me was that the streets are now filled with people instead of other cars. We would plow ahead towards them while our driver laid on his horn. People would just continue to walk towards us and our driver would continue flying towards them and I was sure we were headed into a tragedy, but every time... at the very last second... the people would look up and slowly step aside just as our car would get to them. I think I might have held my breath the whole time!!! :) It was terrifying and exciting and I can't wait to do it again. haha.
I thought it was funny that on the way back to the airport (for this treat I got to sit in the front seat with my daughter on my lap, talk about adrenaline!!) I saw two vehicles full of UN troops. What was funny about it was that they were in nice looking SUV's but had taken black masking tape and obviously torn chunks of tape off and used it to write a very sloppy UN on the side of SUV's! Have budget cuts come to this? My three year old could have probably made it look better! :)
I thought it was funny that on the way back to the airport (for this treat I got to sit in the front seat with my daughter on my lap, talk about adrenaline!!) I saw two vehicles full of UN troops. What was funny about it was that they were in nice looking SUV's but had taken black masking tape and obviously torn chunks of tape off and used it to write a very sloppy UN on the side of SUV's! Have budget cuts come to this? My three year old could have probably made it look better! :)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Traveling to Haiti: Port-au-Prince Airport
Above picture is BirthMom-Vilcianne, Vilner 1, Jude, 9, Lovenie 2, Me, Jacques 15, and Stephanie 11. Our family in Hait!I know this is a bit out of order in my posts but I just got back from Haiti a couple days ago and met our 5 children and the birth mom of 4 of them. If you are interested in reading about my personal experience with this you can check out my blog at www.makefunofyourday.blogspot.com . Otherwise on this blog I will stick to traveling matters.
This was my first trip ever to Haiti and I was extremely grateful that a friend who had been there MANY times allowed me to tag along with her! She was headed to bring home her 14 year old daughter (her 3rd daughter adopted from NLL) so I got a really good example of how it all works. If you get an opportunity to go with someone that's done it before- jump on it! I would have felt very lost without her.
On the airplane ride into Port-au-Prince the flight attendent started handing out these long blue forms. I had no idea what these were. They are immigration papers. I kept cheating and looking at my friends answers because I was so confused about this form! :) One thing I do think is good to know for this form is to have the information with the address and phone number of where you will be staying in Haiti on you or in your carry on because you will need it to fill out this form. I did not have this information on me so was glad I got to copy off of my friends information. I'll know for next time and hopefully reading this... you will be prepared also!
When you fly into Haiti you will be exiting the plane down stairs outdoors and then will walk into the airport from the back of the building. You go right to immigration windows (you can't miss it). This is where you hand them the form you filled out on your flight and your passport. After all the stressing I did about trying to figure out the form they hardly glanced at it, stamped it, looked at my passport, and gave me the bottom part of the form that tears off and put it in my passport. Honestly I was not ever sure what that was for but I do know that my friend seriously cautioned me not to lose it or I might have problems when trying to leave Haiti, so hold on tight to that piece of paper!
After immigration we went to claim our luggage (also easy to find). Near the luggage claim you will see a bunch of carts. If you want one you just hand someone at the counter a dollar and they will bring you a cart. The wait for our luggage took forever! Me and my friend both waited worriedly when neither of us (with 4 suitcases) had any of our luggage show up. They would drive up with in a truck about the size of a small U-haul and unload suitcases. You could see them doing it through the windows. When a truck would get empty my friend and I would pray "Please let there be another truck" again and again until at last (I think it was the 4th truck) our luggage finally showed up! We were so relieved. So be prepared that you may have to wait and watch for more trucks if you don't get your luggage right away. On the way out of the airport you will be stopped and asked for your baggage claim which should be stickers that were stuck on the sleave of the tickets the airline gave you when you checked in so keep that handy. Then... you are out! When you get outside porters will come up to you and be very pushy. I actually did not experience much of this because I was meeting my two oldest children for the first time while friends took over with the luggage. A couple of porters did tag along even though we told them we didn't want their help and then were very insistant with me that I pay them for their help (I was so distracted by the kids that I don't know for sure, but I don't think they did anything more then follow us to the car!). My son pulled me into the car and that was the end of the discussion with the porters! :) We were then on our way to the orphange where I could meet our other waiting children!
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