Kazakhstan for Colorado families

Adoption Alliance has networked with a number of agencies to place children from Kazakhstan. We would be happy to refer you to families who have adopted from Kazakhstan as well. For Colorado families wishing to adopt from Kazakhstan, Adoption Alliance will provide your local services, including writing your home study, helping you to meet parent preparation training requirements and following up with post-placement services.

Family requirements:

Couples and single women may apply. Placement agencies may have requirements regarding the age of the mother in relation to the age of the child.

Children:

The Kazakhstan government requires children to be listed on a national databank of available children for six months, in order to allow Kazakhstan national families time to adopt the children. If a child is not adopted during that time, the child becomes available for international adoption. The children available are boys and girls, usually over 8 months old. Because more families wish to adopt girls, the referral/travel time to adopt a boy is much shorter. In some regions two children can be adopted at the same time only if they are biological siblings.

The Process:

You will need to complete your home study and parent preparation education, apply to CIS and put together your dossier. Your dossier will be filed with the ministry of education in the region you wish to adopt from. Some regions in Kazakhstan will provide referral information about a child, while in others, you must travel to meet the child with little or no information. The wait for a referral or travel date is shorter for boys or older children, and longer for infant girls. After you receive information about your child and/or a travel date, you will travel to Kazakhstan to meet with the child. You must visit the child for 14 days. After that 2-week period, you can commit to the child and attend the adoption court hearing. Kazakhstan courts have a 15-day waiting period before issuing the final decree. This waiting period may be waived for a child that needs immediate medical care or in extenuating circumstances. After the final adoption decree is issued, additional paperwork and a passport for your child are processed. Your child must be registered with the Kazakhstan Embassy in Astana, and then, in Almaty, you can complete the U.S. Embassy paperwork to receive your child's U.S. visa. Parents should be prepared for a 6-8 week trip or to make two trips to Kazakhstan in order to complete the adoption.