Russia Update

By Tina Hazelip

Happy New Year! This past year has been very exciting and rewarding for our Russia program. We have had the privilege of working with a number of families towards the successful completion of their adoptions.

With regards to the families in process, we have several families in various stages of the adoption process (waiting for first and second trip travel dates and those in the process of completing the required dossier documentation). For those families who have submitted a dossier, we have more and more families submitting dossiers with a preference for an infant or toddler female, and the wait for first trip is steadily increasing. Presently, we are preparing our families to expect an approximate five months wait after the dossier has been submitted to FTIA before the first trip referral/invitation for an infant or toddler female is received. For those families that have an open gender preference or for those who specify an infant or toddler boy, please be prepared that your process could move rather quickly since we do not have many families waiting for little boys. The current wait time for infant or toddler boys after dossier submission is one to three months.

A big thank you to our families for promptness in post placement report submission. As you know, we must have the apostilled post placement report and photographs (eight to ten) submitted to FTIA at least one month prior to your anniversary date (court date). This allows our staff in Russia time to have the report translated and notarized and submitted to the Ministry of Education on or before the anniversary date. We are preparing to begin the reaccreditation process and are required to have all post placement reports to the regions in a timely manner and 100% compliance.

With the decrease in the value of the US dollar in foreign markets, we were faced with an increase in our international fees and domestic Russian travel fees - we hope temporarily. FTIA has never increased our agency fees for any of our adopting parents once the adoption process has started. However, we don’t have the same control over international fees and costs. Effective January 1, 2004, all families in the Russian adoption program will receive a 6.5% increase on their first trip invoice and a 6.5% increase on their second trip invoice. Since every invoice varies a little depending on the region, whether single or married, and whether adopting one or two children, the 6.5% translates anywhere from approximately $500 to approximately $800 per trip. The first trip and second trip invoices are forwarded to adoptive families only after receiving confirmed travel dates for their first trip or second trip. Please know that this increase is beyond our control and as stated before, we hope is only temporary.

Thank you for your continued support and know that we are very committed to the families and children we serve.