Paperwork :0 (

Today I am drowning in the mire of paperwork! We just finished updating lots of documents in December and lots more over the past 2 weeks, and just yesterday we got an E-mail for a bunch more (mostly Am. Embassy docs for when we're in Moscow on trip #2)! On top of all that, Russia just raised their foreign adoption fee by $2300.00. This has caused me to worry about paying for all of this all over again! I keep having to talk myself down and to remind myself to keep my focus where it belongs!

Here is the announcement from our agency...

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing to inform you of increases to the Russia Foreign Fee. After numerous discussions and deliberations, the Facilitator Staff has informed us of the necessity of increasing the Foreign Fee and Dossier Translation cost in order to continue to provide adoption services. The current Foreign Fees are $15,000 for one child and $26,000 for two children. At this time the Foreign Fees for Russia are increasing to $17,000 for families adopting one child, and $29,000 for families adopting two children. The Dossier Translation Fee is also increasing from $1,700 to $2,000.

Whew! All of this is completely worth it, there is NO doubt, but I am a human being after all! I must say, I am quite overwhelmed! I am usually calm when we start any given piece of paperwork, but I quickly become frazzled by the time we're really into it. Sometimes the questions may not be quite as simple as they initially appeared. If I am trying to complete it while the kids are around, the frazzle factor goes up dramatically! If we have to send away for paperwork or rely on others to get it done properly and quickly, I really freak about that. I hate giving the control of the timing of our adoption to someone else- especially if it is a government agency (this is not the case right now, PTL!)

So, to make myself feel better, I am going to list all of the ones done and all of the ones left to do, so I have a complete checklist.

Those of you who are in the process right now, or for those of you who have already gone through this, you already knew about this behind the scenes stuff. For those of you who are new to the adoption world, this will get your feet wet a bit!

The ones in white are done
The docs in red just need to be apostilled and copied
The ones in blue are still unobtained

Passports
4 copies of passport photo page with notarized "certified copy of orig. (CCOO)" page- 2 ea.
2 Applications to Adopt
2 Registration forms- 1 original for each spouse
3 Prospective Parents Commitments
2 Home Study Agency Commitments
2 Home Study Agency Recommendations
2 Home Study Agency Licenses each with CCOO's
1 Original Home Study
2 Original Home Studies w/new notary requirements
2 Home Study Updates
1 Financial Statement
4 Employment letters- 2 originals for each spouse
10 lab reports- 5 ea.
2 Dr.'s licenses
1 Certified Marriage Certificate
2 Copies of USCIS Approval- each w/CCOO's
2 Copies of NEW USCIS Approval- eachw/CCOO's
1 Original USCIS Approval
1 Original NEW USCIS Approval
4 State Police Clearances- 2 ea.
3 Power of Attorney Letters
2 Copies of Deed to Home- each w/CCOO's
2 Photo Albums of Family
1 Insurance Letter and Benefits
3 Medicals- 1 per child
1 Pediatrician's License- w/CCOO
1 Album of Pictures from Trip #1
1 Copy of Poverty Guidelines (w/CCOO)
1 Home Assessment Affidavit
1 Copy of Illinois Adoption Law- w/CCOO
1 Copy of Social Worker's License- w/CCOO
1 Petition to Court
2 Visa Applications for Trip #1- no apostille needed
2 Visa Applications for Trip #2 - no apostille needed


72 Documents total!

And a lot of this paperwork we have done twice, since our first dossier (a dossier is a compilation of all the aforementioned docs) expired before we were ever registered into a region. That easily turns the number into well over 100!

And after you think you are done, all documents must be checked by our agency before apostilling and then copied 3 times after apostilling without removing ANY of the original staples- not an easy feat!

That does it for the Russian documents! I'll post U.S. Embassy docs next time- I'm too tired right now. All of these must be notarized and apostilled (that just says the notary is truly an official notary in the state of Illinois). Apostilling must be done in the state capital- lucky for us that is only an hour away. Needless to say, the ladies there know us well now! We have been there 8 times in the past year and a half!

Love to you all!