FAQs - Dossier Preparation
/We are currently in the dossier [pronounced: doss-ee-eh - like the Canadians say] preparation phase. For the past 2 months we've been working on the home study, and we've officially complete our part of that step!!! It's currently being written by our home study provider, Dillon. The home study becomes one part of the dossier. We are also preparing our USCIS, which allows us to adopt Baby Ethiopia in the U.S.
So what kind of paperwork does the dossier contain? Note that every document has to be notarized and we keep 2 photocopies just in case. Enjoy...
- Dossier Cover Letter
- Power of Attorney
- Home Study
- Home Study Agency License
- Social Worker License
- Home Study Provider Approval Letter
- Police Clearance Letter - both of us
- Passport Size Photos - both of us
- Birth Certificates - both of us. This is a fun one because Brian was born in the Dominican Republic. Pray this goes through quickly!
- Marriage certificate
- Medical Report - both of us
- Family Photos
- Employment Letter
- Bank Statement
- Tax Form [page 1 only] from the last 3 years
- Patter Letter requesting Adoption from Ethiopia
- 3 Reference Letters
- Parent Commitment to Provide Post-Adoption Reports
- Adoptive Parent Form - both of us
- Obligation of Social Welfare Agency
After I first read through the 23-page document detailing the dossier requirements, I cried. Just a couple tears, but I thought the home study was a lot of work! My not-so-favorite part of the dossier process is that several of these items are also in the home study, but they're a little different so you have to do it all over again.
Our prayer is that we'll be able to send our dossier to Ethiopia by the end of August. Please join us in this prayer:
- that we'll get it finished swifly
- that it wouldn't overwhelm or stress us out
- that the different government agencies that we have to work with would be able to get us the documents quickly
- that documents wouldn't be lost or slip through the cracks
- that we'd even find joy in this process!
Thanks for walking through this with us. We love you.
