Kazakhstan

Bay Area Adoption Services (BAAS) is committed to assisting both couples and single women to adopt from Kazakhstan.  BAAS has the privilege of partnering with several different agencies who are accredited and have staff in country. Each of these liaison agencies gives assistance to various government approved children’s homes of the region and has a long history of conducting international adoptions there.

TYPES OF CHILDREN

Many children from Kazakhstan are of Asian ethnicity. The average age of an infant coming to the US from Kazakhstan is 9-11 months old at finalization of adoption. Many older children are also available for adoption.   Perspective parents can request gender preference of child they wish to adopt.

All children must be in government homes during the adoption process. Some background information about the child will be provided by the children’s home at time of adoption. Children generally become available for adoption due to abandonment or birth parent relinquishment.  All children are tested for hepatitis B, HIV, syphilis, and tuberculosis.   No detailed information is provided to family about a referral prior to travel.

Special note: Parents are required by the Kazakhstan government to submit follow up information on their adopted children until their eighteenth birthday.

REQUIREMENTS

All international adoptions must be approved by the central government and all children are placed in children’s homes until the finalization of the adoption. The following people can adopt from Kazakhstan:

• Married couples
• If married, both parents must be US citizens
• Single women, who are not living with female roommates, may apply
• No more than a 45 year age difference between child and younger spouse (Although no specific age requirement exists for international adoption there, regional judges are quick to deny individuals over 45 the opportunity to adopt infants.)

BAY AREA ADOPTION SERVICES

BAAS will assist families in all the preparatory steps for completing a Kazak adoption, including:  assisting with procedures, conducting the mandatory homestudy and giving support in meeting with the requisites for CIS/USCIS.  In partnership with our supporting agencies who have staff in-country, BAAS will assist parents in the dossier preparation and post placement visits.

IN KAZAKHSTAN

Adoptive families will be met at the airport by liaison agency staff members in Almaty, or an airport closest to the orphanage city.  Families usually stay in apartments with kitchenettes during their stay. Families are usually requested to appear in court. They are allowed to visit with their children in the baby homes each day before adoption is finalized.   Many times, after the court proceedings are finalized, families are allowed to have children with them at their apartment. All families must leave through Almaty when finalizing their adoptions by visiting the US Consulate there to get the exit visa.

Post placement requirements, once the adoption is finalized, include:  3 mandatory post placement visits with the agency social worker within the first 6 months after returning to the US and parents must write a letter every year to the Kazak embassy in Washington DC regarding their child’s adjustment to family life until their child is 18 years old.

TIME INVOLVED

BAAS will assist the family in the preparation of their homestudy and application for CIS approval, which is mandatory. This first part of the process can take 4 to 6 months.  During this time, the family must also prepare their dossier for Kazakhstan according to country requirements.  The Ministry of Education must approve all dossiers, which could take between 5 to 8 months upon dossier arrival in Kazakhstan.  3 to 6 weeks after dossier approval and a travel permission letter has be granted, the family will be requested to appear in a certain region of Kazakhstan to be introduced to their matched child.  Both parents must travel on this first trip.  Stay in country is 4 weeks for the first visit.

Parents will be requested to make one, two or three trips to Kazakhstan, depending on the region of the country in which their adopted child is assigned.  This will be determined once an invitation to travel has been issued.  No matter how many trips, parents must stay in Kazakhstan 4 to 5 weeks on at least one trip.

FEES Involved

All adoptions are finalized in Kazakhstan. These adoptions are considered “adopt-abroad” adoptions and Kazak children enter the US on IR3 visas.

• BAAS FEE  $5,100Includes registration, pre-adopt class, homestudy, paperwork assistance, CIS support, overseas program consultation, 2 post placement visits, assistance in obtaining a California birth certificate and support with post-adoption paperwork. 
• KAZAKHSTAN ADOPTION FEE  $21,200 Includes all legal processing and ground support in country to finalize a Kazak adoption.
• AIRFARE TO KAZAKHSTAN  $8,000-$12,000 Includes two round trip flights to Kazakhstan and apartment stay during mandatory trips.

• Please note that this information is subject to change without notice as changes occur in government/country regulations and/or adoption procedures. For the latest information, please call BAAS directly.