I'm adopting a child from Colombia

Save the Wildcats says on Dec 29, 2004, 20:18:

Julie.... I'll send you a message; please check your inbox.

Kim

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Peter (Moderator) (Trustee board) (Dev team) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Dec 30, 2004, 06:00:

Hi Julie, if you try a search you'll find stories like this one about adoption. Good luck!

Poor but snappy

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anaiza says on Dec 30, 2004, 18:28:

Colombian adoptions Congratulations....Guess what, I am also in the process of adopting a child from Colombia. I would love to exchange stories, email me.

Claudia

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kitsmom says on Feb 18, 2005, 19:08:

We too are adopting in Colombia Julie, My husband, who is Colombian, and I are presently adopting from Colombia. After looking into several adoption agencies in the US, including CHI, we chose to do a parent-initiated adoption. I would be happy to share any info with you about our experience since I did ALL the paperwork myself. Except for the home study, of course. We just received notice from ICBF we are approved to adopt a 4 year old child. We have a wonderful translater and lawyer in Bogota about 20 blocks apart.

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Sarah in Mexico says on Mar 9, 2005, 07:31:

To kitsmom I was interested to read that you have handled all paperwork for adoption yourself. Was that very complicated? We are a British couple living in Mexico. We have one 6 year old biological daughter and are considering surrogacy or adoption to extend our family (a second pregnancy is not an option for us). We plan to visit Colombia in May. What would be our first step in finding out about adoption in Colombia? Does our home study have to be done here in Mexico? If anyone can help please feel free to write to me.

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kitsmom says on Mar 28, 2005, 18:03:

The Colombian Adoption Process The Adoption Process in Colombia


This document summarizes the Colombian Adoption Process as I interpret the process. This document also provides an estimate of the costs involved in adopting a Colombian minor. Hope it helps.

In Colombia, you can adopt from ICBF (government-run orphanages) or from private orphanages. Private orphanages tend to be very expensive where ICBF adoptions are "free." But that is not the reason we chose ICBF. We chose ICBF because my husband is Colombian and his mothers' cousin's friend (really) used to be employed by ICBF. So, we sort-of had a Colombian ICBF connection.

I. The Adoption Process

The process starts with a letter that the prospective parents (you) send to the government agency responsible for adoptions ( Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar - ICBF (Colombian Family Welfare Institute). In that letter, you express interest in adopting a child or children, identify the attorney who will represent you before Colombian courts and government agencies, and provide the name of the adoption agency that will conduct adoption related research and procedures in the U.S. This agency must be approved by the Colombian government. I’m not sure how you would go about doing this in Mexico. Here’s my suggestion. ICBF’s web site contains a list of all approved agencies by country. I would start by looking at this list for Mexico, then contacting some of them to see if they suite your needs. In comparison, I contacted 65 agencies by e-mail asking lots of questions before I selected one. I narrowed the list down to two. I then contacted each agency by phone to interview them further. And was easily able to discern which agency was right for us.

You really need to select your adoption agency before going any further. Once you select the adoption agency, you are ready to write a letter to ICBF.

1. Enclosed with the letter to ICBF you must send:

a. Certificate showing that the chosen U.S. Adoption Agency has been authorized by ICBF. Meaning they are on ICBF's list - you can get the list from their web site.

b. Power of attorney

2. ICBF responds by sending a booklet (in English and Spanish), forms and instructions. You complete and return forms and documents, including the home study performed by your chosen adoption agency. The booklet is important. It tells you all documents you must collect (birth, marriage, divorce, medical physicals for each parent showing you are in good health, financial, background check, etc.) and submit with your completed home study. Once compiled, this bundle of papers is called your dossier. Please note, in US, we are required to file a petition to adopt foreign child (an I-600A). The adoption agency you select can help you with these details.

6. You DON’T deal directly with ICBF. You hire an attorney in Colombia that acts as a liaison to do that. ICBF has a list of approved lawyers on their web site that they will work with. Our Colombian attorney has most experience in Medellin so we chose this city because of her experience.

3. ICBF reviews completed dossier (forms / documents) and accepts or rejects the adoption request. If accepted, the application will enter in a waiting list that is served following a strict chronological order, until the minor of the desired characteristics is found.

ICBF notifies parents that a child has been assigned to them in a letter that includes his / her picture, along with his / her medical history and personal records.

4. Prospective parents must then respond as to whether or not they accept the child who has been assigned to them. If they accept, the ICBF sets a date by which the prospective parents must travel to Colombia to meet the child and appear before an ICBF appointed panel for interviews. Both parents must be present for this interview. After this interview the child will be placed in their care.

5. If these initial steps are successfully completed, the adoption process is brought before the courts. The law requires that both adopting parents be physically present when the demand of adoption is presented to family judge (court ). After this process one parent can return to the U.S. and other parent must remain in the country until the judicial process is completed, which takes approximately two to three weeks.

Concurrently, passport expedition, emigration procedures, and U.S. immigrant visa for the child are processed.

6. TIME
The ICBF recently announced that starting in June 2003 the whole administrative process of child adopting will take only 6 months. This is a very important change since before the whole process used to last 18 to 24 months.

7. AGE
The Colombian adoption law requires that at least one of the adopting parents be over 25 years all of age.

a. Couple married four years and under 35 years old, may adopt children six months to two years old.
b. Couples 36 to 45 years old may adopt a child 3 years to 7 years old.
c. Couples 46 to 50 years old may adopt a child age 8 and up.
d. Single woman may adopt special needs only.
e. One divorce each is permitted.


U.S. DOCUMENTS (Requirements May vary by country)

I suggest collecting 3 originals of each document submitted. Two originals will go to ICBF. One original, you keep for your records.

1. FBI Background check. In US, this takes about 2-3 months to complete. DO THIS FIRST. The FBI website tells you specifically what to do. You write a letter the the FBI requesting six fingerprint cards. They send you the cards. You get fingerprinted at your local police station and wait for the background check to complete. I suggest you do 3 fingerprint cards for each parent. Two for each parent will end up with ICBF and one, you keep for your records.

2. Home study conducted by a licensed agency in the United States athorized by I.C.B.F. Check out the ICBF web site for the ICBF authorized adoption agencies.

3. Medical certificate of each parent concerning physical, mental and emotional health, clearly expressing that the prospective parents do not suffer of any physical or mental illness and that therefore they are fit to adopt a child. Our medical document had to included the following statement that was requested by our attorney in Colombia: "Enjoys good physical and mental health."

This certificate must be issued by a medical doctor legally authorized.

4. Financial statements, prove of employment, home ownership, car ownership, bank statements. 3 years of tax filings.

5. Parent's birth certificate(s).

6. Marriage certificate.

7. Three references of people that know the future parents for a long time as couple certifying their ability to adopt a child.

8. A letter from the Adoption Agency in the US in which certifies they will provide post - placement services on the family, once they return from Colombia with their adopted child. The Agency assumes responsibility for sending periodic reports to I.C.B.F. regarding the progress of the child's adaptation to his - her new home and social environment, until the time when the child is naturalized in the United States. Once the certificate of naturalization of the child is obtained, the U.S.A. agency have to send to I.C.B.F. copy of This Document of the naturalization of the child as American Citizen.

NOTE: All documents must be submitted in Spanish and must be translated into Spanish by a translator authorized by the Colombian Foreign Relations Minister. Check the web site. There are many translators listed. The attorney you select in Colombia can help you select your translator.

9. Permit granted by the country of residence of the adopting parents to legalize the intended adoption.


II Costs

In the U.S., I have heard adoptions ranging in cost from $18,000 U.S. to $39,000. We are doing something called a parent-initiated adoption and our total costs should be around $10,000 INCLUDING travel. Since I am a full-time mother, I decided to file all the paperwork myself. Our adoption agency was hired to do only the follow-up and the home study. That’s all we have asked them to do for us. However, each family’s costs vary depending on agency selected, costs to/from your home country, translator and attorney in Colombia. The following are what I guess are the estimated costs of a typical adoption process:

1. Adoption Agency Fees – These vary so I don’t know what to tell you. You can ask each agency you speak with what the average cost for an international adoption would be for each of them.

2. Attorney's fees (Colombia) including:

a. Judicial and administrative representation throughout the entire process, until the child is authorized to leave the country.
b. Personal assistance in finding suitable accommodations, and support during visits, interviews, etc. U.S.$1,500.00 to $4,000.00.

3. Communications and Translations (Colombia) including:

a. Fax transmissions and E-mail.
b. Translation with and without legal stamping .U.S.$600.00

4. Other expenses (Colombia) including:

a. Child's U.S. Visa (U.S. Embassy)
b. Air and Ground Transportation, it depends of the circumstances, if in or out of town.
c. Estimate of Medical examination of the child ....U.S.$46.00

The Doctor for this examination is recommended by the US Embassy.

d. Additional Photocopies of Dossier ................U.S.$100
e. Taxes
f. Pictures
g. Passport

5. Room and Board for parents and child. We are pricing hotels (safe hotels) at around $100.00 to $150.00/night.

6. Whatever the Air Transportation (round trip) to Colombia for Parents and for child returning back home. Our costs are about $1,000/person for air and hotel.

7. Other expenses (U.S.) including:
a. Home Study ( U.S. Agency)
b. Attorney's Fees ( U.S.)
c. Notary
d. Consulate


Hope this helps.

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juanalejo says on Mar 28, 2005, 20:05:

Sarah I know you are living in Mexico, but since you are British I would like to give you some information that should be pretty accurate but must be confirmed up to date. The Colombian and British legislations are not in accordance as to the information and contact that the adopted child can know about the birth parents. Colombian law prohibits such contacts up to a certain age, and British law encourages such contacts. This according to some close friends of mine who adopted a child and were unable to adopt a second one when the law changed in Britain, as the Colombian government would not allow any more Colombian childs to be heading to Britain.

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ColombiaAdopt3 says on Apr 4, 2005, 06:14:

question for kitsmom Thanks so much for posting all that information about parent-initiated adoption. It's extremely helpful. I went to the ICBF web site but I couldn't find the list of attorneys that they recommend...do you have a link to that? Also, where did you find a list of translators in Colombia?

Thank you.

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ColombiaAdopt3 says on Apr 6, 2005, 12:48:

Parent-initiated Adoption KitsMom,

Wow! I'm actually starting to believe that a parent-initiated adoption is possible. I read your long message and have been doing some research. So far I've located and emailed 2 translators that are approved by the Foreign Relations Ministry (http://portal.minrelext.gov.co), an attorney in Bogota that has a great deal of experience with the ICBF (www.abogadosencolombia.com), the fingerprint forms from the FBI (www.fbi.gov), the necessary immigration forms (http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/forms/index.asp), and an agency that will approve my homestudy (www.losninos.org) since there is no ICBF-approved agency in my state. Even though I'm not ready to move forward with the adoption just yet, I feel like I have all my ducks in a row and I'm much more confident about doing a parent-initiated adoption directly through the ICBF.

Best of luck to all of you adopting from Colombia.

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skkrumwiede says on Apr 23, 2005, 09:45:

Hi Claudia,

Can you tell me what agency you are using for your adoption? Have you had a good experince with them? My husband and I want to adopt from Colombia but don't know what agency to use. We live in northern California. Any information you can give me would be great.
Thanks
SK

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adornsamudio says on May 17, 2005, 09:28:

RE: Colombian Adoption Process Thank you so much for taking the time to put all of this information together. Our situations seem very similar---passionate about adopting from Colombia, married to a Colombian, etc. I really appreciate your efforts in organizing this step-by-step process.

We will be starting the adoption process later this year, and we plan on going directly through ICBF, so reading your information provoked a sigh of relief since it seems doable.

I do have two questions, however. I realize you are in Colombia right now as I write this --- enjoying the company of the newest addition to your family. I hope the trip is nothing short of a blessing! I must preface: I am in no rush for a response.

We have an adoption agency that we have contacted in our state to do the home study for us. However, it is my understanding that we also need to go through adoption training in order to adopt a child from ICBF. (One of the reps there told my husband that on his last trip to Bogota. We needed a home study and proof of training.) I didn't see mention of this in your email. This step, as you may know, is a couple thousand dollars. So, I am curious as to how you did not have to do that.

Secondly, by parent-initiated, you essentially had direct contact with ICBF, correct? You sent the documents directly to them, and vice versa? The adoption agency you hired to do your home study was not involved for any of that "leg work"??

I look forward to hearing from you!

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kitsmom says on May 17, 2005, 21:56:

Parent-Initiated Adoptions First, let me say that I will gladly answer any questions you have along the way that may stump you. We don't leave for Colombia until next week! Next, you ask great questions!

Q1. Can you speak directly with ICBF?
A1. No. You must find an attorney in Colombia that will act as your liason and they must be "ICBF-Accepted." ICBF will not speak directly to you. I will gladly give you the name of the attorney we used, just as soon as we return from Colombia. She used to work for ICBF and went private. However, if you wish to find your own attorney, I'll post the link later. Also, you'll need a certified translator that will take all of the english-written documents and translate them to Spanish. I can also share the name of our translator, when we return from Colombia. Otherwise, translators are listed out there too but I can't rember which web site, I think on ICBF's site or the state department's-can't remember which.

Parent-initiated, to me, means that you only use the Adoption Agency to do the Home Study and Post Placement vists. You do all the paper processing/collecting and make sure everything gets certified, apostilled, translated and renewed when it expires.

Q2. Adoption Training.
A2. In the city where we live, I was able to sign up for Foster Parenting Classes offered by the local Children's Services Government agency. I called the head of Children's services and explained my plight. They gladly helped me sign-up for and allowed me to participate in their classes at no charge. Foster parenting is said to be the closest you can get to adopting a child from an orphanage. Additionally, Colombia has orphanages AND Foster Homes. Coincidentally, our child is coming from a Foster Home. I took these classes but have yet to be asked for my certification of completion. It took a month of Saturday's to complete and was very informative and helpful.

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Lincoln says on May 20, 2005, 05:57:

Medical check-up Just a word of advice once you bring your child back to the U.S. As part of the child's medical check-up, you might consider asking your doctor to check for stomach parasites. It's a very simple test, and if parasites are found they can be eliminated by medication. We adopted our child in Colombia when he was six months old and returned a couple of times for family visits. When he was 8 years old he complained about stomach aches and I took him to the doctor, he had two different kinds of parasites--who knows for how long! This is virtually unknown in the U.S. but fairly common in developing countries. I wish I would have had him checked before, but this never entered my mind. Just wanted to pass this on.

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kitsmom says on May 20, 2005, 20:51:

Checking for Parasites This is a great piece of advice. We will definately do this. My husband said that when he came to the United States he had parasites! Also, I was wondering if you had your child tested for HIV/Aids?

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Save the Wildcats says on May 22, 2005, 08:48:

May I please ask a question? We are working with an agency, but my husband is wondering if we are allowed to have some basic lab tests ordered (such as a complete blood count). We have lost a son before (2 years today), and while there are no guarantees, my husband especially is wary of adopting a new child that has cancer (weird fear, I know, but I'm trying to humor him). Are the doctors receptive to running a CBC? I know the kids are tested for HiV and Hepatitis, but other than that, I don't know, and the agency is trying to get me a sample medical report.

Thanks very much!

Kim

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Lincoln says on May 23, 2005, 10:30:

checkups No, this was 10 years ago and we didn't at the time although it is an excellent idea. My son has an excellent pediatrician, and I could see he was very surprised with the parasites, as this was quite unknown in the U.S. Fortunately our son has a clean bill of health! Again, I just wish I had been aware of the possibility of parasites sooner but it never, ever crossed our minds that this could be a problem. There was a special news program on the other night about an increasing number of tourists visiting Mexico returning with parasites, and that reminded me to send this message.

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3minivans says on Jun 2, 2005, 06:00:

Adoption Questions I have a few questions about adopting from Colombia.

1. I have 3 children. I am 42 my husband is 41. We are interested in adopting a girl 4-7 years old. Are we eligible to adopt?

2. How long does the process take for an older child (once dossier is ready)?

3. Are the locations (under "Where we are") on the ICBF website the orphanages where the adoption is "free"?

4. Is it a shorter time period to adopt from a private orphanage or from ICBF or about the same?

I appreciate any help. My family and I are excited about adopting a child from Colombia but I want to know what I'm up against before we take the plunge. Thanks!

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kitsmom says on Jun 16, 2005, 18:56:

Yes, You Can Order a CBC! My husband and I just returned from Colombia where we completed our adoption of a 4 year old boy. While the paperwork was in the final signature process, he stayed with us at our hotel in Medellin. We took him to a well-regarded physician who, among other items, ordered a CBC. This doc's opinion was that it is better to find out if there was something wrong with our child while he was in his country of origin. Fortunately, our son's tests came back and were all clear. Additionally, we did have him treated for parasites. Most children in Colombia have parasites and are all treated for the "condition" prior to beginning school.

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kitsmom says on Jun 16, 2005, 19:08:

Ages of Qualification based on your age Here is how ICBF determines the age of the child approved for your particular circumstance for those of you over 40 years of age:

The youngest age of the child you can adopt is based on the number of years over 40 for the eldest parent. Therefore, if the oldest parent is 42, the youngest age of the child can be is 2 years of age. Additionally, ICBF also prefers the youngest child currently in the family must be at least 2 years OLDER than the prospective adoptive child. Therefore, if the youngest child in the family is 5, the age of the adopted child will likely be between 2 and 3 years of age. Once ICBF approves your dossier, you will receive a letter from ICBF telling you the approved age for an adoptive child. After this, ICBF waits for a match between the approved age of the child and the availabily of a child in that age range. If there isn't a child needing a home that falls within the approved age range, you wait until a child comes available. When there is a match, ICBF sends you a separate letter telling all the information about the child they wish to place with your family. And, of course, all this is predicated on the fact that everyone is healthy and your dossier is complete and approved.

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kitsmom says on Jun 16, 2005, 19:20:

How Long Does the Placement Process Take? Well, lets see....

Once you complete your dossier you give it to your Colombian attorney to submit to ICBF. (BTW, We had a great attorney. If you need her name, just let me know.)

We submitted our dossier in December, received placement information about our son in April and just returned from Colombia on June 13! From everything I have read, this was amazingly fast. We were schedule to meet with ICBF on June 1, our adoption completed at 10:45 a.m. on June 9th, we flew to Bogota for a passport, doc appointment and American Visa and flew home on June 13th. That was 10 days in Medellin and 5 days in Bogota.

We were approved by ICBF to adopt a 4 year old. We received this letter in February. In April, we were told by our lawyer about the child they wanted to place in our family. In May we began sending our son pictures and letters and May 31st, we flew to Medellin for a June 1st appointment to meet with ICBF and our son. We've been home for two days.

ICBF in Medellin goes much faster than in Bogota.

Hope this helps!

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kitsmom says on Jun 16, 2005, 19:29:

Places where the adoption is free. No. Adoption is never free! However, we did a parent-initiated adoption and payed our attorney $1800.00 (max. fee attorney's are allowed to charge for an adoption in Colombia).

I can explain to you how to do a parent initiated adoption, if you are interested. I think everyone should know that it is absolutely not necessary to pay an agency $19,000 to $39,000 to complete an adoption.

Bottom line, our adoption expenses, including travel, total less than $10,000. And by the way, the US government gives a $10,600 tax CREDIT for the year you complete your adoption. Tax credits are different/better than a tax deduction. A credit is money the government pays you back for your adoption expenses. A deduction is money that you apply to taxes owed at the end of the year.

Therefore, after the tax credit, our adoption is free.

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kitsmom says on Jun 16, 2005, 19:55:

Less time to complete ICBF or Private Adoption. Well, I can't speak to private adoptions other than to tell you that everything you do related to your adoption is based on child availability. Whether you apply with ICBF or a private orphanage, it does not insure that the child you hope for is available when your dossier is approved. Within 4 (December to April) months of our dossier being approved by ICBF, we received a letter telling us about our son.

Hope this helps!

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3minivans says on Jun 18, 2005, 11:44:

Parent-initiated adoption. Oops! I posted in another area by accident. I'll try again here. First of all congratulations on your new son Kitsmom! and welcome home!
I'd love to learn about parent-initiated adoption and get your attorney's name. We're not sure we're going with Colombia, though it will depend on how ICBF views our family. Our kids are almost 8 boy, almost 6 boy and almost 4 year old girl. We want a girl older than our youngest and that doesn't seem to fit ICBF'f viewpoint from what you posted. Anyway, Do you know if we are we eligible with this information? Also I read they give preference to people with no children or one child. Does that mean that you can't adopt if you have more than one or are you put further down the list somewhere? Any help is appreciated. Thanks. and a big congratulations to the whole family!

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Hilary05 says on Jun 20, 2005, 10:54:

Wait Time for Colombian Adoptions/ETC Hi Kitsmom:

I was so excited to see your posts as we are also doing a parent-intiated adoption from Colombia and my husband is also from Colombia. We were just approved for an infant girl 0-12 months. We have one biological son 23 months. Our application was filed April 29th. We were approved June 7th. We are expecting a referal with the next 6-8 weeks.

It doesn't seem like you are aware of this but the thing that sped up your adoption is that you ARE A COLOMBIAN FAMILY. The current policy in Colombia is to encourage adoption by Colomibans both residing in the country and residing abroad. All other families have very long waits - including those adopting from ICBF. Of course the wait in private orphanages ARE MUCH LONGER. Colombia is also switching to a foster family model over the institutional model which leaves "less business' for private orphanages. The Colombian government is also providing more financial assistance to birthmothers to try and encourage mothers to stay with their babies.

The wait times for normal families are anywhere between 12 months and 2+ years for ICBF and longer for private orphanages. This also depends on the age of the child you are adopting.

I'm glad you're trying to help out other families. I also have adopted sort of a similiar "mission' and have been helping other families with information.

I lived in Colombia for about 5 years and have been married to a Colombian for 15 years. The person representing us in Colombia is a friend who is also a rep for a Swedish agency. She works all over Colombia and will hire our lawyer when we get a referral.

You decided to limit your adoption to Medellin - b/c of your lawyer. But other families - who will have a longer wait - probably shouldn't do that. They should probably keep the regions open. Any restrictions an adoptive parents starts putting on their application will ultimately slow down the process. By limitim=ng to only one region in Colombia they will not be considered for any other children in the rest of Colombia,

If anyone is interested in talking to my rep - whose fee is also VERY reasonable please contact me directly, and i will put you in contact with her. Working with her will give you the option to adopt anywhere in Colombia - making your wait for a referral shorter. She is an excellent person, and a very good friend. Our lawyer will cost about $500. But of course our rep also charges a fee. All-in-all, with travel we will be speding anywhere from 7,000-10,000 on the adoption. Certainly not more than 10,000 - so our estimates correlate with Kitsmom.

best,

Hilary

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kitsmom says on Jun 22, 2005, 21:12:

ICBF Adoption Criteria Well, let me start by saying "thank you"! We've been home for a week and it seems like our child has always been a part of our family. It has been a very smooth transition and we feel so lucky.

Okay. Let me just say that it costs nothing to ask ICBF. The big question I have is whether you and your spouse are over the age of 40. I will tell you that I am 44, my husband is 42 and our daughter is 6. Using us as an example, I will tell you we were approved for a 4 year old child. The reason...the child must be at least 1 year of age for every year the eldest spouse is over 40. Since I am 44, we knew our child would be at least 4 years of age. Hope that makes sense. Additionally, since my daughter is 6, we knew that the adopted child we be at least 2 years younger that our youngest child. We were hoping for a child around 3 to 4 years of age.

I have heard that ICBF does give preferential treatment. But, I would add that every Country has prioritized the family criteria. Married with no children are first, under 40 are next. Other than that, I suggest you contact the attorney we used and ask the question. It costs nothing to ask. Here information is listed below. Also, if you have any other questions, contact me. I will help you do anything you need to do to complete your parent-initiated adoption. Good luck. And don't hesitate to contact me. I charge nothing. I just happen to think families should be able to adopt without paying the huge agency fees.

Mercedes Helena Guzman Munoz
Derecho de Familia - Adopciones

mhguzman26 at hotmail.com

Cel: 310 - 3076285

Carrera 7 No 64-28 Apto. 506
Telefonos: 211 6190 - 540 0165
Fax: 211 6190 - 314 5662
Bogota, D.C. - Colombia

Cel: 315 - 3456296

Best of Luck!

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Desideria (Moderator) (Trustee board) says on Jun 23, 2005, 11:03:

I have a question for all you people who have adopted a child from Colombia: does the couple who adopts have to be married?

Cheers,
Desi

"When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?"(First Witch in Macbeth)

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Hilary05 says on Jun 23, 2005, 13:17:

ICBF Wait Times Hi:
I am 40 this year and my husband is 47 (Colombian). We were approved for a 0-12 month-old b/c we already have a 23 month old. The age of your children trumps age of parents.
It is Colombian policy -now being strictly followed - to give priority to all Colombian families here and abroad. There are big differences between wait times for other families and Colombian families.
To look at wait time for non-Colombian families here is a link to ICBF wait lists:
http://www.adecop.org/nova/article.php3?id_article=67
-Best,
Hilary

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Save the Wildcats says on Jun 23, 2005, 16:25:

Thanks Kitsmom... I appreciate the info about the CBC!

We have started our homestudy and I am doing up the bedroom, having kicked my poor DH out of his computer room. We are so excited!

Take care,

Kim

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kitsmom says on Jun 26, 2005, 22:07:

Do you have to be married to adopt from Colombia? Well, I think unmarried couples can adopt older and/or "special-needs" children. I believe the ICBF booklet states the couple must be married for at least 5 years. However, I was with my husband for 16 years and only married for the last 3. This is a "Catholic" country. Marriage is very important in this culture.

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kitsmom says on Jun 26, 2005, 22:09:

Any questions, don't hesitate. Wonderful! Don't hesitate to contact me if I can help. I learned a lot throughout the process. It seems a shame not to put it to use and share it with anyone wishing to give a loving home to a child!

Much luck!

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kitsmom says on Jun 26, 2005, 22:29:

What is a "REP"? Hmmm. Since we did a parent-initiated, I am not familiar with the term "Rep." According to all the documentation I have seen from ICBF, you must have your attorney file your dossier with ICBF. I don't understand how you receive a referral from ICBF without providing the name of the attorney who represents your family. If you don't know who the attorney is that you will hire, how do you know they will cost you $500? Maybe we saved ourselves $500 by not having a Swedish Rep.

Additionally, we filed our dossier with ICBF in Medellin but our child was in a foster home and was from Yali.

One last item...we chose ICBF Medellin because of their history with promptness in completing adoptions. Our attorney handles all Colombian adoptions and happens to work and reside in Bogota.

Here's to hoping your wait for a referral is shorter, as you wish and your rep is able to find a child that does not require you travel through the "zone of violence." Good luck with that!

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Hilary05 says on Jun 29, 2005, 10:51:

A Rep is...and other info a representative. You need a representative in Colombia - yours was a lawyer. When we get a referral for a child - YOU DON"T NEED A LAWYER to file an application with ICBF - my representative will hire a lawyer from whichever region the child is from. The lawyer costs about $500. That's the standard fee. Your lawyer charged for her services not only as a lawyer but as your representative that's why you paid 1800. The standard fee for the the ACTUAL ADOPTION in the court, etc. is $500 more or less. So we will pay our rep 600 and the lawyer 500. Total - 1,100. But i wonder if your 1800 fee also includes translation of the documents in your dossier. That cost us 350. Total for us w/ document translation = $1,450.
My rep is not Swedish - she's Colombia. She is a rep for a Scandanavian adoption agency. She's a good friend - I used to work with her husband in Colombia when I lived there. She knows lawyers in every region in Colombia so that's how i know the standard cost for hiring a lawyer for adoption.
Although the regional office in Medellin may be quick, the reason why your application was sped through was because you are a Colombian family. It's important that others realize this. Your approval didn't come from Medellin - it came from the central ICBF office - THEN you were referred to a region - and your lawyer requested Medellin. Anyone can request a specific region. Some do it for race reasons.
I left the region open - and we were just referred 12 days ago to the Bogota Regional office. We should have a referral in several weeks. If we get a referral at the end of July - that would make it 3 months from submission of dossier/application.
-Hilary

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kitsmom says on Jun 29, 2005, 20:10:

Kim's off and running! While you’re starting your homestudy, there are several things you can do to proceed. You will need a binder to keep track of everything you are working. Get one right away. If you are organized from the beginning, it will help you immensely! If you already know what you need, just ignore me!

1) I-600A form – http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-600a.htm This is an INS (Department of Homeland Security) form that tells INS you’re planning to adopt. If you get stuck on what to fill in the blanks, let me know. Keep in mind, you may not be able to answer all the questions on the form yet—that’s okay! This also gets you scheduled for hand-prints. You must have a background check for INS. The application is good for 12 months from date of approval and the prints are good for 18 months from approval. The INS web site will tell you where you need to file. You must provide 2 originals for everything. Do 3 sets of originals. Keep the 3rd set for your binder!

2) FD-258 fingerprint form – This is an FBI fingerprint card. Go to the FBI web site http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/fprequest.htm have them send you 3 fingerprint cards for both you and your spouse. Take them to your local police department or BCII (Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation) office and have them do your fingerprints. ICBF requires 2 cards for each spouse. I always do a 3rd original for my records—you never know when something gets lost or is missing. Mail the completed cards back to FBI address listed on their web site. This usually takes about 3-6 months to complete. It’s good for 12 or 18 months from approval, I don’t remember which. Do 3 sets of originals. Keep the 3rd set for your binder!

3) Medical – Schedule a physical. Both you and your spouse must have a physical by your regular physician. Most agencies have their own form they use for the physical, so whichever agency you use most likely will provide you with a form to complete for the physical. If not, I can always send you a copy of the form ASW had us provide to our physicians. Whatever your physician writes on your medical form, it is important to include the phrase “Continues to enjoy good physical and mental health.” It sounds funny but, this makes ICBF feel that no matter what medications you and/or your spouse are taking (or ailments you have), the physician says you are well! When the social worker comes to your home, you must give them two originals for each of you. Do 3 sets of original forms. Keep the 3rd set of originals for your binder.

4) Passports – Every member traveling to Colombia must have a passport! Find a place to do your pictures first. Make sure they follow exact specs for dimensions and background. If not, you will be doing them over, I assure you! You need a lot of passport pictures! 2 for your passports, 2 for your I-600A, 2 for an upcoming I-600 (when they have a child for your family), 2 for your Colombian Travel Visa. I suggest you get 8 passport pictures. You are not going to want to run around at the last minute getting passport pictures. Passports take a while too! Go to this web site and find the closest location: http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/

There are many more things to do but this should keep you going for a while. Always feel free to ask questions. I’ll help in any way I can. It takes me a while to get everyone settled for the night, so I usually reply after 9:00p.m..

Congrats! I hope you find as sweet a child like the one we now call our son!

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cmurnan says on Jul 21, 2005, 15:56:

ADOPT columbia Hello kitsmom, my husband and I just started the adoption process. I would love to know all the info you have. You seem to be ahead of the game. I have read all of what you submitted on this site but would still like to know more. My email is cmurnan at itxnetwork.com THANKS

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kitsmom says on Jul 21, 2005, 20:19:

ADOPT Colombia Hi there CMURNAN! I understand from your posting that you are intersted in adoption. I'm not really sure what you need. What is it you would like to know more about? Do you have a specific question about something I have posted? Or, are you just getting started and are looking for more general information? We just completed a parent-initiated adoption for a child from Colombia. Everything I have posted is relative to this process. We did use/pay an agency but only to do the Home Study and Post-placement follow-up visit. All other documents I collected and processed myself. Maybe you can drop me another private message and tell me more specifically what it is you have questions about with regards to this process. Best wishes. KITSMOM

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jcapilla says on Sep 20, 2005, 12:17:

ICBF Kitsmom

I would love to talk to you. You are the person that can help me out. I noticed "post" date is February, 2005 - I hope you get this email ...... congratulations ... my little boy is 4 1/2; we adopted him from Colombia through an agency. Now we are doing our paperwork ourselves ..... please email me .....

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kitsmom says on Oct 15, 2005, 17:25:

ICBF Send me a private message on this site first with your e-mail address and I'll be happy to help you with the process!

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kitsmom says on Nov 3, 2005, 19:51:

Anything I can do to help, just let me know! I couldn't remember if we chatted, or not! Please feel free to drop me a line with your e-mail address if you are still interested and have questions!

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JohnAH says on Dec 15, 2005, 13:09:

Parent Initiated Adoption Kitsmom - I sent you a private message asking for any additional help or advise you can offer with a Parent Initiated Adoption from Colombia. My wife and I are going to get started very soon and have been making good progress with all of our research and agency discussions so far.

Thanks in advance for everything, your posting on here are the most extensive published information about this type of adoption from Colombia around so thank you!

John

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lesecrits says on Feb 19, 2006, 18:01:

Problems with Agency I am a single woman of 41 interested in adopting a child of 4-8 years old. I am interested in Colombia because I have visited there and my best friend (and ex-husband) is Colombian. Though it seems that I can adopt from Colombia as a single older woman so long as I am willing to parent an older child, I was recently very surprised and disappointed to find that the leading adoption agency in my state would not consider an application from me mainly because I had a two-day mental health hospitalization a number of years ago (they indicated that, given the stigma attached to mental health problems in non-Western countries, none of the more than a dozen countries, including Colombia, that they operate in would place even an older child in my care). I cannot erase my past, but I am very financially and personally secure, have been employed for 14 years as a university professor, and can obtain excellent references and a letter from a physician certifying that I am physically and emotionally capable of parenting. I had hoped that a homestudy would provide a positive holistic assessment of my suitability as a parent.

At this point, I am wondering how to proceed. From what I gather, in order to adopt from Colombia, I need to obtain a homestudy from an ICBF-approved US agency. I am doubtful that this will be possible, given the superior reputation of the agency that just rejected me. I would appreciate any and all perspective and information I can receive. (Also, my Colombian friend (ex-), who retains connections in-country, is willing to do whatever it takes to help me, though since neither of us have adopted before we do not know what, if anything, that may be, especially since as a single male he cannot himself adopt).

Many thanks!

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Lucia Rojas says on Feb 20, 2006, 14:31:

Check out Kits mom post on adoption. They give you all the information step by step. Good Luck!!

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markandchariceholtsclaw says on Apr 3, 2006, 12:59:

Whta is Parent Initiated Adoption Mark Holtsclaw e-mail: mark.holtsclaw at us.army.mil

My name is Mark Holtsclaw, I was adopted from Colombia in 1974. My wife and I are wanting to adopt two siblings, but not sure how to go about it, or what the most cost effective way is. In help you can shed on the subject would be greatly appreciated, how we can save money in the process. We have been praying for Gods direction on this, just trying to see what this will cost in the end. Please use the email at the top to respond. Anything you can tell us about the process and associated costs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Mark Holtsclaw e-mail: mark.holtsclaw@us.army.mil

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Olgalu says on Apr 21, 2006, 08:44:

Interested in Parent Initiated Adoption Hello Kitsmom, Wow! you are really verse in this area. My husband and I have JUST started this process and are really clueless about the whole thing. I have a dual citizenship Colombian/American....born in the States to Colombian parents. My husband is American. I'm really overwhelmed by all the forms and procedures required. I understand why it's important, but had no idea. My parents live in Colombia and are working on their end to find out at much as possible. I would like to know who you used as an agency here in the states. I live in Texas. I have contacted 4 agencies so far...two were out of my area, one will not do the PIA and the last one might consider it, but the cost is roughly $6,000. Taking into account your posting on this issue, that didn't sound right to me. Also, I looked up the I600 requirements. I see they require fingerprinting. Is this separate from the FBI information you talked about? Any light you can shed would be helpful.

Olgalu

Olgalu

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mariasman says on Apr 21, 2006, 14:09:

Wow!!!!! Me and my wife are considering adoption also and the reason being is that for us to adopt here in Cali is free since she is a Colombiana. The other thing that really made us think was when we went to a recent party from her job, we met one of her friends that had adopted a beautiful little girl that was the sweetest thing that you have ever seen. She was so sweet and plyful and my wife and I both wanted to take her home with us. They actually helped this lady find a little girl that was similar to her looks, I guess to make it easier on the little girl. We have discussed many options as far as looks,gender and age but I really don't care. Our only worry was that someone in the family wouldn't treat the child as one of ours because we do have some ignorants in both mine and hers. I guess that I will have to lose my Mr. nice guy image if any of that stuff happens. Good luck with the adoption.

mariasman

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Olgalu says on Apr 21, 2006, 14:22:

Adoption in Cali Hi Mariasman,

Do you live in Cali? My parents live on the outskirts of Cali. That is where we plan to adopt as well.

Olgalu

Olgalu

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dosmilagros says on Apr 22, 2006, 08:46:

What happens if you are denied adoption by ICBF? We are in a very serious situation. We are in the process of adopting 2 children who we already know. Our dossier went to Colombia and was denied because we are both on medication for anxiety disorders. Our lawyer pleaded with ICBF, and they have agreed to consider more evidence of our mental stability, but they are telling us it will not be easy to convince them. The US embassy in Colombia told us that no one has ever been denied, and our lawyer has not had experience with this. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you!

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JohnAH says on Apr 22, 2006, 09:53:

Parent Initiated Adoption Group Mark,
I sent you and email after I saw your posting here. My wife and I are currently going through US requiremnts and gathering documents for the Colombian requirements for out Parent-Initiated adoption from Colombia.

My wife's parents are from Cali and are living in Cali right now. As we have already started and have contacted the lawyer in Bogota that Kitsmom worked with we would be happy to offer any info or help that we can.

There is also a Yahoo Group that is just focused on this exact topic and has a lot of great people and information. It's called "ColombiansAdoptColombians" and it is a fairly new group but we would love to have any Colombian family who is concidering adopting from Colombia or of course anyone who was adopted from Colombia.

Good luck!
John & Monica

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Olgalu says on Apr 26, 2006, 08:43:

Parent Initiated Adoption I just had an agency tell me that Colombia is not accepting parent-initiated adoptions. Can anyone confirm this? If it's untrue, please give me the name of an agency in the states (Texas preferably) that will accept this type of adoption.

Thanks

Olgalu

Olgalu

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Caribe says on Jun 15, 2006, 09:48:

HI Frank,

We are starting the adoption process and we are looking at Colombia. My husband lived in Medellín for 4 years and his brother for 28 years. For us there is a special connection with Colombia. I am interested in talking to your friend about her experiences.

Thanks!

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lawyerincolombia says on Jul 14, 2006, 09:05:

Lawyer in Cali Colombia I am a certified lawyer in Colombia. My name is Carlos Arturo Dorado and I can help to you about inmigration and legal problems in Colombia.
I am located in Cali Colombia.

Best regards:
Carlos Dorado
http://nicelatinladies.com/abogado.html

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Cartagenera says on Jul 14, 2006, 16:29:

Hi! Woman, you don't know how nice is it going to be to have a colombian child. As a colombian all I ask for him/her is that you never take away his identity, because after all, he carries colombian blood. Anyway, I'm sure you will give him/her the life he never had in here. Thank you for doing this, it's good to know about it!

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lawyer says on Aug 6, 2006, 12:05:

adpotion colombian attorney Well I decided to enjoy this community because i saw many legal question needing an answer.

I can give a brief response to some doubts but if you have further problems please contact me to my email : colombianlawyers2006 at yahoo.com

I usually work topics such as divorce in Colombia and US, Visas, work`s contract, TUTELAS,ADPOTION, PETITION RIGHTS and any kind of legal text.

I hope to be asked

Steve

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lawyer says on Aug 6, 2006, 12:06:

LAWYER Well I decided to enjoy this community because i saw many legal question needing an answer.

I can give a brief response to some doubts but if you have further problems please contact me to my email : colombianlawyers2006 at yahoo.com

I usually work topics such as divorce in Colombia and US, Visas, work`s contract, TUTELAS,ADPOTION, DIVORCES, PETITION RIGHTS and any kind of legal text.

I hope to be asked

Steve

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lawyer says on Aug 6, 2006, 12:07:

ADOPTION Well I decided to enjoy this community because i saw many legal question needing an answer.

I can give a brief response to some doubts but if you have further problems please contact me to my email : colombianlawyers2006 at yahoo.com

I usually work topics such as divorce in Colombia and US, Visas, work`s contract, TUTELAS, ADOPTION, PETITION RIGHTS and any kind of legal text.

I hope to be asked

Steve

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JohnAH says on Aug 9, 2006, 21:07:

Colombian Identity Cartagenera,
You are absolutely correct about keeping Colombia alive in the child that we adopt. Fortunately, my wife's family is Colombian and we are already in love with the culture and the country, so we will be able to offer the language, the music, the culture, and best of all travel back to Colombia!

But I do agree in general, that parents who adopt children from Colombia should take special care to preserve Colombia in the child. If only to give him or her a strong ethnic identity so that if some ignorant person insults their Colombian blood, the child will know that Colombia is beautiful place with wonderful people and the insult will not hurt them because they will know better.

Thank you for the kind words. My wife and I have recevied our approval from ICBF in Colombia for our adoption application so now we wait. We are so excited and can't wait until we return to Colombia, this time to be united with our child.

John

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cajares says on Jan 19, 2007, 16:38:

adoption John,
my husband and I are researching the process to adopt in colombia. he was born in Cali and still has dual citizenship.

is your adoption complete? did you use an agency or parent initiated adoption? how old was your child etc?

any info would be appreciated, thanks so much.
caren & carlos

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goin_south says on Jan 19, 2007, 20:54:

I am glad this thread reappeared. I am a bit older, and 'dis-connected' and my novia/fiancee has playfully suggested we have a child, after she arrives in the EEUU, even though she is on the far side of child-bearing age. But, between us, we have 5 siblings, 4 of which should be here and nearly grown (out of the house) in the next two or three years. So, rather than adding another soul to the population of the world, I would perhaps be more interested in adopting a Colombian child.

Es el año, 2007: "El Año de Los Santos!"

Why Not Colombia?..........Stay Tuned, for more.... utterly worthless, self-indulgent gobbets of nonsense.

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goin_south says on Jan 19, 2007, 21:44:

not really; I was just trying to be nice guy. Es el año, 2007: "El Año de Los Santos!"

Why Not Colombia?..........Stay Tuned, for more.... utterly worthless, self-indulgent gobbets of nonsense.

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JohnAH says on Jan 30, 2007, 20:32:

Parent Initiated Adoption Caren & Carlos,
I just responded to your Parent Initiated Adoption posting and then I decided to take a trip down memory lane and went to the end of this thread where I saw that you wrote me on the 20th. Better late then never right?
My wife and I received our daughter in Bogota this past middle of September and were in Bogota with her for nearly 2 months as we completed the adoption. Our time in Bogota was longer than normal because my wife had some work to do on her Dual Citizenship that would probably not be the case for your husband if he has kept his dual nationality.
Our daughter was 6 1/2 months old when we received her and has been completely healthy and her personality is simply amazing. We did adopt directly from ICBF through Parent Initiated adoption process and worked with a wonderful lawyer in Bogota who helped us so very much. We had our home study completed by an agency in our area who is certified by ICBF and we then arranged for the translations and submittion to ICBF through our lawyer there.

Just to give you an idea of the timeline:
* February 2006 - Began requesting necessary documents (Birth Certificates and such)
* March 2006 - Picked the agency
* First week of May 2006 - Began Home Study
* Last week of May 2006 - Sent Home Study to Immigration for Visa application (I-600a)
* Last week of July 2006 - Received approval for visa from Immigration
* Last week of July 2006 - Sent full Dossier to Bogota
* August 2006 - Approved by ICBF for a 0-12 month of boy or girl
* September 4th - Received the amazing news of our daughter
* Septermber 14th - We were in Bogota with our beautiful little girl in our arms!!!!!

So this can be a fast and wild ride before you know it you could have your little on in your arms. It is truley an amazing journey and my wife and I wouldn't change a single thing about how began our family. Our daughter has brought so much joy to us, our families, and pretty much everyone who glances her way.

I mentioned in my other post but I do suggest that you email me about joining our little Yahoo Group for Colombian families adopting from Colombia. They are all so amazingly helpful and will help you out in any way they can. If you read this thread, you can see that in end of April 2006, I suggested the group to a woman named Olga and she did join and this weekend, she and her husband are going to be flying home from Colombia with their new daughter.

Please email me directly and I will send you the link to join the yahoo group as well as our personal blog site where we journaled our adoption adventure, which does include many pictures and information on Parent Initiated Adoption.

Good luck to you both and I hope to hear from you.
John, Monica & Baby Gabriela

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neka says on May 22, 2007, 12:50:

Adoption Hello,

It's been one year since you posted this comment but I'm very curious about the outcome. My husband and I were also denied the adoption application in June of last year. I was very sad and decided to start a new process through Guatemala.
Could you tell me if the attorney finally got the approval on your process?

Thanks. My personal e-mail is fagua-neka at usa.net

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sarahmom23 says on Jul 18, 2007, 06:37:

To JohnAH and Parent Initiated Adoption Caren and others:
Two quick questions before hubby and I plunge into this adoption:
--If hubby is over 35 and I am under (he's 38), does that rule out the possibility of getting a child between one and 12 months old for us?
--Did I read somewhere in here that ICBF requires the last three tax returns?
Thanks for any help!! Sarah and Chris M., Pennsylvania

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sarahmom23 says on Jul 18, 2007, 06:39:

From Sarah and Chris M. again--forgot to leave our email address if someone wants to email us the above answers directly instead of posting on here....it is csmechler at yahoo.com Thanks!
(Also, clarification on our ages: I am 34 and husband is 38).

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JohnAH says on Aug 20, 2007, 13:47:

Sarah,
My name is John and I'm JohnAH on the PoorButHappy.com site and I just happened to look back and and old thread about Parent Initated Adoption in Colombia and you and sent me a message in July.

The age thing in Colombia is not set in stone and there are many other factors that play into it as well. We know several other couples with ages similar to yours who were able to adopt a child under a year old from Colombia. Do you already have any children? If you do, Colombia takes the birth order of the children very seriously and will make sure that your adopted child is correctly younger than any children already in your home (bio or adopted).

We only provided one year of tax returns to ICBF in 2006 so I the request for 3 years is more than they actually need.

We are nearing the 1 year anniversary of the day we received our beautiful daughter and my wife and I have just begun the paperwork to adopt again from Colombia. We had such an amazing experience and our daughter is incredible, honestly.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Thanks,
John

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happymom says on Oct 16, 2007, 13:55:

I can't believe the last entry in this site is August 20th! I am sure there are more questions to ask about adopting in Colombia, and helpful people like JohnAH and Kitsmom to help answer them.
Happymom

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happymom says on Oct 16, 2007, 14:38:

This message is for JohnAH: I can't find the Yahoo small group you talk about. Has it been formed already? The only one that I could find was "Colombian Connection." Is that the one?
happymom

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JohnAH says on Nov 16, 2007, 09:44:

Happymom,
I'm sorry that I don't check in with PoorButHappy enough any more with my new life as a father I don't seem to be online nearly as much anymore.

The Yahoo Group that we have is Private so you can't just search for it and find it. We have started to create an actual website though that has a link to sign up for the Yahoo Group. Please keep in mind that this group is for families where at least one parent is Colombian who are planning to adopt from Colombia or have adopted from Colombia. Of course Colombian adoptees are more than welcome as well. The group is called "Colombians Adopt Colombians". The other groups like Colombians Connection is great for American families discussing Colombian adoption in general but our group is focused on the special adoption processes available to Colombian families.

http://colombiansadoptcolombians.org/
Page with the sign up link: http://colombiansadoptcolombians.org/394.html

Good luck and I hope to see you in the group sometime soon.
John

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