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Vietnam local time:
What's the first step?
 Opening your heart. This process will change your life and the life of a child forever and it is important to understand the gravity of this commitment. If you are sure that you can give the love and support needed, you begin the process by identifying a homestudy agency in your state. Your homestudy must be completed by a licensed homestudy agency in your state. The next step is to send in your application/questionnaire with your first set of fees to Faith International Adoptions (FIA). The fees are listed on the fee schedule in your initial information packet. This fee allows FIA to begin processing your documents with the appropriate state and fully authenticate your dossier with the Vietnamese Consulate. During your homestudy process you will want to begin gathering your dossier documents and sending them into FIA, as they are completed. A complete list of dossier documents can be found in the Vietnam information packet under dossier guidelines/documents.
Are there age restrictions?
 Adoptive applicants must be at least 25 years old. The average age of the babies are 3-10 months at time of referral. Applicants over 50 should be prepared for an older child referral. While this is the "rule" it is very common for applicants 50 and over to be matched with an infant.
How long does the paperwork process take?
 Depending upon your motivation to complete the paperwork and the current efficiency of USCIS, anticipate that your dossier will be ready to send to Vietnam 2-3 months following your initial application.
How long before we get a picture?
We fully expect the referral process to take 8-14 months from the time your dossier arrives in Vietnam. The wait time for a boy is typically shorter, approximately 7-10 months. Whereas the wait time for a girl ranges from 11-14 months. Traditionally, this wait can speed up or slow down, but it is better to anticipate the long end in order to avoid disappointment. Timeframes are fluid and can change from month to month. FIA sends out monthly updates which always include the most recent timeframes we are experiencing.
What will we know about the health of the child?
 When your referral arrives at our office, we will let you know immediately! Often times the first piece of information we receive is a cursory medical report and photograph of the child. At minimum you will receive blood test results for HIV, Hep B and Hep C. Other medical information may be included, but not required. It is not uncommon to receive information which indicate a maternal antibody for Hep B or Hep C. What this test result most often means is the child does not have the actual virus, rather the child's biological mother had the virus and the child has only an antibody from his/her birth mother. In these cases the child is taken for a re-test 3 months after the initial testing. Most of the results of the second test is negative, indicating the child did not have the actual virus. Overall, the children from Vietnam are healthy and if you are requesting a health child, you will be matched with a healthy referral.
When will we travel, and how is that coordinated?
 Families will travel anywhere from 1-6 months after accepting their referral. Wait times from referral to travel largely depend on the province were the child is residing. Faith International Adoptions makes all travel arrangements from the U.S. to Vietnam as well as coordinate all travel within Vietnam.
How much will the adoption cost?
Interested families should call us with questions about costs.
go to Vietnam Home page |
John,
She is everything that we could have ever hoped for. Without Faith International our dreams would never have come true.
Ron and Tina Sturgill
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| Faith International Adoptions • 535 E Dock Street #103 • Tacoma • WA • 98402 • Phone: 253.383.1928 • Fax: 253.572.6662 •faith@faithadopt.org• |
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