Written by Tina Hazelip

Since the last newsletter, we have experienced a few changes in the Russia program. The most significant change was the length of time children are to be on the State Databank. Children must remain on the State Databank for an eight month period before being available for international adoption. This increase of time on the State Databank was implemented into law on January 10, 2005. Previously, children had to be on the State Databank for 6 months.

An email explaining the changes was recently sent to all families who are currently preparing their dossier documentation. This change is the result of a new requirement that all information must now be complete for each document before it is signed. This means that some documents cannot be completed until after returning from the first trip so information such as the child's Russian name and the region can be included in the documentation. The number of dossier documents and the content of the dossier has not changed, only the timing for submission of certain dossier documents changed. For families whose dossier is already registered in Russia, if there are any documents to be updated, your Russia coordinator will notify you directly. For adopting parents working on their dossier, we have divided the dossier; now we have Dossier One and Dossier Two.

With the continued decrease in value of the U.S. dollar in foreign markets, we were faced with another increase in our international and domestic Russian travel fees. We will work to not have this increase affect anyone who has already completed their first trip, though depending on the region, the increase may affect your second trip invoice. We hope the U.S. dollar stabilizes against the Ruble; however, anyone in process who has not completed their first trip will be subject to this increase. Effective January 1, 2005, the Russia program international and domestic travel fees will have an increase of approximately 14.5% for first and second trip invoices. Since every invoice varies a little depending on the region, whether single or married, and whether adopting one child or two children (siblings or twins), the 14.5% translates anywhere from approximately $800 to $1,400 per trip. The first and second trip invoices are forwarded to adopting families only after receiving confirmed travel dates for their first trip or second trip. In addition to the increase due to the U.S. dollar devaluation, the dossier translation and notarization fee also increased from $975 to $1,160. This increase in fee is due to the increased cost of notarization in Russia.

We would like to thank our families for their prompt attention to their post placement reports and photographs!! As a reminder, please be sure to have your post placement reports and photographs (10 to 12) submitted to FTIA at least one month prior to your anniversary date/court date. If you have any questions as to when your post placement report is due, please be sure to contact the Russia team.

Though there have been changes in Russia, we continue to have several families in various stages in the process (waiting for first and second trip travel dates and those who are in the process of completing the necessary documentation for their dossier). We are also pleased to report that we continue to have families travel for first and second trips. For those families who are waiting, please know we are here and continually advocating on behalf of our adoptive families and the children we serve.

Please be sure to visit the Hot News section of FTIA's website as we are posting regular updates to families due to the changes in Russia. Should you have any questions about FTIA's Russia program, please don't hesitate to contact the Russia team.

TOP