China
Guatemala
Russia
Vietnam
Brazil
India
EthiopiaRussia requires all adopting parents travel for the second trip which includes the adoption hearing or court session. If necessary, one adopting parent of a married couple can return to the U.S. after the court session.
Although Russian adoption law does not require both parents travel on the first trip - FTIA requires both husband and wife travel on the first trip. It is during your first trip that you meet your child and make the decision on a referral. It is an extremely exhausting and usually emotional trip. It is an event that should be experienced together and a decision that should be made together.
Many reading this information may be dreading the thought of travel, but most of you will eventually consider your trips to Russia some of the highlights of your life. Please check with our references, and you'll see what we mean.
With very few exceptions, our families travel to Russia by themselves. FTIA arranges every aspect of your travel and itinerary from the time you leave the U.S. until you return home. From the time you land in Russia until you board your jet homeward bound, you are with one of our Russia staff or a contracted service provider.
Russia is a very large country, so travel will vary significantly across the country. In most areas, we have our families stay with host families. Our host families are used to catering to American families traveling for adoption. The benefit of staying with host families is the opportunity of getting a picture of the culture that you can't get from a hotel room. However, if a family prefers, we can make arrangements in a hotel.
On both trips, most families will fly into Moscow and stay a night or two before flying to a provincial capital. After the first trip, families will have an overnight stay in Moscow prior to returning to the U.S. After departing the region on the second trip, there are a few days for the paperwork to be completed. Then, families return to Moscow and to the U.S. Embassy for the final overseas paperwork.
After we receive your completed dossier, we will send you a list of items to pack and other useful information for your trip.
Our FTIA staff and coordinator's staff will:
Go to our main travel webpage to see a list of travel links for Russia.
