Projected Timeline for Our Adoption

This is a projected timeline of the major events in our adoption process. Since adoptions from Vietnam just reopened earlier this year, the time periods under the new system are difficult to predict with precision, but based on our agency's current projections, we expect these major events to occur within the approximate ranges of time outlined below:

November 2006:
Complete home study (social worker's report certifying that we are fit to be adoptive parents).

December 2006 or January 2007:
Receive I 171H (approval from the U.S. government to adopt a foreign-born child). Upon receipt of the I 171H, we will be placed on our agency's waiting list to receive a referral of a child from Vietnam.

January 2007:
Begin the wait for a referral. The wait for a referral of an infant boy is currently expected to be 7 to 12 months. Toward the end of this period, our agency will notify us to complete our dossier (collection of official documents, such as our marriage certificate, home study report, and letter of commitment, which are translated and authenticated for review by the Vietnamese government).

Sometime between August 2007 and February 2008:
Receive referral. (This will include photographs of the child with whom we are matched, along with a medical report, which we will have the opportunity to review with a doctor before accepting the referral.) It will then be another 4-5 months until we travel.

Sometime between January 2008 and July 2008:
Travel to Vietnam for 2-3 weeks to complete the adoption and bring our child home! Our child will become a citizen upon landing in the U.S.