American citizens are seeking to adopt children on a more frequent basis. With the reduction of children available in the United States, more and more adoptive parents have turned to other countries. International adoption is essentially a private legal matter between the adoptive parents looking to adopt and a foreign court. The adoption process then becomes a melding of US laws and regulations with laws and regulations of the foreign country. Because our Executive Director has over 30 years experience dealing with legal processes, Niños del Mundo will be able to seamlessly guide you through the legal maze that is the foundation of international adoptions. Once you make the decision to adopt internationally, you will be faced with what will seem to be an unending mountain of paper. All of this paper is the result of the requirements of the state in which you live, the federal government and the government of Guatemala. Niños del Mundo will assist you in identifying and completing all of the documents necessary for your adoption. The collection of documents that you will gather and complete is your Dossier. Once completed, your Dossier is forwarded to the Guatemalan officials to formally commence your adoption. The documents that comprise your Dossier have to be notarized as well as certified at the State level and by the Guatemalan Consulate. Niños del Mundo will guide you through this process while preparing your Dossier. Virtually every adoption, public or private, domestic or international, requires a pre-adoptive placement inquiry, usually called a Home Study. You are required to have a Home Study completed by an agency licensed to home studies for international adoptions. Niños del Mundo can assist you with locating a local agency to prepare your study. Many of the documents you will need for your Dossier are required for the Home Study. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Birth Certificate Marriage License Divorce Decree Tax Returns Medical Letter Reference Letters Financial Statement Employer Letter Police Clearance Power of Attorney State abuse Clearance There is no set format that agencies use to conduct home studies. They must, however, follow the regulations of your State, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS - formerly INS), and Guatemalan law. While the scope of the Home Study will seem personally invasive, the social worker conducting the study is really there to help. He or she will work with you to explain anything that seems out of the ordinary. They are more interested in helping you expand your family than point out individual shortcomings. While you are waiting for the Home Study to be completed, you will need to start the pre-adoption process with the USCIS. This is done by completing and filing the I-600A, Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. It is not necessary that you have any specific information concerning the adoption itself to file this form. Its' main purpose is to start the USCIS approval process allowing you to adopt and bring an orphan into the United States. This form is about you, not about the baby. When you file this form, the USCIS will collect a filing fee of $545.00 and a fingerprint fee of $70 for each adoptive parent. When this form is processed favorably to you, you will be issued an I-171H form, Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application of Advance Processing of Orphan Petition. This approval is necessary for you to continue with the adoption process. Fortunately, you do not have to remember all of this. Everything will be spelled out for you as you go along. Your Home Study provider will give you a list of required documents. The USCIS will give you a list also. Niños del Mundo will be there with you to make sense out of all the paper and to help properly prepare you Dossier for submittal to Guatemala.