Preliminary Process
When you have reviewed the policies and requirements, and feel like you meet these qualifications, you will complete and return to Lifeline the Doctrinal Statement and Christian Questionnaire (located on the forms page). You will then be sent an application or you can access the application online.* *Please note: You must identify a waiting child that you are interested in adopting on the Lifeline website prior to formally applying to the Lifeline Taiwan program.Fill out the application and return this application to Lifeline with the $250.00 application fee. This fee covers the costs associated with opening and maintaining your adoption file, as well as retaining the services of our international consultant. Please see the fee schedule for a breakdown of estimated expenses. This application fee is not refundable once the home study portion of the adoption process has begun. You will be contacted by the Lifeline office once the application and application fee have been completed and received.
Pre-Approval/Acceptance for a Particular Waiting Child
The Taiwan Program is a waiting child program and there is certain documentation (a previously completed home study is quite helpful) that will need to be submitted to Cathwel Services to be accepted for a particular child prior to beginning the home study process. Upon being accepted by Lifeline through the application to Lifeline process we can help you gather the necessary items to submit to Cathwel Services to be considered and possibly selected to adopt a particular child listed with Lifeline. If more than one family has submitted documentation for a particular child Cathwel Services will meet to determine the best possible match for a particular child. Lifeline will not submit more than one family for a particular child at a given time but there may be other agencies that have submitted a family for acceptance. Although this is not often the case it can potentially happen and this is when Cathwel will meet to determine the best match for the child. Cathwel will most likely attempt to locate the birthmother so that she can she give her approval to the match. Cathwel Services will seek to determine and locate any remaining family members of the child and have their agreement to the adoption – although this process was also completed prior to the child being made available for international adoption as well. This will help the court process to potentially run more smoothly when the adoption moves into the court proceedings. This pre-approval process for a family can be as completed as quickly as one week or it may take up to a month. Lifeline will then get the notification that you may proceed to adopt that particular child or children and Cathwel Services will forward the Adoption Placement Agreement. This agreement allows for the legal documents to be drafted by Cathwel.
Adoptive Home Study and Dossier Preparation
The Waiting Child Program is unique in that you are completing your initial dossier as well as the referral dossier simultaneously. You will also be completing the home study and CIS paperwork. Cathwel will send to Lifeline the referral dossier that will be specific legal documents drafted for your particular adoption and the child you are adopting. You will be guided through this process by Lifeline. Upon your acceptance for the child you desire to adopt, not only will you be sent the legal documents from Taiwan, but you will also receive the Dossier preparation packet and other miscellaneous adoption paperwork. You will be instructed to begin the home study process. Depending on your state of residence you will begin the home study process with a social worker from Lifeline or you will begin the process with an agency that meets the requirements for the preparation of a home study for a Convention Country. If you are not from Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, or Washington State please be sure to have your home study agency approved by Lifeline. There is documentation that needs to be completed between Lifeline and the agency preparing your home study. A part of the Dossier preparation will be the I600A Form. This form is part of the process to allow you to be found eligible to adopt by the U.S. Government, Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. You will need your approved home study as part of the I600A process. Many of the dossier documents for the initial dossier as well as the referral dossier may be copies of originals, notarized and certified by your Secretary of State. There are also some documents that will need to be original documents and this will be explained in the Taiwan Manual when you are working through your dossier process. Once you gather your dossier, you will provide the dossier to the Lifeline office. It is at this point that the dossier will be reviewed. If all the documents are correct and the dossier is complete then Lifeline will have your documents sent to the TECO (Taipei Economic and Cultural Office) that services your state of residence. Certain documents will need the TECO seal prior to being sent to Taiwan. Your dossier will be reviewed by Cathwel and any documents that need translation will be translated at this point in time. You will also be instructed to either wire the fee or send a cashier’s check for the Taiwan fee. Your documents will now enter the court process. There is a hearing that is held 1-3 months after the filing of the court papers. The first ruling is usually 1-3 months after the hearing. There is a 10-day waiting period after this first ruling where each party is notified that the judge intends to approve the adoption. The final ruling is then issued 2-6 weeks after the first ruling but could be anytime after the 10 day waiting period notification. When the judge signs the adoption papers and finalizes the adoption and issues the final ruling notification will be received by our office and the court process is complete!
Travel
Travel is often 2-3 weeks after the final ruling. Cathwel will send notice of the dates upon which you may travel to pick up your child. Lifeline through Cathwel will proceed with obtaining a medical clearance for your child and also with obtaining a new passport for your child. This referral process is usually about 4 – 6 months and you may travel usually within 4 – 6 months after you first receive your referral. The entire adoption is nearly complete before you travel. The final court decree is not issued until you come to pick up your child and therefore your child may return home on the IR3 Visa (as long as both parents travel to pick up the child). When you travel to Taiwan you will pick your child up at the orphanage. You may have the opportunity to meet with the birthmother. You will have a scheduled appointment at the AIT (American Institute in Taiwan – U.S. Embassy in Taiwan) Office. We will work with Cathwel to secure the time and date of your appointment at the AIT office. You will need to be in Taiwan approximately 4 – 7 days to complete the adoption process and receive your VISA for your child. The orphanage is directly in Taipei and the AIT Office is also in Taipei so this makes for an easier travel schedule for the parents and child.
Post-Placement Reports
Once you return from Taiwan you will need to contact your social worker about setting up post-placement meetings. Four post placement reports are required after your child is adopted. Reports are due at the following times during the first year and must be done by a social worker: 1 month, 4 months, 8 months, and the final report due at 12 months. Many Taiwan adoptions have post-placement requirements way beyond the first year. These reports are not done by a social worker and may be completed by the adoptive parents and sent to the Taiwan team to forward to Taiwan. These reports may be required for 14 – 18 years and will require photos to be sent. This requirement will be stipulated in the first document you receive as a part of the referral (the adoption placement agreement).
Finalization/Citizenship
For Taiwan, the adoptions are finalized in Taiwan. If both of you traveled to spend time with the child prior to the adoption, the child automatically becomes a US citizen upon arrival on US soil. In this case IR-3 immigrant visa is issued to your child. (In this case you will receive the COC or Certificate of Citizenship within a few weeks of arriving in the U.S.). If both of you did not travel to pick up your child an IR-4 visa is issued to your child. You will need to finalize/readopt the child here in the U.S. and at that point your child will be an automatic citizen. At that time it is highly encouraged, although not mandatory, that you apply for proof of your child’s citizenship by using the N600 form available from USCIS.
For more information or questions regarding our program in Taiwan, you can email Logan Gibbons orAnnie Hamlin.
