I am going to start trying to write everything I learned while doing our dossier in hopes that it will help others do theirs faster!
We are with New Life Link so I will be going off of his check list from the website.
1. Find a social worker that can do your home study and that knows what Haiti wants included in the report. We used one from Dallas and I loved her! She was about $800 total including travel fee. We paid for her airline ticket here.
2. Find a notary that is willing to travel with you as everything you send needs to by notarized. It should not be a family member. We were lucky enough to have a friend of a friend do all of our documents and she didn't charge us anything. That saved a lot of time and money! Also, make sure that their stamp does not expire within the next 18 months. That is very important! You can notarize after the fact by adding the following statement.....
This is a true, exact, and complete copy of the original document.
Then sign that statement in front of the notary!
We did not do this but I have read where other people have and it's been fine.
3. Start getting ORIGINAL copies of your birth certificates and your marriage of certificate. Also, if you are divorced you will need a copy of the divorce decree.
4. Letter of Employment- This letter needs to state when you started, your position and your salary. It would be good to include any bonuses you may receive or any raise you may see in the next year. Make sure it is signed by your boss and notarized with that date. It needs to include whether you have medical insurance and whether the child will be covered immediately.
5. Police Clearance- Here is a sample one that I found that some others have used. Our police chief actually wrote his own letter for us. They notarized it there for us so that was easy!
Date
Your last name, first, middle and DL #
Your Current address
To Whom It May Concern:
Please be advised that the above-mentioned individual has no record of ever being arrested, or in any other way handled by this department.
If any additional information is needed, please don't hesitate to call or write.
Thank you,
Signature of Staff Member
Typed name of Staff Member
Department of Staff Member (In our case she wrote Records)
Don't forget to have them notarize it! They should have a notary there on site.
6. Power of Attorney to Dr. Bernard.
We used this one that another adoptive family had used.....here is a copy!
SPECIAL POWER OF ATTORNEY
We, (your names here) do make, constitute and appoint (name your orphanage wants you to give power of attorney to here) our true and lawful Attorney-in-fact with full authority to act and in our behalf as follows:
To obtain all documents, items and things which are necessary and to take any and all action which is required to issue an immigrant visa and adopt orphans according to the laws of Haiti and the United States of America, State of (your state here).
We hereby give and grant unto our Attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform all and every act and things whatsoever required and necessary to be done and accomplish the above stated purposes, as fully we might or could do if we were personally present, and we hereby ratify and confirm all that said Attorney-in-fact shall lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue of this power.
No third party shall have any duty to inquire into the authority of our Attorney-in-Fact to take any action as set forth herein. We hereby release any and all persons for actions taken in compliance with and in reliance on directions of our Attorney-in-Fact.
It is intended that this special power of attorney shall continue to be effective until such time as care, custody and property of said orphans is transferred from my Attorney-in-Fact to us.
SIGNED___________________________________________________________________________
(If adoptive parents are married both sign on the line above, don't forget to wait to sign until in front of a notary)
7. 8- Passport pictures each. We did ours at Walgreen's in one hour and they were about $65.
8. Last three months of bank statements. These don't have to be notarized!
9. Last three years of tax returns. These don't have to be notarized either!
10. Two letter from personal references. These have to be notarized!
11. A letter of reference from your church. Dr. Bernard doesn't allow you to adopt from him if you aren't a Christian and part of a church. This letter must be notarized.
12. Letter from your bank addressing the standing of your account(s), how long you have had the account(s), and the balance. The bank manager or assistant manager must sign and notarize this letter. This was very difficult for me to get from Bank of America but I had a friend that got the typical form letter and the bank manager signed and notarized it for him. My branch would NOT do that for me so I had to get what was called an apostle letter from them. This was my biggest hurdle and made me wish I was part of a small credit union where it was more personal and friendly! Bank of America was not Adoption friendly at all!!!! (at least my branch wasn't.....)
13. Health certificate and detailed test results for HIV, TB, and Syphilis for each parent. (A one-page letter addressing your health status, lab results, and ability to parent an adopted child; doctor’s signature must be notarized)
Here is a sample of the one we used!
Date
RE: Your name here
DOB: Your date of birth here
To Whom It May Concern,
(Your name here) has been a patient of mine here since __________. She has recently come in for a complete exam. I found no physical abnormalities. She had a negative PPD. She also had a negative HIV screen as well as a negative syphilis blood test. I see no physical or emotional reasons for her not to be an adoptive parent.
Please contact me with any other questions.
Sincerely,
Your DR.'s signature here
Doctors name, MD
Name of Clinic or Hospital
14. Psych Evaluation- We went to a psychologist that my husband had went to when he got on with the PD. We met with him together for about 30 minutes and just talked about adoption. We had just written up a letter that said he believed we were fit to adopt. He signed it and had a notary there to notarize it for us.
I have heard others that have had to take extensive tests. This cost us about $150-200. I have heard others have spend as much as $1000. Just check around until you find one you can afford but that is good!
15. Form G-28....all we were able to do is fill out our names and address and sign it. I think Dr. Bernard does the rest. We did have it notarized.
16. Letter to IBESR- This letter just told about us and our family and why we want to adopt from Haiti. We told about Marc's job and mine, which I am a stay at home mom. We told about our church. We also included what we see in Vensly and our other children's future and how we plan to raise them. Whatever you feel like IBESR should know about your family should be included!
17. I-600A approval- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE THIS APPROVAL BEFORE SENDING YOUR DOSSIER BUT I WOULD GET IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN JUST IN CASE THINGS SPEED UP. YOU WOULDN'T WANT IT HOLDING YOU BACK FROM TAKING YOUR CHILD HOME!
Now your dossier is complete and you are ready to send it to your Secretary of State for authentication!
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