Getting Started
Contact us and we will send the ICF International Adoption Agreement, country program guides or our ABC Infant Adoption domestic program guide by email. The program guides contain fee information and adoption-related cost estimates. ICF takes pride in providing affordable adoption service fees and we welcome your questions.
We can also send references from families who adopted through ICF and ABC Adoption. Whenever you have any questions, just call or email. We welcome your questions and are happy to help you understand more about adoption in general and about agency services.
Phoenix 480 751-1015
Tucson 520 531-9931
Toll Free 877 542-8813
The ICF agency application form includes our refund, grievance and other policy information and the “adoptive parents bill of rights.” (These may also be located on the Planning & Policies page on this website.) The application also requests information about you required by state regulations, the Hague Convention or by foreign countries. It is designed to help us help you and is confidential.
• Download ICF Application
• Download ICF Home Study Agreement
Please mail your application and $300 application fee to us at:
International Child Foundation
11449 N. Mandarin Lane
Tucson, AZ 85737
We also encourage you to review our International Adoption Services agreement or the ABC Infant Adoption agreement, if you are considering domestic adoption; we will send these by email for your review.
If you are an Arizona resident, we can provide home study services. If you live in another state, we can refer you to home study providers.
Special note: If International Child Foundation is preparing your home study and providing adoption services, the application fee is paid only once.
Overview of Adoption Steps
- Call us for a phone consultation. We can orient you to the adoption process, explains the risks, your rights as an adoptive parents and answer your questions. If we cannot provide a particular country or program as an appropriate match for your family, we may be able to recommend other agencies as potential resources.
- Start your home study as soon as your have decided on your country and your adoption services provider. Note: The home study is a separate process than the adoption and families often use one agency as a home study provider and another agency to provide the actual adoption services.
- When your home study is complete you may apply to USCIS via the I-600a form for non-Hague adoptions or via the I-800a form for Hague Convention adoptions.
- Prepare your dossier documents.
- Wait for your referral from the foreign country.
- Generally familes visit the foreign country to meet their child referral and may be required to travel twice or even three times. For example, once to meet the child and formalize acceptance of their referral, then a second trip to be present at court, and then a third trip to bring their child home. Some countries require only one trip; others may require two or three. Some countries will permit children to travel home escorted rather than having the parents travel for another trip, but some do not allow this.
- The final step is a meeting at the US Embassy with your child, prior to being granted the child’s visa to travel to the US.
- Arrive in the US and, if your child is traveling on an IR-3 visa then he or she an automatically a citizen upon arrival in the US. If your child is traveling on an IR-4 visa, then you are required to “re-adopt” or “finalize your adoption” in your state of residence.
- Post placement reports (also called post adoption reports) are due at intervals for one to eighteen years after the adoption. This is a MANDATORY LEGAL requirement that families must commit to in writing before they adopt. It is essential for the future of international adoption that post placement reports are submitted on time.
USCIS Forms & Adoption Info
For detailed information on international adoption, countries open for adoption and the Hague Convention, please visit the US Dept of State at www.adoption.state.gov
For forms needed by USCIS for international adoption, visit the US Dept of State at http://adoption.state.gov/adoption_process.php
Please, never hesitate to contact your home study and/or adoption agency whenever you have questions. If you suspect your child is having any developmental or psychological issues, CALL. It is better to get help earlier than later, for both your child and your family.
We recommend making a reading list and looking into adoption courses or seminars. For a complete offering of adoption-related books, visit www.tapestry.com. Learn more about adoption. Please contact us if you would like to talk to other adoptive families about their experiences.
Note regarding your Passport
If you don’t have a valid passport, apply as soon as possible after starting the adoption paperwork. If your name changed since your passport was originally issued it must be updated. See http://travel.state.gov/passport.
Additional assistance with passports is available at www.vitalrec.com.
Child Citizenship Act
The US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS) streamlined the production of Certificates for Citizenship for certain children adopted abroad. Newly entering IR-3 children are automatically US citizens when they arrive. These children will receive Certificates of Citizenship within 45 days of their arrival, instead of receiving a Permanent Resident Card and then filing the N-600, as was the former procedure. Children entering the US on IR-4 visas, however, with guardians, become US citizens only upon adoption in the US.
Adoption Tax Credit
The adoption tax credit is over $13,000! Please contact your tax consultant for more information.
