Paperwork Part 1
A fun look at the paperwork involved in adopting from Bulgaria. These are the contracts to get started and the HOME STUDY ONLY. When the home study is complete, there is more paperwork to put together which becomes our dossier...the final product sent to Bulgaria.
*Disclaimer: This list is for OUR situation. If you are reading this to learn more about adoption, please keep in mind that each state, agency, country, and family may have different requirements. Most of these will apply to all adoptions, but not everything will. Also, Bulgaria requires fewer documents than many countries.
~Applications: We had to apply to 2 agencies...1 for adoption and 1 for home study. Each application was fairly involved...financials, background, medical information, etc.
~Contracts and agreements: We signed, and notarized, around 40 pages. These pages include everything from the legal contract to the payment agreement to grievance information. Bulgaria specific and AGCI specific information is included in this section of the paperwork.
~Residential History Form. Being military, ours were...complex.
~Confidentiality Agreement: We won't share any information about our precious children until they are finally, legally ours.
~Firearm Statement: We own a shotgun so we had to complete a form stating where we keep the gun and the ammo. They must be separate from each other and in a locked room/case/compartment, etc.
~Shaken Baby Syndrome Statement: Don't shake babies. Or kids. Or, really, adults.
~Emergency Preparedness Plan: What will do in case of basically any kind of emergency. I rolled my eyes and handed this one to Caleb to complete.
~Autobiographical Questionnaire: 35 questions about everything you think of...how we grew up, our parents and siblings, our education, our marriage, our parenting "philosophy" (is that something you're supposed to officially have?!), our resources for any issues we may face, etc. We will go over most of this information in the interview with the social worker.
~Birth certificates for all 4 of us
~Marriage license
~Driving records: From your state of residence, which for us is Florida.
~FBI fingerprint background check
~Virginia State Police Clearance, notarized
~State Child Abuse Clearance: From every state you have lived in. For us that includes MO, FL, WA, VA, TX, and CA as well as all of the overseas locations where Caleb has been for longer than 3 weeks. Thankfully, he has always been on a US military base so that wasn't difficult.
~Financial Statement of Monthly Income and Expenses
~Financial Statement of Total Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth
~Tax Return
~Pay Stubs
~Employment Verification Letter, notarized
~Medical Reports and TB tests for all 4 of us, notarized
~Pet License & Rabies Vaccination
~Car Insurance
~Guardianship Statement, notarized
~References from 6 non-family members
~Adoption Education: 14 hours of online classes with quizzes and homework and we read the book The Connected Child and completed a questionnaire.
*Disclaimer: This list is for OUR situation. If you are reading this to learn more about adoption, please keep in mind that each state, agency, country, and family may have different requirements. Most of these will apply to all adoptions, but not everything will. Also, Bulgaria requires fewer documents than many countries.
~Applications: We had to apply to 2 agencies...1 for adoption and 1 for home study. Each application was fairly involved...financials, background, medical information, etc.
~Contracts and agreements: We signed, and notarized, around 40 pages. These pages include everything from the legal contract to the payment agreement to grievance information. Bulgaria specific and AGCI specific information is included in this section of the paperwork.
~Residential History Form. Being military, ours were...complex.
~Confidentiality Agreement: We won't share any information about our precious children until they are finally, legally ours.
~Firearm Statement: We own a shotgun so we had to complete a form stating where we keep the gun and the ammo. They must be separate from each other and in a locked room/case/compartment, etc.
~Shaken Baby Syndrome Statement: Don't shake babies. Or kids. Or, really, adults.
~Emergency Preparedness Plan: What will do in case of basically any kind of emergency. I rolled my eyes and handed this one to Caleb to complete.
~Autobiographical Questionnaire: 35 questions about everything you think of...how we grew up, our parents and siblings, our education, our marriage, our parenting "philosophy" (is that something you're supposed to officially have?!), our resources for any issues we may face, etc. We will go over most of this information in the interview with the social worker.
~Birth certificates for all 4 of us
~Marriage license
~Driving records: From your state of residence, which for us is Florida.
~FBI fingerprint background check
~Virginia State Police Clearance, notarized
~State Child Abuse Clearance: From every state you have lived in. For us that includes MO, FL, WA, VA, TX, and CA as well as all of the overseas locations where Caleb has been for longer than 3 weeks. Thankfully, he has always been on a US military base so that wasn't difficult.
~Financial Statement of Monthly Income and Expenses
~Financial Statement of Total Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth
~Tax Return
~Pay Stubs
~Employment Verification Letter, notarized
~Medical Reports and TB tests for all 4 of us, notarized
~Pet License & Rabies Vaccination
~Car Insurance
~Guardianship Statement, notarized
~References from 6 non-family members
~Adoption Education: 14 hours of online classes with quizzes and homework and we read the book The Connected Child and completed a questionnaire.
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