Ukraine Program

I am pleased to be Children's House International's representative and their Ukraine program coordinator. As the family's representative, I travel to Ukraine annually to meet with our facilitators and observe the adoption process so that I may provide an accurate description to interested families. My role is to oversee and assist with the necessary paperwork for the Ukraine dossier (documents), the USCIS (immigration) process, home study preparation, interfacing with our Ukraine facilitator, in country travel and finalization of the adoption.

Ukraine is an Eastern European and former Soviet Union country. It is bordered by Russia on the east, the Black Sea on the south, Belarus on the north, and the countries of Romania, Hungary and Poland on the west . Ukraine voted for its independent status on December 1st, 1991, and the U.S. recognized its independence on December 25th of the same year. Over the past decade, the Ukraine has struggled with its new status. Some residents look back at the Soviet rule as more stable although poor, so their transition is not completely supported by all of it citizens. Ukraine's capital, Kiev, has over 3 million inhabitants.

Ukraine was open to international adoptions from 1997 to 2005. They closed temporarily due mainly to post placement reports from families that were not submitted as per requirements in Ukraine and have reopened as of 2007.

Ukrainian Government Requirements:

• Married couples; no specific age limit
• Average of 4-5 week stay in country
• Must have an approved home study
• I-600A USCIS approval/immigration approval from country of citizenship if other than U.S.
• List of documents (i.e., dossier) will be provided upon entering the program