If you are new to the adoption world and planning on adopting internationally, you may have wondered what the heck a dossier is. I remember with our first adoption that I had excitedly joined an adoption email group and announced that we had officially started the adoption process by sending in our application to the agency to start our homestudy. I got an email back from another adoptive parent asking if we had sent in our dossier yet and I was thinking, “My what??” Since I had no idea what it was, I was pretty sure I had not sent it in yet.

Your dossier is all of your paperwork that needs to go your placement agency and then on to the country you are adopting from. The paperwork required will depend on the country that you are adopting from and the agency that you are using. Each country and agency sets their own requirements on the paperwork they want. Some countries require many more documents than others.

In general (please note that these vary widely) you will need copies of your official state birth certificates (you can order at Vital Check), a copy of your marriage license (if married), copies of any divorce decrees, letters verifying employment, medical letters from your doctor, police clearances from your local police and others. Most often documents need to be at least notarized, and sometimes they must be apostilled or state certified as well. Depending on the program, your dossier may also need to be translated and authenticated at an Embassy.

The list of documents that you will need may seem overwhelming, but remember how many other adoptive parents have gotten them together. Take it one or two things at a time and you will get it done too.

While it is not wise to start preparing your dossier documents before you get specific instructions from your placing agency (many agencies have form letters that they want you to use and specific ways that they want things worded) there are some things that you can get started in advance. I recommend:

-Ordering two copies of your birth certificate(s) and marriage license (if applicable) from Vital Check (you will most likely need these for your homestudy as well).
-Getting your passport(s) if you do not already have one. A new passport can take 6-8 weeks so it is wise to start this process early. If you already have a passport, check the expiration date.
-Make two originals of everything you do for your homestudy paperwork. If you don’t have specific dossier instructions when you are doing your homestudy, get two originals of everything done. It is easy to get two of something the first time than going back for a second, and oftentimes what is needed for a homestudy is also needed for your dossier. Sometimes what you had done for your homestudy won’t be right for the dossier, but sometimes it will be good enough and you will have saved yourself some running around. It never hurts to have a backup.
-Find a notary that you can use for free or for cheap. Many banks, town offices, hospitals, etc. have notaries that will gladly notarize documents for you free of charge.

My next post will be on how to get your dossier done quickly and effectively.