Adoptive families must meet the requirements set by Taiwan officials in order to adopt.

• Must be between 25 and 55 years old.
• Married couple only. One divorce is allowed by each adopting parent.
• Must be in good physical and emotional health MAY NOT BE TAKING ANTI-DEPRESSANTS.
• Must be financially stable.
• Cannot have more than 2 children currently living in the home. Exceptions can be made for special needs children or over the age of 5.

Once a prospective adoptive family has been approved and assigned a child, the adoption process can begin. Following is the overview of the Taiwan adoption process:

• An Adoptive family commits to the child and the home study is sent to Taiwan for approval.
• The orphanage director approves the family and if birth parents are known the home study then is presented to the biological family for approval. If the case is under the county’s custody, the county will take at least 4 weeks to review the home study and approve the case. Once the approval is given by all parties, the child is pre-assigned to the prospective adoptive family.  This pre-approval process can take 4-8 weeks to complete.
• The prospective adoptive family will sign the adoption agreement and the Power of Attorney in order to appoint the orphanage director as the person who will represent the adoptive family in the adoption proceedings. The adoption agreement and power of attorney will need to be authenticated.
• The family will then file the I-600A with USCIS and begin to gather the dossier documents.
• After the family receives the UCSIS I-600A approval, the adoption agreement, and the special Power of Attorney, the I-600 must be filed. The I-600 pre-approval takes about 6 weeks.
• While the family is waiting for this pre-approval, they can get all the required (14) documents authenticated.
• Once authentication of documents is completed, the dossier may be sent to Taiwan. Government and orphanage fees must be paid at time of dossier submission.
• When the AIT letter arrives it can be scanned and sent to Taiwan to be put in the dossier. The AIT letter arrives about 2 weeks after the I-600 pre-approval.
• Once the dossier arrives in Taiwan, the dossier will be translated and reviewed. This takes about 4 weeks.
• The translated dossier will be given to the Taiwanese court. The orphanage will schedule a court date roughly about 2 ½ months out.  During this time, you will be allowed to interact with the child via Skype.  Skype sessions will be conducted by Chung Yi.
• After the initial court hearing, it will take two to three months for final ruling.
• Once the adoption is finalized, Chung Yi will schedule and give the travel date, which is usually 6 weeks after finalization.
• The family returns to the U.S. with their child.
• Post Placement visits – there are 7 post placement reports due. These post adoption reports are due 3, 6 and 12 months after the child comes to the U.S. , and then annually for the next 4 years.

Yes, in order to apply for a specific child, a copy of the prospective adoptive family’s home study will be sent to the director of the orphanage in Taiwan. The director will read the home study and if she feels the family is qualified to adopt she will assign the child to them. The adoption process can begin only after the orphanage director approves the prospective family’s home study.

What if we submit a home study to the orphanage and we are turned down.

There is no reason a family would be turned down unless there are multiple families applying to adopt this child. If you choose a child and find that there were multiple families who had applied for this child and you were not chosen, you can apply for another child that fits with your family circumstances. Your home study is valid for 18 months which gives prospective adoptive parents time to find another suitable child.

You can adopt one child at a time from Taiwan but only one adoption can be completed at the same time.  Once you have completed the adoption of a child, you must apply again to adopt a second child.

At least one parent must travel to Taiwan to pick up the adopted child. However, because the trip to Taiwan is short and adoptive parents only are in the country for one week, usually both parents choose to travel. If only one parent can travel, the child will be issued an IR-4 visa which means the adoptive parents must readopt the child and then apply with USCIS in order to obtain U.S. citizenship for their child upon return to the U.S

Fees

Maintenance and Oversight Fee:  The Federal accrediting agency requires that all adoptive parents pay a $850 per child maintenance and oversight fee.  This fee is due with the signed contracts.  If you decide to adopt more than one child after initial application, you will be billed at the time you accept a second referral.   This fee is paid to the Federal accrediting entity monthly and is non-refundable.

ItemCostApplication Fee$500Program Fee$5500Translation of Home Study$1000Home Study (Utah Clients)$1400Home Study (Out of State)Varies from State to StateHome Study Review(Non Utah Clients)$150Placement Fee$2,500Post Adoption Report Fee$1,200 Utah Clients $1,000 Non-Utah ClientsTaiwan government Fees$1,000Orphanage Donation$7,000-$11,000Child’s Medical Exam$150Child’s U.S. Visa$404Taiwan Coordinator Fee$800Taiwan Guide Fee$900Airfare and accommodations in Taiwan$5,000 Per CoupleIn-Country Travel$~550USCIS Paperwork$775 + $85 per personAuthentication of Documents$350 to $450FedEx Fees$~300Courier Fees – Authentication of documents$˜200

County Fees are never to be considered a stable or set fee as it is not determined nor in the control of WIA.  WIA  makes every effort to stay current as to fees but third party and country fees may change without notice or reason.

*These fees are required by the agency, Wasatch International Adoptions.
**These fees are required by the foreign country.
***These fees may vary from dossier to dossier depending on the number of documents (for example a single person’s dossier will be smaller than a married couple’s dossier). Expenses also may vary depending on when you travel, where you travel in country, and where you stay.  Country Fees are never to be considered a stable or set fee as it is not determined nor in the control of WIA.  WIA makes every effort to stay current as to fees but third party and country fees may change without notice or reason.

**Note: Upon request, WIA will disclose the following: Service policy Contracts, the number of adoption placements per year for the prior 3 calendar years, the number of placements that remain intact, the number of families who apply to adopt each year, and the number of waiting children eligible for adoption. To obtain this information please call our office.