International Adoption: Forever Families Through Little Miracles International Adoptions

Kazakhstan Adoption Program

last updated: 10/28/12

Announcement May 2, 2012:
Little Miracles is pleased and overjoyed to announce our Accreditation in Kazakhstan! For all of you waiting we will be updating the website and will be taking applications for this program immediately.

All of the rules, laws, fees, parent criteria, child criteria, travel etc. will change. The new program is developed under the Hague.

Information Teleconference
We are pleased to present "Why Kaz?", a teleconference for families considering adopting from Kazakhstan. This teleconference is held monthly. The seminar will include an overview of the Kazakhstan adoption process, information about the children, the the paperwork stages, referral, and realistic expectations. Input from families who have recently traveled is included.

Date: Calendar of events on LMI Homepage
Please send an email to join our teleconference seminar

PROGRAM CRITERIA

Kazakhstan is an Asian country and families must possess flexibility in acceptance of ethnicity when adopting.
Kazakhstan requires family flexibility with travel length and number of trips.
Kazakhstan is a Hague Adoption Program

WHAT SETS OUR AGENCY APART FROM OTHER AGENCIES

Awarded Accreditation from the Government of Kazakhstan on 5/2/12
Families are provided Emergency Medical and Travel Insurance paid for by the agency.
Our families do not put their own dossier together. We will do that for you with our dossier specialist! We provide full dossier completion services, so once you sign your needed papers, your part is done!
Families are provided cell phones in country.
Comfortable apartment home lodging for the bonding trip.
Long-term experience with the intricacies of adoptions in this country, ongoing program since 1999. This program is managed by Little Miracles.
Staff in Kazakhstan not only are highly experienced in Adoption, they have worked with LMI from their first days in Adoption service. The staff will guide and assist families compassionately and carefully through the process.

CHILDREN AVAILABLE
Infants 12 months of age and up to 15 years are available. Most of the children in orphanages are 3 years and up. Families wanting to adopt babies must be open, prepared and approved to adopt children up to 36 months. The ethnic background of most of the children available is Asian-Kazakh, however, occasionally Russian Caucasian, German, Korean, Tatar and Gypsy and mixed ethnicity children are available. The children must stay on a national database for a period of time; these children will be available for international adoption after they are released from the database. Sibling groups are sometimes available, but rare. Typical orphanage delays with institutionalized children are expected. The adoption of two non-related children is not allowed.

ADOPTIVE PARENT CRITERIA

We accept parents maximum age difference of 45 years between the adoptive parent (either parent) and child.
The program is open to married couples
Singles must be pre-approved
No more than 2 divorces per adoptive parent are allowed.
The family must meet United States Immigration requirements as well as provide a complete dossier of paperwork to Kazakhstani officials.
Childless adoptive parents must be open to adopting either gender.
No arrest history that shows up in the record. Must have clear local, State and FBI police/fingerprint clearances to adopt.

Exceptions to any of the above criteria including parents that have any arrests in their history regardless of the age of offense or disposition must be met with administration pre-approval only.

REFERRAL
Medical information, social, legal profile of the child, and photo are provided for every referral by the Central Authority of Kazakhstan. Families will have a certain time period to decide on the referral and request additional information if it is available.

TRAVEL
Both parents, must travel at least twice and possibly three times to Kazakhstan and travel to the region where the child resides.

You will travel by air, car or train in Kazakhstan to the region where your child is. The LMI staff makes all in-country travel arrangements overseas.

Travel will only occur after your dossier reaches Kazakhstan and has been approved. You will stay in an apartment or hotel in Almaty. Lodging in a hotel or apartment is dependent on availability in your child's city.
Visitation between the parents and child will be conducted for a 30 day bonding period. Two parents are required for the bonding period.

After the bonding period the court date will be set. There will be a new court assigned called the Juvenile Court. It is unknown at this time whether the court will assign dates that are close to the bonding period, so a second trip for court might be necessary by both parents. There is a 14 day appeal period after the court before the ruling is made.

After the adoption is finalized, papers will be legalized, your child will have a medical exam, the adoption will be registered in the adoption registry in Astana, passport obtained and I800 will be filed in Almaty for your child's Visa at the American Embassy.

Families should prepare for two trips of at least 35 days or one 35 day trip with two shorter trips following.

Frequently travel scenarios change and families must be willing to accept any travel scenario presented to them before or even after the travel has commenced. Families considering Kazakhstan adoption must be flexible to any travel scenario and region, and flexible to travel changes at the last possible moment and even after they have arrived in country. Families must be open to any and all travel options they might be presented with.

FEES
Fees schedules are set to where Parents pay in increments, so all fees are not due at once. Application, Registration, Agency and Commitment Fees are non-refundable. There is a written refund policy for all fees. If you wish to find out more about our fees please e-mail or call us at (806) 351-1100.

POST ADOPTION
The main criteria for Kazakhstan Government to evaluate agencies and the adoption program is the ability to supply the officials the commitment from both agency, homestudy agency and family to send to the Kazakhstani Government regular post-adoption reports on adopted children until they reach the age of 18 as required by Kazakh law. LMI fully supports this post adoption commitment and desires to cooperate in full with the Government of Kazakhstan with this requirement. This is essential to the adoption program and all families must be willing to fulfill this commitment before even considering to adopt from this wonderful country.

General Information about the Adoption Process In Kazakhstan

Little Miracles International is privileged to work with families interested in adoption from Kazakhstan. We have been placing children from Kazakhstan since 1999. Kazakhstan is our largest and most requested program. Your trip will surely be unforgettable as you experience the exotic and unusual country of your child's birth. You can feel confident in the country, escorted to all your appointments and assisted by our team, making your stay more comfortable to complete your adoption. You will be immersed into the world of "Central Asia." Truly a flavor of mixed cultures to encounter, savor and learn from. This is not an easy trip to be away from home so long, but one that is necessary in this country to adopt.

The care in the orphanages in Kazakhstan is said to be the best orphanage care. Some of these infants are in a hospital, from the time they are born until they are 3-4 months of age then moved to the orphanage.

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FROM THE US EMBASSY: Little Miracles has been granted an official letter of appreciation from the Embassy in Almaty for our continued support and work on official and regional levels in the Kazakhstani Government. Our work fosters understanding and communication by conducting educational meetings focusing on the international adoption process in Kazakhstan. LMI is honored to receive the highest appreciation from the Embassy. Click on the award to view.
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THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE OF KAZAKHSTAN

The Kazakhs, for whom the country is named, constitute about 46% of the population (compared to 32% in 1970). Russians, who came to live in large numbers during the Soviet period, constitute 35%, Ukrainians, 5%, and ethnic Germans, 3%; the remaining 11% consists of smaller numbers of other European and Asian peoples. The culture and food reflect this and most people are bilingual in Kazakh and Russian or another language.

The educational and health-care systems, developed under the USSR, follows Soviet model, although some changes were introduced since independence in 1991. Restrictions on religion, for example, have been relaxed. The traditional Kazakh was nomadic and pastoral, but today their way of life and cultural expressions show strong Russian influences.

Kazakhstan, a land of nomadic mystical culture is expressed in oral epics, legends, ritual songs, and from the 19th century, in a written literature strongly influenced by Russian traditions. Today most Kazakhs are rural dwellers, but a few remain shepherds and in former traditional work roles. Racially of Mongolian descent and Muslim tradition, they give the impression of classic Mongol warriors when mounted on horseback and garbed in their native clothing. Their way of life, the least Islamized of any of the Central Asian Turks, is richly infused with customs, painting a tapestry of an ancient Asian culture with Soviet suppression and influence. Kazakhstan's economy is still closely tied to Russia's, but Kazakhstan is promoting investment to improve their social conditions. Infant mortality rate is 64 per 1000 births as compared to Russia's 25/1000. Life is hard in Kazakhstan.

For more information about our Kazakhstan Program please fill out our online INFO REQUEST.

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