Kazakhstan is now a Hague adoption country. That means prospective adoptive parents
must file an I-800A form: Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a
Convention Country.
I-800A, Application for Determination of Suitability to Adopt a Child from a Convention Country
If you already have an approved I-800A for a Hague Convention country, you can request a change to Kazakhstan. The main Hague Convention countries are China, Philippines, India, Colombia, Thailand and Mexico. Eastern European Hague countries include Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, Armenia and Hungary. A move between Hague countries can be accomplished through the I-800A Supplement 3. Request for Action on Approved Form I-800A. Check Part 2(d) and enter Kazakhstan in item 3 under “Indicate Change of Country.” Please note you may also need to enter a change to the number of children and/or their age, gender and approval for special needs in item 3.
There is no charge from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) for the first change of country request between Hague countries. However, your home study agency will probably have a charge to update your home study as required to approve you for a new country Kazakhstan) and probably new age range and gender requests for the child. The Supplement 3 must be accompanied by a home study update. Since Kazakhstan will require a full home study and you must submit the same version of the home study to both CIS and the country, we recommend that you ask your home study agency for a revised home study that is single document (not, for instance, an original home study for China with a one page update approving you for Kazakhstan).
Moving Between Non-Hague and Hague Countries
If you already have an approved I-600A for a non-Hague Convention country, you cannot move one application between the non-Hague country and Kazakhstan. The main non-Hague Convention countries are Ethiopia, Russia, S. Korea, Ukraine, Taiwan and Japan. In the case of an approved I-600A country, you would need to file an I-800A application for Kazakhstan and pay a new CIS fee of $720. You should be able to keep your fingerprint approvals current.
You would again need to ask your home study agency to approve you for a new country Kazakhstan) and probably new age range and gender requests for the child. The home study agency will probably charge for these changes. Since Kazakhstan will require a full home study and you must submit the same version of the home study to both CIS and the country, we recommend that you ask your home study agency for a revised home study that is single document (not, for instance, an original home study for Russia with a one page update approving you for Kazakhstan).
No Pending Immigration Applications
If you have not yet filed the I-800A or I-600A, you will start fresh with CIS by filing an I-800A for Kazakhstan. The current fee is $720 plus $85 per adult for their fingerprint clearances. Typically, home studies take 2-3 months to complete, depending on your state of residence. The CIS approval process takes about another two months. During these two months, you will gather the information required in a dossier for Kazakhstan. Upon submittal of a completed dossier, you will be under consideration for a child referral from Kazakhstan.