Russia Program Description
Russia is, by far, the most popular country for IFS adoptions. While most of the available children are Caucasian, the vastness of the country (it encompasses 11 time zones) ensures a wonderful mix of ethnic groups. The children blend beautifully into American households.
Because we are working in so many different regions, variations may occur in the required documents or length of time necessary to complete an adoption. Almost all regions require the adoptive parent(s) to make two trips to Russia.
Russia is a "travel first" program, which means that you would meet some available children on your first trip and choose the one you feel is meant to be yours. This gives the family an opportunity to choose their child in person rather simply from a photograph. Though a family will have limited information before travel, they will have the opportunity to talk to orphanage personnel, as well as the orphanage physician, while there.
Available children range in age from infant to 14 years.
Requirements for Adopting Parent(s):
- Single women may adopt. Single men may also adopt. Agencies willing to work with single men are Cradle of Hope and Adoption Center of Washington.
- No restrictions on the number of years a couple has been married.
- No age limit in most of the programs.
- You may have other children in the home.
Travel Time:
- 6 to 14 days per trip. The first trip is usually shorter than the second. Some areas waive the length of the second trip but it's best not to expect that. There are now some areas in Russia that 3 trips will be required. Check with your agency.
Additional Expenses:
- U.S. Visa for child - payable at American Embassy.
- Russian Visa for adopting parent(s) travel.
- Physical exam for child.
- Apostilles - varies from state to state.
- All travel-related expenses for you and your child.
- Travel Management Fee: $1,000
- Refundable Post Placement and Registration Deposit
Application and Processing Fee: $4,250
Service and Support Fee: $18,975 and under
There is a $2,000 Program (Service and Support) Fee reduction for an additional child from the same region (related or unrelated). There is also an additional IFS (Application and Processing) Fee for an additional child from the same region of $500 for related, and $1,250 for unrelated.
When Fees are Due for Russia:
$4,250 Application and Processing Fee is due to start the process. This gets the family into the IFS system and IFS will send out the dossier packet and help the family get going on completing their documents for their adoption.
$4,000 - Registration Payment: This is a non-refundable fee due when a family is ready to be put on the referral waiting list. Families wanting a younger child, especially a girl will want to do this as soon as possible. Some may want to wait until they are closer to getting their home study completed. This will be applied towards the Program (Service and Support) Fee. It is up to the family when they send this in, but they will not be put on the waiting list until this fee is paid.
$8,500-$14,975 (depending on age) is due within 12 business days of a family receiving a referral and committing to pursue the adoption of a specific child/children. This is the remainder of the initial Program (Service and Support) Fee.
$1,000 - Travel Management fee: This fee is also due at the time of commitment to a referral. This is partial payment towards the driver's and translators for a portion of a family's trip. The family will pay approximately $2,500 more in these fees while traveling to Russia for two trips, not each trip.
IFS requires a refundable deposit of $250 per required Post-Placement Report and Registration or finalization to be collected, except where noted in section 5.11 of the Contract. Some countries require that your adopted child be "registered" in their country, a formality that helps foreign authorities stay abreast of child and family developments. Upon completion and submission to IFS of each PPR or Registration, that equivalent amount of deposit will be returned to the client. Post-Placement deposits are due and payable at the time you sign your Child Acceptance Agreement.
At the time of writing this document the following programs required the Post-Placement Reports listed below. Check with your IFS representative, IFS program director or the IFS post-placement report supervisor for current PPR requirements. Thus this list should serve as an example only.
Russia Program Costs Estimations
Use this information as a guide, but with the knowledge that International Family Services cannot control the decisions rendered by the United States Government, the Russian Government or it’s officials and that unforeseen changes may cause the cost of your adoption to rise or fall at any time during the process.
1- IFS fee ($4,250)- This is the fee paid to International Family Services to retain their
services in helping you through the international adoption process. This is paid
at the initial time of contracting.
2-Program Fee: Program fees or foreign fees are the fees charged by IFS, the Russian staff we work with and the Russian government. This may vary depending on age (see chart). The below fees are due within 14 business days after receiving a referral if you choose to continue holding that child. Fee breakdown is:
Age Category Program Fee
4 years and older $12,500 - $18,975
2-4 years $15,500 - $18,975
0-2 years $16,975 - $18,975
Families adopting through this program do so under a Travel First program. Travel First means that you will travel to Russia without a referral, and have the opportunity to locate a child for your family there. When you begin Travel First and submit your dossier, you need to also include the dossier submission fee. That includes half of the program fee (depending on the age of child you are considering), the post placement deposit (detailed below) and the travel management fee (detailed below). When you accept a child on your first trip, the rest of the program fees are due upon your return to the States.
If a family is looking for an older child, they could possibly obtain a referral, depending on the availability of an appropriate child for their family. A referral would consist of basic medical information on a child, as well as a picture of them. There are two payments when you choose to travel with a referral. The first is a $4,000 registration payment: this is a non-refundable fee due when a family is ready to be put on the referral waiting list. This will be applied towards the program fee. It is up to the family when they send this in but they will not be put on the waiting list until this fee is paid.
The second payment is $8,500-$14,975 (depending on age) is due within 12 business days of a family receiving a referral and committing to pursue the adoption of a specific child/children. This is the remainder of the initial Program Fee.
For more than one child, there is a fee reduction of $2,000 for the second child.
3-Post Placement Deposit ($2,000 per child): This is a deposit returned to you in $400
intervals as you complete your post placement/registration agreement requirements. See accompanying sheet on Post Placement requirements).
4-Apostilles (varies by state, average is $600-$1500): These are the authentication for
the signatures of the notaries on your documents. It comes from the Secretary of
State of the state you live in and will vary in cost from between free and $26 per document. We provide a sheet for families regarding apostille costs and request the family include a check with their documents for the appropriate amount.
5-Medical/HIV Reports: Varies according to the rates of your physician and insurance
coverage. Most often it will be necessary to have these done twice.
6-BCIS: You will be required to pay the BCIS (formerly INS) $545 for the processing of
your I600A, per child. Fingerprinting is $70 per person.
7-Travel/Visa: see following page and visa fee schedule
Travel Costs
1-Airfare to Moscow: check with your travel agent as tickets change frequently.
The following is a sample taken from current information. Actual expenses, airfare to various regions, the price of accommodations, and the lengths of stay can vary greatly.
It is suggested that after airfare and hotel, families should take $2000-$2500 for their first trip and $3000-$3500 for their second trip for additional spending money (food, accommodations, gifts and emergencies).
2-Travel Management Fee
There is a one time upfront fee of $1,000. This covers all preliminary travel and planning arrangement for the family, both in Moscow and in the region. Drivers and translators in Moscow and the region will cost up to $2000 each trip. The family needs to carry that money with them. Approximately $500 of that $2000 would be used with Moscow personnel and the rest would be in the region.
NOTE: The driver you will have is a personal driver for the day, not like a taxi. This means if the driver takes you to the orphanage, he/she will be waiting for you outside.
3-Miscellaneous Expenses
Accommodations in region see regional information sheet
Child's Russian passport (second trip) $150
Child's US visa (second trip)
Single child $380
Two related children $380 + $380
Two unrelated children $380 + $380 + $460
Child's medical examination (second trip) $100 per child
Russian Legislation (second trip) $50
In-country airfare (per person) $50-$700 ROUND-TRIP also see regional information sheet.
Brenda Compton
Senior Adoption Consultant
International Family Services
Brenda@ifservices.org
(417) 332-0844
