International Adoptions in Russia

Important Notice Of Changes In The Processing Of Adoption Cases At The U.S Embassy In Moscow

Effective March 30, 2009, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will assume responsibility for adjudicating all I-600’s (Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative) filed by US citizens who have adopted children in the Russian Federation. The filing and approval of the I-600 petition is required before an immigrant visa application can be issued by the Department of State.

Appointments will be required to submit the I-600, supporting documents, and visa application materials. For complete information on procedures and requirements, as well as instructions for scheduling an appointment please refer to the website for the USCIS Moscow Field Office

The Embassy’s standard processing time for adoption visas is two business days. This allows us to complete the security screening steps required under the laws of the United States and still provide consistent, timely service to our customers.

Application documents are accepted at the Embassy from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on regular business days. Families are scheduled for interviews on the following business day at 11:30 AM. Ordinarily, families will be issued the visas and immigration documents following the interview. We cannot guarantee, however, that visas will always be provided at the interview due to the occasional need for additional processing and/or screening. Therefore, the Embassy requests that you make flexible travel plans, which take such possible delays into account.

Please note that those families whose visa application documents are submitted on Fridays or days prior to holidays will not be issued visas until the business day following the weekend or holiday period.

Day One: Presentation of Documents

• Families or their facilitators should schedule appointments online with USCIS Moscow via INFOPASS at https://infopass.uscis.gov/info_lang.php?sel_lang=en
  
  After making your appointment via INFOPASS, please inform the Immigrant Visa Unit of your appointment time by phone at (495) 728-5567 or by email to MoscowConsularR@state.gov
   
  
• Adoption agency representatives are welcome to submit documents, Monday through Friday, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. If a family is adopting independently, only one of the parents is needed to submit the necessary documents.
• Adopted children who are 14 years of age or older will also need to accompany either their parents or the adoption agency representative to the Embassy at the time of document submission so that they can be fingerprinted. Children of this age group originating from Vladivostok will need to travel to Moscow with their facilitators or adopting parents to have their fingerprints taken. Please note that after the documents have been submitted, these children will need to wait for their data to be entered before their fingerprints can be taken. By collecting all necessary biometric data at this time, the Embassy can get underway with visa processing as early as possible. These children must also come to the Embassy on the following day for the actual visa interview.
• Please make sure the spelling of the children’s names and dates of birth on the DS-230 form is accurate and written clearly. This is the information we will use to prepare the visa for the child and any inaccuracy or lack of clarity may delay visa issuance. Should the visa need to be reprinted, an additional fee of $404 will be charged.
• Please respect the 11:00 a.m. cutoff time; it is firm. Those arriving after this time will be instructed to return on the next business day.
• If the case is documentarily complete, an interview appointment will be scheduled, usually on the following business day.

Day Two: Visa Interviews

• Families should arrive for their scheduled appointment at the Novinskiy Bulvar entrance to the U.S. Embassy (the main entrance located on the north or right-hand side) at 11:15 a.m. Only adoptive parents and their adopted children will be admitted to the Embassy grounds for the interview. Agency representatives and others must wait outside.
• Adopting parents will present their interview ticket and their U.S. passports to the Embassy guards and enter the building. Only the families on the interview list will be admitted. Those who have not yet submitted their documents will be asked to return on the next business day between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
• After passing through a security checkpoint at the entrance, the families should first take interview tickets at the ticket machine and then follow the signs to the Immigrant Visa section.
• After checking in, families will pay the fees for adoption Immigrant Visas ($404 per child) at Window 4 (cashier). We recommend payment with a credit card (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diner's Club); however, payment may also be made in cash. Please note that, in accordance with Part 204.3 of the Code of Federal Regulations, if more than one child has been adopted and the orphans are siblings, no additional fee is required. If the orphans are not siblings, an additional fee of $720 is required for each orphan beyond the first orphan.
• Then, at Window 1, families will turn in their appointment slip together with the interview tickets. The families will take a seat in the waiting area.
• The families will be called to one of the windows for the visa interview. The interview should be brief; the parents should expect to be able to answer questions about the adoption process, their financial status, and the health of the adopted child/children. They will also sign the immigrant visa application on behalf of their child/children.
• If the officer approves the visa, he/she will sign the appropriate forms and hand the entire visa package to an Immigrant Visa Unit employee. He/She will complete the processing of the visa. Once the visa and immigration documents are ready (usually a wait of approximately 20-30 minutes), the consular employee will hand the passport and sealed immigration envelope to the parents. The parents should review the visa carefully to ensure that all information is accurate so that any errors can be corrected before departing the Embassy.
• If a problem arises, the interviewing consular officer will discuss with the parents exactly what the remaining issues are, and how they might be resolved.
• After receiving the visa, families will exit the Embassy building.