 | Apply to The Barker Foundation |
| Complete pre-adoption group and home study |
| Family gets on waiting list for a referral after
obtaining the CIS approval |
| Complete dossier (Barker takes care of all steps of
authentication) |
| Referral comes, usually within 3 months of CIS
approval |
| Family accepts referral. Dossier and Power of
Attorney submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for legalization
(4-8 weeks); Specific documents submitted to the U.S. Embassy for DNA
authorization (2-8 weeks) |
| Legalized dossier and documents submitted to Family
Court and Family Court issue Report (takes 6-12 weeks) |
| DNA results received (2-3 weeks). Family makes first
trip to visit baby (trip timing very flexible, and can be short) |
| Embassy issues Pre-Approval after receiving DNA test
results. (3-6 weeks)
Case submitted to PGN. Approved by PGN. (4-12 weeks average, could be
longer depending on number of previos) |
| New birth certificate and Guatemalan passport issued
(1-2 weeks) |
| Final documents submitted to US Embassy. US Embassy
issues 2nd DNA authorization (3 days) |
| US Embassy issues "pink slip," allowing family to
travel back to Guatemala to pick up their child (4 weeks) |
| Family travels to Guatemala City for 4-6 days to pick
up child , returns to US |
| Child receives automatic US Citizenship, provided
BOTH parents made a first trip to visit prior to finalization of
adoption. |
| Welcome your child into your home and begin 6 month
post-placement supervision period |
| Finalization in the US strongly recommended |
