Adoption ARK - A Licensed International Adoption Agency

Azerbaijan is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It shares its borders with the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. Children are available in Azerbaijan from ages 6 months to 16 years old.

How to Start Your Azerbaijan Adoption Process

Read over the information on this page and then contact Adoption ARK with any questions. If you conclude that Azerbaijan is a good country choice for your family, request and complete an adoption contract.
Your contract will be reviewed and approved by our director, and then you will be assigned a caseworker to complete your adoption.
Your caseworker will inform you of the steps needed to move forward with your adoption. Some of these steps include submitting your petition to adopt an orphan from overseas (I600A form), starting your home study (if you do not have one completed), and collecting documents and forms needed for your adoption dossier.
Once your dossier is complete, all documents need to be notarized and authenticated.
Send in your completed dossier to your caseworker for review.
Your caseworker will make sure the dossier is complete and correct. Adoption ARK will then send the dossier for translation and forward it to the Minister of Health, if the child is less than 3 years old, or to the Minister of Education, if the child is older than 3.
Your dossier will be submitted to the government in Azerbaijan by the Adoption ARK facilitators.
A child, closely matching your preferred child description, will be referred by the Azerbaijan Minister of Health or the Minister of Education. The referral time is approximately 2-3 months. You will receive a video, photo and medical information.
If you accept this referral, you will sign and notarize an agreement letter which registers the child for your family. This letter is submitted to the Baku City Department of Health and your dossier is forwarded to the appropriate District Court. Adoption ARK facilitators will start arranging your first trip to Azerbaijan. Adoption ARK will assist you with travel plans and offer travel and in-country advice while monitoring the process in Azerbaijan.

Trip One to Azerbaijan

Once you arrive in Azerbaijan, you will travel to the region to meet your referred child. Your coordinator will offer advice and assistance to prepare you for your first meeting with your child. This trip will last about 4 days.
After meeting your child you are asked if you still want to adopt the child.
If you want to proceed, your dossier will be submitted to the District Judge for review and a court hearing will be scheduled to initiate the adoption proceedings. This usually takes one day.
Both parents need to be present for court.

Trip Two to Azerbaijan

After the court there is 1 month waiting period. One parent can return in a month for 10 days stay to finish all the paperwork in Azerbaijan. After that they will go to Tbilisi, Georgia for US consulate (3 days). You can fly to the US from Georgia.
On this trip the parents return to Azerbaijan and present the court decision to the orphanage in order to take custody of the child, obtain a new local birth certificate and passport, and proceed with the U.S. immigration process. Your coordinator will assist you with all of these procedures.
You return to the U.S. to begin your new life with our child!
As you complete the next three years with your child, four post placement reports will be required, which will be sent back to the child’s region.