No matter what country you are hoping to adopt from, you will be required to compile a dossier. What does the word dossier mean? The WorldNet Dictionary describes a dossier as "a collection of papers containing detailed information about a particular person or subject (usually a person's record)." When referring to an adoption, the dossier is the compilation of required documents you will need to gather for the country you are hoping to adopt from.

To find out what dossier requirements are needed for the country you are hoping to adopt from, visit the following website, Bureau of Consular Affairs. For Ukraine Adoptions, the Bureau of Consular Affairs states the following:

"Ukrainian law states that foreign citizens wishing to adopt Ukrainian children must submit a petition to the Adoption Center, requesting be registered as prospective adoptive parents and to be permitted to visit orphanages in order to select, meet and establish contact with an orphan. The following documents must be part of the petition:

• Home Study, an affidavit issued by a competent authority in the adoptive parents' country, attesting to his/her eligibility, specifying his/her housing and living conditions, containing curriculum vitae, and other information; if this affidavit is issued by a non-governmental entity, a copy of the license authorizing this entity to conduct adoption procedures shall be appended.

  Comment: Statement obtained from a social worker/agency.

• Entrance and permanent residence permit for the adopted child, issued by the competent authority in the adoptive parents' country.

• Proof of income (bank statement on the parent's family yearly incomes).

  Comment: W-2 form or tax returns and a statement from your bank certifying that you have a bank account there.

• Bill of health issued in the name of each of the adoptive parents.

  Comment: Not just a general statement that you are healthy, but a declaration that you are specifically not suffering from any kind of psychic; communicable, internal, skin or venereal diseases as well as that you are not drug addict; also, AIDS and syphilis tests be included.

• Copy of the marriage certificate ( if applicants are a married couple).

• Copy of the passport or other identification papers of prospective adoptive parents.

• "No criminal record" statement supplied by a competent authority for each adoptive parent, attesting to his/her having no criminal record.

  Comment: statement obtained from local sheriff/police office.

• Adoptive parents' commitment, if granted the adoption, to have the child registered with Ukraine's consular office in their home country within one month; to supply information (at least once a year) about an adopted child's living conditions and educational process to the Ukrainian consular officer, to arrange for consular officers to keep in touch with the adopted child, and to retain the child's Ukrainian citizenship until 18 years of age.

Please note that ALL eight documents from the list must be independent documents, e.g. one cannot be a part of another.

All documents must be properly legalized at the Ukrainian Consulate or Embassy in the U.S. Documents will remain valid for one year.

Once the documents are legalized, they must be translated into Ukrainian and notarized.

The Adoption Center must, within ten days, process the documents submitted by adoptive parents and enter them into the database. Once parents identify the sex and the age of the child they wish to adopt, the Adoption Center shows them applications of orphans available for adoption within this age group. The Center will then issue a letter of referral to allow the prospective parents to visit orphanages and to meet, select and establish contact with the children. Along with a letter of referral, adoptive parents will be given their documents, bound, numbered, sealed, and signed by an official in charge of the Adoption Center, with a separate sheet specifying the number of pages and the prospective parents' registration file code."