* This page updated 02/02/12 *

Latest Updates

Over fifteen years ago, folks on the APC(Adoptive Parents of China) list asked me to become their personal courier. They helped me set my prices, and even came up with my name! I agreed to start this courier business to be able to quit my job as a secretary and be home more for my "homemade" daughter and the new baby. A few years later, my husband Steve joined me as "The Assistant to The Assistant Stork" and we have served the adoption community ever since. As adoptive parents, we know how important it is to get your dossiers authenticated quickly and correctly. We will make sure all of your documents going through the authentication process at the State Department and/or the Embassy get exactly that kind of service.

Here's all my info for processing dossiers through any DC Embassy:

For your fee, as soon as we receive your documents, we will go through everything and scrutinize your documents thoroughly, making sure each document has been authenticated correctly. Next, we will take your documents to the State Department as soon as possible. (The State Department is normally only open 7:30 AM-11:00 AM and the mail comes in too late for us to take them over the same day we receive them.) At the State Department we will wait while they Authenticate your documents. We will check to be sure that they authenticate every single document correctly (after all, they're human beings, they make mistakes too.)

As soon as that's finished, we will take your documents down to the Embassy for Authentication. We will leave your documents with the Embassy and pick them back up on the date they are ready, Because every country has different requirements, and the requirements seem to change daily, please email us a laura@asststork.com for complete instructions and fees for each country. We also process Visas for all Embassies.

Because every country has different requirements, and the requirements seem to change daily, please email us a laura@asststork.com for complete instructions and fees for each country.

NOTICE: It has come to my attention that some of you would prefer to pay by credit card. Some of you are overseas and cannot get Money Orders. Due to this, I am now willing to accept Pay Pal payments, but they charge 4.5% of the total for the privilege. Let me know if you wish to pay via PayPal and I will email you an invoice.

Please use the service of your choice (i.e. FedEx/ExpressMail/UPS/DHL/whatever - anything trackable) to mail your documents to:

Laura Morrison
The Assistant Stork
2144 Aquia Drive
Stafford, VA 22554

Our phone number is: 540-659-6845

Please be sure to sign the "waiver of signature" on your package if you use ExpressMail. We are in DC processing dossiers when the mail carrier arrives. There is a special place the mail carrier leaves the dossiers that only he or she can see from my door, not visible to the street. FedEx, DHL and UPS always leave the packages for us, whether we are here or not. Do not require signatures on your packages.

Be sure to keep the "Sender's copy" of your waybills or at least write down the tracking numbers so you can watch your package being delivered and leaving my office on its way back to you.

Please call or email me when you've sent your documents so we'll know to look for them. laura@asststork.com

I'm available M-F 9AM-4PM

*COUNTRY- SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON PROCESSING DOCUMENTS AND VISAS *

Algeria, Bahrain, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Chile, China, DR Congo, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Great Britain, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

For Algeria - make your Money Order ONLY out to "The Embassy of Algeria"

$75 processing charge per client
PLUS $31 per document for the Seal

1.5 month turnaround

*The Embassy of Algeria requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Bahrain - make your Money Order or Cashier's Check out to "The Embassy of Bahrain"

$30 per document
5 business day turnaround

*The Embassy of Bahrain requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Barbados - they only want CASH only:

$40 per document
approximate turnaround time is one week

For Bolivia make your money order out to "Embassy of Bolivia" for:

For Brazil make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to "Embassy of Brazil" for:

The turnaround time is usually 2 days.

Jurisdiction: District of Columbia, Kentucky, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia

Brazil visa: $160 per visa.

Include application, one photo, SIGNED PASSPORT (they will reject your passport if it is not signed) and money order or cashier's check made to "Embassy of Brazil."

Visa application can be found on: http://www.consbrasdc.org/english/service.asp?id_en_service=14&lido=1

Turnaround time is usually one week

For Burundi make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Burundi for

Turnaround time is usually two days, but can take up to one week

Burundi allows you to batch all your paperwork. Therefore, your entire dossier is counted as one "bundled document" at the State Department and the Embassy of Burundi. Each document in the bundle must be separately State Sealed.

*The Embassy of Burundi requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

Due to the amount of work involved in putting together an Burundi dossier, we charge $80 to process the dossier, rather than our usual minimum fee, plus a $5 gasoline surcharge.

For Canada make your money order or cashier's check,
check ONLY out to "Embassy of Canada" for:

The turnaround time is usually 2 days.

Vital Records must first authenticated by:

Authentication & Service of Documents Section(JLAC)
Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa K1A0G2 ONTARIO
CANADA
613.995.0119

For Chile make your money order out to Embassy of Chile for

*The Embassy of Chile requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the County, State and Federal Seals*

For China, make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to "The Embassy of China"
(they wil not accept anything made out to the Consulate) for:

Document Authentication:

Please Note: We need copies of your passports or driver's license

*The Embassy of China requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

*IF YOU ARE ADOPTING,
YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY CORPORATE DOCUMENTS,
YOU HAVE ADOPTION DOCUMENTS*

Visa Service:

Visa Application: http://www.china-embassy.org

And yes, I need your ACTUAL passports. PLEASE SIGN YOUR PASSPORTS!

The CURRENT fees are:

ALL VISAS FOR AMERICANS: (good for multi-entry, one year visa)

ALL VISAS FOR CITIZENS OF OTHER COUNTRIES:

Add $20 per visa for overnight processing

For Democratic Republic of the Congo make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for:

For Ecuador make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Ecuador for:

For Ethiopia make your money order or cashier's check
to Embassy of Ethiopia for

Turnaround time is usually overnight, but can take up to 3 days

Ethiopia allows you to batch all your paperwork, except the Power of Attorney, under one cover sheet. Therefore, your entire dossier is counted as one bundle plus one document at the State Department and the Embassy of Ethiopia.

Due to the amount of work involved in putting together an Ethiopia dossier, we charge $80 to process the dossier, rather than our usual minimum fee, plus a $5 gasoline surcharge.

Ethiopian visa: $70 per visa.

Include application, one photo, PASSPORT and money order or cashier's check made to "Embassy of Ethiopia."

Visa application can be found on: http://www.ethiopianembassy.org

Turnaround time is usually overnight, but can take up to 3 days

For Georgia make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Georgia for

*The Embassy of Georgia requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Ghana, make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Ghana for

Turnaround time is usually overnight, but can take up to 3 days

Ghana allows you to batch all your paperwork, except the Power of Attorney, under one cover sheet. Therefore, your entire dossier is counted as one bundle plus one document at the State Department and the Embassy of Ghana.

Due to the amount of work involved in putting together a Ghana dossier, we charge $80 to process the dossier, rather than our usual minimum fee, plus a $5 gasoline surcharge.

*The Embassy of Ghana requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

PLEASE NOTE:

For Great Britain, make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Great Britain for:

For Guatemala make your *MONEY ORDER ONLY* out to Embassy of Guatemala for

• $10 per document, no mail handling fee
• The turnaround time is:

1 - 3 docs: Usually takes 24 - 48 hours
4 - 25 docs: Usually takes 5 -7 business days

NOTE: The Guatemala Embassy will NOT accept Adoption Agency checks. It must be a money order.

For Haiti make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Haiti for:

The turnaround time is usually 1 - 2 weeks.

As of 10/7/98, the Haitian government requires that the French translation be authenticated by the Embassy also. Please attach the French Translation to each document before you send it to me and the fee will still be $25 for each document.

For India make your money order, cashier's check,

or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of India for :

Documents

We do NOT provide same-day service of documents for India

Visas

And yes, I need your ACTUAL passports. PLEASE SIGN YOUR PASSPORTS!

For Indonesia make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Indonesia for:

• $20 per document

*The Embassy of Indonesia requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Jamaica make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Jamaica for:

• $10 per document for a document that originated in Jamaica
(turnaround time - 2 days)

• $20 per document for a document that originated anywhere but Jamaica to be used in Jamaica
(turnaround time - 2 days)

For Kazakhstan make your US Post Office Money Order ONLY out to Embassy of Kazakhstan for:

Documents

PLEASE NOTE: The Assistant Stork will no longer process Kazakhstan dossiers.

Visas: FEES

Go to http://www.kazakhembus.com/VisaRequirements.html to download the latest application

And yes, I need your ACTUAL passports and one passport sized photo each. And please sign your passports!

TYPE OF VISA	3-7 DAY PROCESSING
Single Entry Business Visa- up to 3 months	$60
Double Entry Business Visa - up to 3 months	$90
Triple Entry Business Visa - up to 3 months	$105
Multiple Entry Visa for up to 1 year	$200
Single Entry Tourist Visa - up to 3 months	$40
Double Entry Tourist Visa - up to 3 months	$60
Single Entry Adoption Visa	$60
Double Entry Adoption Visa	$90
Transit Visa	$30
Visas for children under 16 years of age, any category or duration	FREE

As of 3/6/08, the Embassy will no longer expedite visas. Visas take 3-4 days

PLEASE! Do not make your flight arrangements until the visas are in your hands!
Delays are common with Kazakhstan visa invitation confirmation numbers.

The Embassy will no longer allow anyone having anything to do with
the adoption of a child to travel on a tourist visa.
No matter what you are told, you cannot make your second adoption trip under a tourist visa.

Monies for Business Visas MUST be on a separate US Postal money order from Adoption Visas.

US Post Office Money Order is the only payment accepted by the Embassy

CHILD REGISTRATION

Kazakhstan requires that you register your child's Kazak passport at Astana before you leave the
country. However, ifyou adopted before this rule went into effect, you must register your child's
passport at the Consular Section of theEmbassy of Kazakhstan in Washington, DC or at the Consulate
of the Republic of Kazakhstan in New York.
Click here to obtain instructions and the new form.

Our fee to process the registration of your child is $50

For Kuwait make your money order out to The Embassy of Kuwait for:

Documents:

$25 per document

Turnaround time is usually one week

For Kyrgyzstan make your money order out to The Embassy of Kyrgyzstan for:

Documents:

*The Embassy of Kyrgyzstan requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

Visa Fees:

Tourist Visas:
Single-entry 1 month visa – 80 USD
Double-entry 1 month visa – 90 USD
Single-entry 3 months visa – 100 USD
Double-entry 3 months visa – 110 USD
Business Visas/Adoption Visas:
Single-entry 1 month visa – 100 USD
Double-entry 1 month visa – 110 USD
Single-entry 3 months visa – 120 USD
Single-entry 6 months visa – 130 USD
Multi-entry 3 months visa – 150 USD
Multi-entry 6 months visa – 165 USD
Multi-entry 1 year – 200 USD
Transit Visas:
Single-entry transit visa – 30 USD
Double-entry transit visa – 50 USD

Visa fees for applicants under the age of 16 and over 60:
Tourist Visas - All types of visas - 50 USD
Business Visas - All types of visas - 70 USD

NEW - 11/17/08: Regular processing for visas is two weeks. Rush 1-2 day service is double the price. All adoptive parents must use Business Visas. They will no longer allow Tourist visas for adopting parents.

For Moldova make your money order, cashier's check,
or Adoption Agency check out to Embassy of Moldova for:

Documents:

FEES:

Moldova does NOT allow bundling of ANY documents.
*The Embassy of Moldova requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

PLEASE NOTE:

Visas:

FEES:

And yes, I need your ACTUAL passports. PLEASE SIGN YOUR PASSPORTS!

Visa form: click here

There is an additional $5 visa application fee paid by a separate cashier's check or money order made out to "The Embassy of Moldova."

Normal processing time is 5 business days. One business day rush processing requires an additional fee of 50% of the visa fee.

For Nepal make your money order or cashier's check, out to The Embassy of Nepal for:

Documents:

*The Embassy of Nepal requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

Visas:

Get the new visa application on: http://www.nepalembassyusa.org/

Turnaround time is approximately one week

For Nicaragua make your money order or cashier's check, out to "The Embassy of Nicaragua" for:

Usual turnaround time is 3 business days

For Nigeria make your money order out to The Embassy of Nigeria for:

Documents:

$15 per document
PLUS $25 PROCESSING FEE (not per document)

Turnaround time is usually one week

For Oman make your money order out to The Embassy of Oman for:

Documents:

*The Embassy of Oman requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

Turnaround time is usually 2-3 days

For The Philippines make your money order out to The Philippine Consulate General for:

Documents:

*The Embassy of the Philippines requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

Turnaround time is usually 1 week

For Russia make your money order or cashier's check, out to The Russian Embassy for:

The visa application form is available on http://www.russianembassy.org/

* RUSSIA REQUIRES YOUR ACTUAL PASSPORT *

Please sign your passports!

FEES as of 4/11/09:

Russia requires that you register your child's Russian passport at the Consular Section of the Embassy of Russia in Washington, DC or at the Consulate in charge of your state's jurisdiction.
Click here to obtain instructions and form.

Our fee to process the registration of your child is $50

For Rwanda make your MONEY ORDER (they do not accept cashier's checks or personal checks) for:

Usual turnaround time is 2 weeks

*The Embassy of Rwanda requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

AS OF AUGUST 31, 2010 RWANDA WILL ACCEPT NO MORE ADOPTION DOCUMENTS

For Sri Lanka make your MONEY ORDER (they do not accept cashier's checks or personal checks) for:

Usual turnaround time is overnight

*The Embassy of Sri Lanka requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Syria make your MONEY ORDER (they do not accept cashier's checks or personal checks) for:

Usual turnaround time is three business days

*The Embassy of Syria requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Taiwan make your MONEY ORDER (they do not accept cashier's checks or personal checks) to "TECRO" for:

Usual turnaround time is 48 hours

*The Embassy of Taiwan requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Thailand make your MONEY ORDER (they do not accept cashier's checks
or personal checks) out to "The Royal Thai Embassy" for:

Usual turnaround time is 3 days

*The Royal Thai Embassy requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Turkmenistan make your money order or cashier's check (no personal checks)
out to The Embassy of Turkmenistan for:

Adoption Agencies & Corporations may not bundle their documents for licensure

Usual turnaround time is 3 days

*The Turkmenistan Embassy requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Ukraine:

For United Arab Emirates make your money order or cashier's check (no personal checks)
out to The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates for:

For Uzbekistan make your money order or cashier's check (no personal checks)
out to The Embassy of Uzbekistan for

The Embassy does not accept any bundled documents

*The Uzbekistan Embassy requires a complete photocopy of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*

For Vietnam, make your money order ONLY (Vietnam will no longer allow personal, company or cashier's checks) out to Embassy of Vietnam for:

Document Authentication:

• $50 per document for Certification of document
• Turnaround time is approx. 2-3 weeks

NOTE: As of March 1999, it is no longer necessary to acquire the US Dept of State Seals on a Vietnam adoption dossier. Please do not send me a check for the State Dept. I will be taking extra care checking your country and State seals to make sure your dossier is processed smoothly.

Visas:

Visa application: http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org Click on "Consular Services"

And yes, I need your ACTUAL passports. PLEASE SIGN YOUR PASSPORTS!

NEW VISA FEES: 1/29/10

You only need ONE copy of the Visa Application (you used to need two)

Children can no longer travel on their parent's visa. They must have a visa of their own.

For Yemen make your MONEY ORDER (they do not accept cashier's checks or personal checks) to "Embassy of the Republic of Yemen" for:

Usual turnaround time is 10 business days

Expedited is 5 business days

*The Embassy of Yemen requires two complete photocopies of EVERY document
- that includes the State and Federal Seals*