get your child's Certificate of Citizenship

FIRST go read the story on this blog.Grasping at the Wind. Story about a failed vacation due to improper citizen documentation claim by the vacation company.  http://graspingwind.blogspot.com/2013/10/bon-voyage.html?spref=tw

THEN you can read my comments on it below. Won't make any sense if you don't read their post first.


I would like to say that considering the number of internationally adopted kids, every company that could possibly have a citizen requirement should have the stipulations spelled out clearly. Very clearly. There is no excuse for this having occurred. 1. the company should have had the information in all their documents for all clients prior to boarding. 2. they should have some provision for the family since the company is the one who had failed to communicate what documents were needed. 3. a refund guarantee should have been offered immediately. 4. I do commend the company for being careful as it could sway child kidnapping and abuse, but this was pretty clearly not that situation. They may have to abide by Interpol as they are going through non US waters. Interpol is very stringent on this sort of thing, even with biological kids.

With that in mind, what most adoptive parents don't know is that very little will prove the citizenship of a child. While the adoption does make your child a citizen the documents to prove that vary greatly and it is the whim of the organization what proof they will accept as there is no national standard enforced. Your child comes in with a particular visa that makes them a citizen in conjunction with a state validation of foreign adoption (also called other things). This makes them a citizen and the green card they got should show that but not everyone takes that. So, you go with this info and get a passport (or passport card) for your child, that is good. It needs renewed and by the time you have renewed it every few years until your child reaches adulthood you have spent nearly as much as a COC would have cost and you now have to trust that your child will be responsible with his or her documents and renew the passport every few years. Good but not good enough in my opinion. Many kids now come in and automatically get a Certificate of Citizenship, that is awesome.  I would encourage all parents to go to the furthest extent in order to have the documents to prove their child's citizenship. That would be the Certificate of Citizenship. While not required it is the ONLY document universally accepted as proof. A terrible way to make money off adoptive parents who have already put out a lot of money. Yep. But worth it in the end if you don't come home with the visa that gives you one automatically.

Here is what the family had (and my experience with why that was not enough, but should have been):

• An original, embossed birth certificate issued by State Vital Records. (this is a Certificate of Foreign Birth in most counties and states. It is often considered a mere formality and in some cases is taken and in others it is declared a "souvenir document" and rejected, it is NOT proof of citizenship in any case. A Certificate of Foreign Birth is not really a Birth Certificate and thus your child will never have an actual Birth Certificate, as sad as that is.)
• His current Ethiopian passport with entry Visa (Child Citizenship Act of 2000 allows an adopted child’s foreign passport with US entry stamp as proof of US citizenship). (while this DOES indicate and proclaim citizenship, there is not a law binding on any entity to accept this as proof, even though it is. It is understandable that this would need to be accompanied by another document such as the adoption certificate in order to differentiate the child as a citizen by adoption rather than a child on a different form of visa. Many would not be able to distinguish between the variations of visa's allowed and what reasons they are given for. The employee would need trained on this to accept it. Which was obviously not the case.)
• High resolution scan of his USCIS (green card) on phone. They didn't take the original because it wasn't listed as a required document .  (the green card gives permission to enter and live in the US -in this case permanently, not always the case- it does not prove or grant Citizenship for all organizations rules, however it is supposed to do the same as a COC in this instance, especially when combined with all the other info they had available. I have to say that I would have taken this with as a precaution as it is a rather important document proving the right to be in the USA and leaving our shores is risky business without it. A copy or scan of this is just not going to cut it. If they had had it that would have worked. Too bad they did not think of it and the company did not mention it.)
• High res scan of his social security card and adoption decree; also offered to fax / email / overnight.  (the social security card does not prove citizenship ever, you can get one with a green card for work. The adoption decree from a Validation or Readopt does guarantee citizenship, however it is not used as proof in any setting that I am familiar with, why I don't know, it is silly.)

Paperwork once you are home: return of documents

6. Return of Documents. forms here. This is how you get the papers back which you turned in at the airport immigration (sealed packet from the US embassy in Addis) when you came into the US with your child. It is called the G-884 Return of Original Documentation. It is FREE!

If you do elect to do this they will not be in any file anywhere official anymore. Therefore you can not retrieve them later should they be lost. Of course USCIS will still have all their pertinent immigration info entered in the system. But, original paper work/documents will not be. 


There is not much in there ordinarily. If you were not given the Ethiopian court papers or the documents when you went to immigration in Ethiopia, you can not retrieve them. Ask for copies then.

Paperwork once you are home: Passport

5. Some families get a passport (link form and procedure) for their kids right away.  :) We are not getting these until we plan to go abroad. Not anytime soon for us. See above note from SS administration.  This SHOULD prove citizenship, but has been problematic for many. Therefore, we are not going this route. In order to keep it valid you will have to personally see to it being renewed. Will they do this themselves as a young adult? You can not guarantee that. I think this is just too risky. To apply for the passport your child will need to have one of these documents. (this is from the US passport office) :

You can prove your US citizenship with one of the following:

• Original Birth Certificate (if born in the United States);
• or Old (undamaged) passport;
• or Original Certificate of Citizenship or FS-240, DS-1350 ( if born outside the US );
• or Original Certificate of Naturalization issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Office.

Paperwork once you are home: social secruity number

4. SS#. (form and explanation of procedure) This is free!!!! Yippee!!! If you do this before the validation and or citizenship you will have to re do the name, if you are changing that. You can get a temporary # like a person on a work visa can get, this is the ATIN -link here-. You have to finalize it after the validation. Some offices will give you a hard time about it and will try to get you to have the cert. of cit. first and validation too. You don't have to do it this way, but we have opted to wait until last so that we have all the needed papers the first time through. We hope anyway. This also will not prove citizenship. If you go after validation but before Certificate of Citizenship or after *Certificate of Citizenship* this is what you need:
*US birth certificate (this is not going to do you any good as it is a mere formality and considered a "souvenir" paper as it is only a certificate saying your child was born in another country). Useless. Sometimes they take it and other times they do not. Especially if there is a name or date of birth change from USCIS info (pre COC).
*US passport or *Certificate of Citizenship* (COC) I have heard of people being refused with only a passport if the info is different than that of USCIS (pre COC).
* my driver's license
*a filled out SS card application
*validation court decree (if you changed names or date of birth and it no longer matches USCIS be prepared for them to reject the application until you get a COC or a new COC)

This should take 14 days. There is the possibility that they will have to verify your child's paperwork with USCIS and that will take an additional 14 days. We have that issue, likely because we changed the date of birth and we DO have the Certificate of Citizenship.

Notes on SS#:
While some have been refused a SS# based on not yet having the COC, you should be able to legally do this with a passport.
The birth certificate you get with the validation is a certificate of foreign birth and some offices will not accept it as a birth certificate. Many will make an acception if it comes WITH the validation.

*“Your Social Security Number and Card,” available at:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10002.pdf*

* *Citizenship or immigration status: We can accept only certain
documents as proofof U.S. citizenship. These include: a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. consular
report of birth, U.S. passport, Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate
of Citizenship.

*“Proof of Citizenship / Naturalization,” available at:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/hlp/isba/10/hlp-isba005-ctzn.htm***

We can accept most documents that show you were born in the U.S. If you are
a U.S. Citizen born outside the U.S., we need to see a document such as a:

  - U.S. consular report of birth,
  - U.S. passport,
  - Certificate of Naturalization, or
  - Certificate of Citizenship.

Paperwork once you are home: Certificat of Citizenship

3. With the new two trip rule the process here has changed for most. If both parents (or single parent) has met the child BEFORE court and AFTER referral then your child will enter the US on an IR3 visa and will automatically receive citizenship and the Certificate of Citizenship for no extra fee. How nice. I understand that this comes within one to two months of entering the US with your child after adoption. The child will have their Ethiopian name and the adoptive father's name as middle name and then your last name.... mostly (2008-11). If you want to change names there is a fee in the neighborhood of $300 + or so to get a new Certificate of Citizenship with the name change on it. I think you can do a Date of Birth change with tons of proof on it at the same time. I do not know if you change their name and or date of birth on the Validation if that nullifies the COC or not. I expect it is traceable to them and still proof of citizenship. Getting that COC without the validation first is causing a great deal of complications for name changes and date of birth changes.

For those of you who adopted under the old policies or who have had to recieve a waiver and only one parent met your child prior to court then the following applies to you.
Apply for your child's citizenship papers. (USCIS forms and info and fact sheet on citizenship) You will need to fill out the N-600 and pay the $550 per child (2013, this will go up each year). They DO  NOT accept personal checks you will need a bank check or money order. Until you do this your child WILL NOT be able to prove the he or she is a citizen of the US. This means your kids entered on an IR-4 visa (meaning the court procedure declaring the child officially yours happened before you met them in Ethiopia). In addition my understanding of and experience with this is that you will not be able to do this until after you have filed for and received the validation of foreign adoption as the US does not consider the adoption full and final abroad for certain legalities that I do not understand. Even though it is, you still have to have this paper. You DO NOT have to apply for the green card, your child is a legal alien (you should have received a green care in the mail after returning to the US) until the validation of foreign adoption at which time they become a citizen but can't prove it, they keep the green card as their form of ID. If you come in to the States on IR-4 you will get the green card automatically. (Two trip families who both traveled for court: If you come in on IR 3 your child will be automatically a Naturalized Citizen and you get the COC.) If your child comes in on IR 4 -YOU MUST FILE FOR PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP, while your child is a citizen after the validation they can not prove it without this. This can get sticky after they turn 18. A passport should prove this, but there have been some issues with it for some.

Other notes on this process:
From USCIS "The USCIS has re-engineered its processing in order to streamline the production of Certificates of Citizenship for certain children adopted abroad. Streamlined processes have been developed for newly entering IR-3 children who are automatically U.S. Citizens when they arrive. These newly entering IR-3 children will receive Certificates of Citizenship within 45 days of their arrival instead of receiving a Permanent Resident Card and then filing the
N-600 for a Certificate. (Please see our Fact Sheet for additional information)" This is NOT for a child entering on IR4 visa. It later explains that you have to buy that proof if both parents did not meet the child before the foreign adoption.

__________________________________________________________________________

 Notes on Citizenship:
*****:A word on Citizenship (Italics and bold mine. )

from the US gov. page
"U.S. CITIZENSHIP FOR AN ADOPTED CHILD It’s very important that you make sure your adopted child becomes a U.S. citizen. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 was designed to make the citizenship acquisition process easier and eliminate extra steps and costs. Under the Child Citizenship Act, children adopted abroad can automatically acquire U.S. citizenship if:
1. At least one parent of the child is a U.S. citizen;
2. The child is under the age of 18;
3. The child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence; and
4. The adoption is final. (re-adopt or validation is complete)

Because of the Child Citizenship Act, many (IR3) parents are no longer required to make a separate application for their children to be naturalized. If your adoption doesn’t meet these requirements, however, acquiring citizenship for your child will require an additional process and additional fees. If you postpone or even forget to file for your child’s naturalization, your child may have difficulty getting college scholarships, working legally, voting, et cetera. In some cases, your child might actually be subject to possible deportation. Make plans right away to protect your child’s future."
Page 31 | FROM A to Z

From the USCIS website:
"Children with IR-4 and IH-4 visas:
   - do not acquire automatic citizenship upon entry to the U.S., but
   instead become permanent residents.
   - will automatically receive a permanent resident card (green card).
   - will automatically acquire citizenship on the date of their adoption in
   United States, if the adoption occurs before the child’s 18th birthday."
USCIS site on this issue

"Permanent Residence (a "green card") grants the right to live in, leave and
reenter, and work in the U.S. It does not grant, for instance, the right to
vote in U.S. elections. Permanent Residence may be deemed abandoned if the
U.S. government believes that the permanent resident has not maintained
sufficient ties to the U.S. to demonstrate intent to keep it. It can also be
revoked if, for instance, the permanent resident commits certain crimes.

Citizenship includes all those rights, plus the right to vote and certain
other rights. Citizenship cannot be deemed abandoned even if the citizen
resides aborad for long periods of time without strong ties to the U.S. It
can be taken away, but normally only if the naturalized citizen can be
proven to have misrepresented something during the naturalization process
(or does something which could also cause removal of citizenship to a
U.S.-born citizen, such as fighting with a foreign army against the U.S.)"
http://www.reichimmigration.com/ImmigrationInfo/FAQs/PRvCitizenship.html 

My personal opinion note on this: It has been the experience of several families and on the advice of several agencies involved with adoptions as well as adoption lawyers, that it is imperative that you get the COC for your child. The passport will not prove citizenship in an official way before you validate the adoption in the US, because they are permanent residents, not citizens. It is debatable if it proves citizenship after the validation/finalization/readopt. I realize that the documents are not 100% clear on this issue, there is debate on this subject. However, I make this statement on the experience of so many others who I have read about and met on line finding out the hard way that they needed the COC. For the passport you pay for it every few years and after they are 18 they have to keep doing it, or they bear the burden of having to go through all the naturalization stuff that you could have spared them, they can not just get the COC after they are 18. You pay for the COC once-before they are 18. In the end the cost of the renewal of a passport and the risk of it lapsing and the burden of maintaining it after 18 is a far greater cost and risk than paying the $420 for the COC one time and never having to consider it again. You KNOW you have done the best thing for your child the first time.

When should I do this?
I would strongly suggest starting on this while you are waiting for the embassy date. You can download most of the forms to your computer and fill out what you can and get the name off the adoption birth certificate, etc. when you receive it. You will need the court adoption forms from Ethiopia. You can have the validation papers ready to go when you get home with a few add in's and that will be great being as tired as you will be when you get home. Sometimes, for older kids you need to wait a bit to see if their given age is off or not. Mostly it is, but if it needs changed is entirely up to you. In any case you have until they turn 18 to do this, of course I think it is best to get it done in the first two years home.

Legal information
Government page on International adoption
Inter Country adoptions A-Z
Adoption magazine guide to paperwork, clear and well laid out.
BAAS.org
http://www.legal-eaze.com/index_files/Page1946.htm
What ID do you need for what services or proofs? Check it out here.
http://www.coloradoidproject.org/RTF1.cfm?pagename=Resources
Article on why you should get the Certificate of Citizenship
http://www.ethicanet.org/

paperwork once you are home: Validation, Readoption, finalization, birth certificate

2. Apply for the validation of foreign adoption (also called re-adopt or finalization). (El Paso County COLORADO forms if you are in another state just look up your county or state government page and look for forms or information, then look for the word adoptions and then under that validation of foreign adoptions, this should come up with info for you). On this form you can also change your child's name. In many cases the child will not come home with the name you would like for him or her to have, and in many cases will not even have your last name. In many states you can also change the child's birth date if needed. See post on birth date change.  There are varying degrees of proof needed for this depending on your county and state. I would suggest doing this only if it is really needed. In Colorado, I added this to the form under the change of name. I also wrote a letter stating our reasons and attached the "proof" documents. It worked out just fine for us. If you do this first your child's name will be correct on all the rest of the official papers and you will not have to redo it. You have to do this before you can get the citizenship papers anyway. Get the fingerprint reports (FBI and state) and the child abuse record/clearance from your DHS from your adoption agency, ally need is the copies they have on file. Your window of time for them to remain valid is important. Get it done fast or you will need to renew them. That is ok and not too expensive, it just takes time. If you are waiting on age of child to change the birth date, you have time, do the fingerprints again and wait on them to come and your child's progress at the same time. The fee for this in CO is $168 (this is from 2010 and will go up with each year) per child if they are not biologically related, $168 if they are blood related and a $3 charge for each additional blood related child. After you validate the adoption your child WILL be a legal citizen however will still only have the green card, why I don't know. This process and paper does not prove your child's citizenship by parentage. So you have to file for the proof of citizenship.

**A few notes from our experience. *On the Report of Adoption put your child's name that you are changing it to, not their original name.

*** I do not know if you have to do the Validation if you came home on an IR3 Visa. They are already citizens. 

2b. *After your hearing you will walk the files over to the COURT records, not the county records, this is MOST likely in the same building you had your hearing in. We were actually told the county.... ha! *You can then buy some copies of the decree. They are $30-40 each (2010). This will be filed and sealed and you will have to have a court motion to open it again and so you need the copies as you will not be able to access this again with ease. *Then you wait for the letter in the mail from the state department that handles adoption birth certificates. For us that is in Denver. Then you send them the money and they send you the certificates. This gets you a state validation foreign birth certificate, which is useful and highly necessary. However, it states right on it that it is not proof of citizenship. In some instances it also can not be used as a proof of date of birth, identity because it is a certificate of foreign birth, so essentially they are still birth certificate-less.  It also says that it is just a certificate certifying foreign birth.... which is about as good as it gets if you don't have any clue when that precious child of yours was actually born. There is a fee here. In CO it is about $38 per child (2010). You can buy extra ones for a discount at this time. Sounds like a good idea. One for the lock box and one for use. Once you get the birth certificates you can file for proof of citizenship. Unlike the Validation you CAN order more of these at any time.

paperwork once you are home: ATIN, adoption tax id number

1. Apply for a temporary adoption tax ID number (ATIN link for info and form) for each child. This is a good option if you will not have time to get the validation and SS# done before tax time. This option is only valid if you have NOT done the validation yet. It takes about 10 weeks so plan ahead. If you do not need to change any name or date of birth at validation then you can get a SS# with the Certificate of Citizenship (COC) that comes automatically for children entering the country on an IR3 visa (both parents met the child before court).

Certificate of Citizenship and IR 3 visa. Name. Date of Birth.

USCIS on Certificate of Citizenship:

Your IR-3/IH-3 child has not received a Certificate of Citizenship

• If your child was admitted with an IR-3/IH-3 visa, but has not yet received his or her Certificate of Citizenship and it has been more than 50 days since admission, we will send you further instructions, please contact:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
130 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York, 14202

Attn: CCA Unit

or
Child-Citizenship-Act@DHS.gov

Your child’s name changed and does not match the Certificate of Citizenship

• If your child’s name is legally changed after his or her entry into the United States, you may file Form N-565, Application for Replacement of Naturalization/Citizenship Document. Follow the directions on the form on where to file this application
• Be sure to include the proper fee and evidence of your child’s legal name. The Form N-565 can be found at the website www.uscis.gov

Your child’s name on Certificate of Citizenship is incorrect or contains misspellings

• The name on your child’s certificate may not agree with how you want it to appear
• The information on your child’s certificate is the same as the information on your child’s legal documents in the Immigrant Data Summary issued by the American Consulate
  • USCIS can not legally change your child’s name. That must be done through court proceedings.
• If the U.S. Embassy, Consulate or USCIS made an error, it will be corrected without fee
  • Please file a Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document, with a written explanation of the error, mail the original Certificate of Citizenship and 2 new photos to: 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
130 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York, 14202
Attn: CCA Unit

• If there was an error on our part, we will correct it without fee.  However, if the information provided during the Form I-600 adjudication and visa issuance shows the child’s legal name to be the same as on in the Certificate of Citizenship, another certificate may not be issued

The date of birth on my child’s Certificate of Citizenship is incorrect

• The date of birth on your child’s certificate may not match the age you believe your child to be
• The information on your child’s certificate is the same information on the child’s legal documents which were submitted to generate the biographical information in the Immigrant Data Summary issued by the U.S. Embassy or consulate
• We must use the age as it appears in the legal documents, as received from the evidence presented to USCIS or U.S. Embassy or consulate
• If USCIS determines that the U.S. Embassy, consulate, or USCIS made an error, it will be corrected without fee.  However, if the information provided during the Form I-600 adjudication and visa issuance shows the child’s legal age to be in the same as on the Certificate of Citizenship, another certificate may not be issued.
• You may file Form N-565, Application for Replacement of Naturalization/Citizenship Document. Follow the directions on the form on where to file this application
• Be sure to include the proper fee and evidence of your child’s age. The Form N-565 can be found at the website www.uscis.gov.

Note:  Even if USCIS cannot change its official records concerning your child’s date of birth, the law of your State of residence may permit you to obtain an amended birth record or other evidence of a different birth date.  You may use that State document, to the extent permitted by State law, to prove your child’s legal age.

We lost my child’s Certificate of Citizenship

• If your child’s certificate is lost or destroyed you may file Form N-565, Application for Replacement Naturalization/Citizenship Document, with fee.  Follow the directions on the form on where to file this application.
• Be sure to include the proper fee and evidence of your child’s legal name. The Form N-565 can be found at the website www.uscis.gov.

We adopted more than one child, and have not received all of their certificates

• The visas of sibling groups of children who entered together may have been separated during the certificate preparation process.  Each child’s certificate will be mailed separately.  Please allow 50 days from the date of entry into the United States for the receipt of all the certificates.

synopsis of process to adopt

Here is a link to a blog with a great synopsis of the process to adopt a child. You may like to review this for yourself or share it with friends and family who are waiting with you. Either way, check it out and know you are in large company of others doing the same thing. Welcome.
See the synopsis on this wonderful blog:
My Faraway Daughter

USCIS error on permenant resident card

It sometimes happens that USCIS makes an error on your child's permanent resident card (green card). If this happens you need to file the I-90. You DO NOT need to pay the fee. Be sure to mark that it is an error by USCIS. Here is the link to the instructions.
This is the form I-90.

IF this does happen, take care of it right away. It took 3 months for us to get our new card.

Adoption Tax Credit CLASS!

There is a wonderful resource for families to learn about the Adoption Tax Credit. If you have been wondering about it, now here is the answer. This class should answer all your questions. Check it out.

tax time

In case you are interested the IRS had a great page talking about the expanded adoption tax credit for 2010 and further out. Here it is or you can check them out yourself  for much more information on their site at this IRS link.

Seven Facts about the Expanded Adoption Credit

IRS Tax Tip 2011-34, February 17, 2011 You may be able to take a tax credit of up to $13,170 for qualified expenses paid to adopt an eligible child. The Affordable Care Act increased the amount of the credit and made it refundable, which means it can increase the amount of your refund. Here are seven things the IRS wants you to know about the expanded adoption credit. 1. Beginning in tax year 2010 the credit is refundable, meaning that you can get it even if you owe no tax. 2. For tax year 2010 you must file a paper tax return and Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses, to get the credit and you must attach documents supporting the adoption. 3. Documents may include a final adoption decree, placement agreement from an authorized agency, court documents and the state’s determination for special needs children. 4. Qualified adoption expenses are reasonable and necessary expenses directly related to the legal adoption of the child. These expenses may include adoption fees, court costs, attorney fees and travel expenses. 5. An eligible child must be under 18 years old, or physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself or herself. 6. If your modified adjusted gross income is more than $182,520, your credit is reduced. If your modified AGI is $222,520 or more, you cannot take the credit. 7. Taxpayers claiming the credit will still be able to use IRS Free File to prepare their returns, but the returns must be printed and mailed to the IRS, along with all required documentation. For more information see the Adoption Benefits FAQ page available at http://www.irs.gov or the instructions to IRS Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses, which can be downloaded from the website or ordered by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).  Links: Form 8839 ( PDF) Instructions for Form 8839 ( PDF) Adoption Benefits FAQs

paperwork after you are home, what if USCIS makes a mistake? A change in date of birth lengthens process too.

Well,
It has been my experience that when you come into the country and submit all your papers and USCIS makes a mistake on your child's perm resident card then you are about a month behind on all papers touching USCIS from that point on. If you change your child's date of birth this will also lengthen the process due to the fact that they have to verify this at every single turn. This is our general time-line for papers after we came home with the boys.

Child 1

1. home in Aug 08
2. card came in Sept. 08
3. USCIS error
4. fixed with new card by Jan 09 (4 months)
5. ATIN #took 12 weeks (or 3 months) mid Jan to April 10th.
6. validation (4 months) and birth certificate (an additional 3 months) March to Oct 2009
7. COC took 6 months. Applied in October 2009, had to re-submit papers due to date of birth change in March 2010. Got it in April 2010. (this was also lengthened by the dob change.)
8. SS# applied Jan 18, 2011 received .............. March???? 8 weeks (or 2 months)? The estimate was 14 days.

Child 2

1. home in Aug 08
   
2. card came in Sept. 08 NO errors
   
3. ATIN #took 8 weeks (2 months) mid Jan to mid March 2009
   
4. validation (4 months) and birth certificate (an additional 3 months) March to Oct 2009
   
5. COC took 5 months. Applied in October 2009, had to re-submit papers due to date of birth change in Feb 2010. Got it in March 2010. (this was also lengthened by the dob change.)
   
6. SS# applied Jan 18, 2011 received Feb 14. about 4 weeks (one month). The estimate was 14 days.

Doing taxes

There are a lot of questions about the adoption tax credit laws and how to file. It has been easy for us to file for the last two years. I think there is only one year left for us. Fortuantely it has been extended. And I think that the limit is about  $13,170 this year for 2010 taxes.

Here's the official IRS document that explains it:

http://www.irs. gov/pub/irs- drop/n-10- 66.pdf

  A section to note for carry over credits is on  page 3 at the bottom - section 3

1. Amounts Carried Over from Earlier Taxable Years to a Taxable Year Beginning in 2010
An amount of an adoption credit claimed in an earlier taxable year that a taxpayer carries forward to a taxable year beginning in 2010 is allowable as a refundable tax credit. An amount that a taxpayer carries forward to a taxable year beginning in 2010 is not subject to an income limitation in that taxable year.

The following examples illustrate these rules.
Example 1. (i) In 2008, Taxpayer pays $2,000 of QAE to adopt an eligible child who is a citizen of the United States. In 2009, Taxpayer pays an additional $8,000 of QAE and the adoption becomes final. The adoption credit for $10,000 of QAE is allowable in 2009.

(ii) Taxpayer's tax liability for taxable year 2009 is $6,000, and Taxpayer applies $6,000 of the $10,000 credit against Taxpayer's 2009 tax liability. Taxpayer carries forward $4,000 of the credit to 2010.
(iii) In 2010, Taxpayer's tax liability is $3,000. Taxpayer applies $3,000 of the $4,000 carried forward adoption credit against Taxpayer's 2010 tax liability. Taxpayer is entitled to a refund of the remaining credit.

other links:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-10-66.pdf
http://www.thompson.com/public/newsbrief.jsp?cat=BENEFITS&id=3137
http://taxes.about.com/od/deductionscredits/qt/adoptioncredit.htm
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=228301,00.html
http://www.cwa.org/taxcredit.htmhowever you feel about CWA this is one of the best posts on this I have read. 

Process in Ethiopia for court and embassy, etc.

This was posted on a parent group and came from an adoption agency. It is great information on how court works and the process you can expect in general on the Ethiopia side. It is very much like what I know to be true and so I have decided to post it here for the masses of waiting parents to peruse to their own encouragement and edification. :) I have added the first section for further clarification.

Your dossier is sent to Ethiopia
The staff working with your agency will translate your dossier into Amharic. Your paperwork will wait to be attatched to the dossier of the child you are referred. Once referral is made the dossier of the child is attached to yours and it then goes on for the rest of this process.

Obtaining a Court Date
After a family receives a referral, it could be approximately one month or longer before your documents are filed for a court date. Keep in mind that no officials have received or reviewed your dossier in Ethiopia until you have accepted a referral. After you have officially accepted your referral is when dossiers are processed in order to obtain a court date and approval from the Ministry of Woman's Affairs (MOWA) and the Ethiopia Federal Court. After the required dossier documents are submitted for a court date, it could take another month to receive that date. Once the date it given, the actual court date is approximately 2 months later. These timelines are not set in stone and can be longer or slightly shorter, but this is a general/approximate estimate of the timelines, and what we are seen in several cases.

The judge in the Ethiopia Federal Court assigns court dates and dates are given based on her schedule; keep in mind also that other agencies families are waiting on court dates as well, and there could be upwards of 70 families waiting for a court date on any given day. Typically the time frame from referral acceptance to travel for the 1st trip is 3-4 months. Each adoption case is individual and can look very different in regard to time lines, therefore you cannot solely rely on what another family's time frame has been. It's a good base to use, but not as an absolute guideline to how your process and time lines will go. There are many things that are out of the control of our Ethiopia in country staff and is completely in the control of the federal court or other entities processing various steps for the adoption once your dossier is submitted. The key here is to remain flexible and to know that it is the process.

Waiting for Visa Interview Date
Once your adoption has been approved in the court, there are many things that have to take place before you can be issued a visa interview date.

The adoption decree has to be created. Again, one judge writes all of the adoption decrees. This could take 1 day or 7 days – depending on the judges schedule.

The child's birth certificate has to be created. This could take 3 days, or sometimes more
The child's passport has to be created. Could take up to 7 days for this to be completed

Child has to go for a visa medical, and children 2 years old and over are given a TB skin test at the visa medical.
If it's determined that the child tests positive for TB, the child will have to return for a chest x-ray. If active TB is found, the child will have to remain in country for a extended period of time for more testing and treatment.

All of the documents obtained after the court approval must be submitted to the US Embassy 2 weeks before a visa interview can be held.

After documents are submitted to the US Embassy, a review is done on the child's documents and the parents I-171H cable and home study and the officials decide if any further investigations are needed into the background information of the child. If so, this could delay confirming a visa interview date as the embassy officials will have to go out into the region of where the child was relinquished or abandoned to conduct such an investigation and it could take, a couple of days, a couple of weeks or even months.

Tentative visa interview travel dates that families receive after court approval are not confirmed by until the US Embassy has let us know that everything is complete on the family and child. That is generally approx. 1 ½ weeks prior to travel, if everything goes like clockwork.

Grant programs for post adoption expenses

Ok, you got all the funds in for the adoption. You found the funds for travel. You are home with your kids and WOW! there are still MORE fees! Where to you find that money? Well, if you have been doing the fundraising and grants and all that, you may already know about these, but just in case and if this is new to you..... here are two opportunities to apply for a grant that will give you those needed funds for post adoption expenses.

• Adoptive Families Program at The Adoption Exchange.  This is good for up to $250/child for post adoption services. Link to program.
• Sea of Faces Grant Program. Link.  Keep in mind that Sea of Faces allows families to apply up to six months after a child is home, so even if travel occurs quickly after receiving a referral, you are still eligible to apply.

Changing your child's date of birth

Ok, we all know that the birth dates we receive for our kids are often not entirely accurate if even close. Some are off by months and other by years. If you find that it is necessary to change your child's date of birth you will want to gather all the supporting data you can manage to find. It is best to do this BEFORE you submit the information for the validation in your county. I understand that Colorado is no longer uniformly allowing date of birth changes at validation. It is not verified if this is by county or for the entire state. If you choose to try to do this at validation I would suggest two things. 1. change your paperwork so that it is typed as part of the document you turn in. 2. have all the possible proof you can come up with, medical, dental, etc.  If this does not fly or you don't want to push it here use the format for what to do to change a date of birth after validation. Scroll down and  you will find it listed here.

Information to include in a request for change of birth date:

1. Referral documents stating a different date of birth or estimate (if you are going with this state why you feel it is more accurate). Anything from the orphanage.
2. Notes from dialog with birth relative on date of birth, ask if there is a birth certificate.
3. Medical evaluations done here in the states. Doctor, Dentist, bone scan, international adoption clinic, etc.
4. Ages and stages questionnaire results.You can fill this out online or get printed version from your doctor.
5. Letter from Doctor and/or Dentist confirming different age than is on the adoption birth certificate. Lab and/or test results.
6. Letter from you stating why you feel this is important for the child's well-being. Give reasons of puberty issues.
7. Anything else you can possibly think of.
8. Information on :

• the court random assignment of birth dates and 
• the translation issues 
• and the Coptic calendar and the fact that Ethiopia is 7 years behind our Gregorian calendar.

Send this in with your validation papers.
RE-WORD the end of the validation page (Decree Validating Foreign Adoption). At the end of this paper it states that the child's name is now______________( you get to fill that in.) After that type in "From this date forward the correct birth date of said child will be _______________". Fill that in too.

Most of the time you can fill this out online in a PDF format and print it. Sometimes you can not save it, others let you. Make a copy to send and a copy to keep. If you do the work for the judge and show the need for the change, they most often will work with you.

When you have the birth certificate with the new date of birth on it you will need to send in the supporting documents you used for the validation when you apply for the Certificate of Citizenship.
If you are applying for other items, such as passport, SS#, etc. you MAY need this for them as well.  I think the COC and birth certificate would be good enough, but just in case be prepared. I am in the process of the SS# so, I will update this post when I know how they respond. :)

If you have changed the date of birth for your child and you have already received the Certificate of Citizenship or any other legal document it may be complicated to change.  I would suggest not doing the passport or ss# until you have changed the date of birth. You can get this done on the Certificate of Citizenship but it will prove to be an ordeal. Send in the documentation used for the Validation along with the Validation update and state certification of foreign birth. Both having the new date of birth on it.

If you need to get a passport use the corrected Certificate of Citizenship as proof. You have to have either that or the old passport. If you have done a name change then the old passport will do you no good anyway and you will have to use the Certificate of Citizenship.

If you need to change the date of birth after the validation a mom on one of my groups had this experience (this is a segment of her note):
3) Obtained CO Birth Certificate (not evidence of citizenship)
4) Found out through dental examination and developmental assessments at International adoption clinic that our daughter was two years older then reported
5) Compiled documentation of evidence to change age and submitted to juvenile court via a general request to the court to petition for a order to CO Vital Records to change birth date (no charge for this, you do not need to re-finalize adoption a second time to change the BC)
6) Order approved by court so we sent a request for new BC and fees for new BC to CO Vital Records
7) Received new CO BC in which they literaly crossed off her old birth date and typed in the new one
8) Sent ALL documents of for US passport with a note emphazing that the birth date had been changed
9) Received passport with correct (new) DOB at which time I went in person to the SS office and they corrected the birth date and changed number to a US citizen number
10) When you file for the COC  you need to provide reason for why you changed the birthdate of your child. The papers you provided for your validation should suffice. **If you automatically received the COC when you got home with your child you will need to purchase a changed COC and apply for those changes. I am not sure if they have a record of allowing date of birth changes but they have done name changes. There is a fee for this.

Formula or Schedule for doing your paperwork if you are changing a date of birth: 

I just wanted to let you know that changing your child's dob is NO problem at
all. You just have to go in a certain order and provide certain paperwork. If you do not, you will have more issues and have to re-do different parts or you may not get this done at all. You can use this as a check list so it is not as overwhelming.
>
> 1. get a temporary adoption tax id # (ATIN) NOT a SS#!!!!!!!!! !!! You can use
this for taxes for at least two years. It takes 10 weeks to get this. Apply
asap. Con-currant with Validation. You can take the adoption tax credit with the
ATIN number for at least 2 years if not more, we have done two, the first year
before validation and the second one after, no problems.

> 2. validate and change dob at the same time. Provide reasons you find the new
date to be accurate and why the old date is inaccurate. Look at the start of this post for information on what to include.
This process takes about 3 months in ElPaso County. You can start right away
and do it concurrently with the ATIN.
> Then you wait for the Birth Certificate and that is about 2-3 months. Once you
have that you apply for the COC, you can have all the papers ready to go once
you get the coc in hand.

> 3. get the certificate of citizenship. You have to do this if you change dob
because of the green card issue mentioned. Send in all the same info on why you
changed the dob that you sent with the validation. This could possibly take up
to 5 months because of the dob change, ordinarily it is about 3 months, maybe
with documentation sent it would be more like 3 months. **If you automatically received the COC when you got home with your child you will need to purchase a changed COC and apply for those changes. I am not sure if they have a record of allowing date of birth changes but they have done name changes. There is a fee for this.

> 4. get the SS# card using the coc with the official dob change registered on
it. Take papers stating why you changed dob, just in case. This could take about
1-2 months, or weeks.

> 5. apply for US passport using the coc and SS# card. You should not need any
dob change reasons documentation, but take it just in case. This takes about a
month to two months.
>
> Total time if working on this solidly is roughly 10-15 months. Depending on
the work load and if you have to re-do any part of it at any point. So, if you
start right away you can get it done relatively quickly. Start the paperwork for
the next part while you are waiting for the prior to come. Start the validation
and ATIN while you wait for your travel dates. You can fill in the specifics
when you get your child's birth certificate and the adoption papers from the
court in ET. Then send it when you get home, in case you have more to change. Of
course if you want to change the dob, you will need to wait until you are sure
of your child's age. So, if you are adopting an older child or toddler maybe
wait on the validation at least 6 months, that, of course adds time to the whole
thing. But, if you do it in this order you won't have issues with the dob change
and it will flow more smoothly. Links for all the forms (federal and state of
CO) can be found at:
http://jkdcolorado.blogspot.com/2009/07/paperwork-once-you-are-home-validation.h\
tml

Resources for Adoption Paperwork Site Links

Resources for Adoption Paperwork:
Adoption Home Study Resources - 1-800-HomeStudy
Adoption Tax Credit - How to Claim the Adoption Credit
Colorado Bureau of Investigation
i-600instr.pdf (application-pdf Object)
Immigration Offices and Procedures in Colorado
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - Office Locator Office Detail
USCIS Home Page
ChildCitizenshipAct_022701.pdf (application-pdf Object)

Resources for Paperwork after you are home:
PostAdoptPaperwork.pdf (application-pdf Object)
Child Citizenship Act Program Update
USCIS Home Page
Special Requirements for Children Under Age 16
Application for a Social Security Card
New Rules For Getting A Social Security Number And Card
Colorado State Judicial Branch - Self Help - Forms
also check out this post.

Paperwork once you are home- validation-SS#, Citizenship

 Ok, I have been asked this question a lot of times now. I got great help from other moms home with their kids who have done all this. I am going to put in the way we are doing it and why along with the links to the paper work files.
1. Apply for a temporary adoption tax ID number (ATIN link for info and form) for each child. This is a good option if you will not have time to get the validation and SS# done before tax time. This option is only valid if you have NOT done the validation yet. It takes about 10 weeks so plan ahead. If you do not need to change any name or date of birth at validation then you can get a SS# with the Certificate of Citizenship (COC) that comes automatically for children entering the country on an IR3 visa (both parents met the child before court).


2. Apply for the validation of foreign adoption (also called re-adopt or finalization). (El Paso County COLORADO forms if you are in another state just look up your county or state government page and look for forms or information, then look for the word adoptions and then under that validation of foreign adoptions, this should come up with info for you). On this form you can also change your child's name. In many cases the child will not come home with the name you would like for him or her to have, and in many cases will not even have your last name. In many states you can also change the child's birth date if needed. See post on birth date change.  There are varying degrees of proof needed for this depending on your county and state. I would suggest doing this only if it is really needed. In Colorado, I added this to the form under the change of name. I also wrote a letter stating our reasons and attached the "proof" documents. It worked out just fine for us. If you do this first your child's name will be correct on all the rest of the official papers and you will not have to redo it. You have to do this before you can get the citizenship papers anyway. Get the fingerprint reports (FBI and state) and the child abuse record/clearance from your DHS from your adoption agency, ally need is the copies they have on file. Your window of time for them to remain valid is important. Get it done fast or you will need to renew them. That is ok and not too expensive, it just takes time. If you are waiting on age of child to change the birth date, you have time, do the fingerprints again and wait on them to come and your child's progress at the same time. The fee for this in CO is $168 (this is from 2010 and will go up with each year) per child if they are not biologically related, $168 if they are blood related and a $3 charge for each additional blood related child. After you validate the adoption your child WILL be a legal citizen however will still only have the green card, why I don't know. This process and paper does not prove your child's citizenship by parentage. So you have to file for the proof of citizenship.

**A few notes from our experience. *On the Report of Adoption put your child's name that you are changing it to, not their original name.

*** I do not know if you have to do the Validation if you came home on an IR3 Visa. They are already citizens. 

2b. *After your hearing you will walk the files over to the COURT records, not the county records, this is MOST likely in the same building you had your hearing in. We were actually told the county.... ha! *You can then buy some copies of the decree. They are $30-40 each (2010). This will be filed and sealed and you will have to have a court motion to open it again and so you need the copies as you will not be able to access this again with ease. *Then you wait for the letter in the mail from the state department that handles adoption birth certificates. For us that is in Denver. Then you send them the money and they send you the certificates. This gets you a state validation foreign birth certificate, which is useful and highly necessary. However, it states right on it that it is not proof of citizenship. In some instances it also can not be used as a proof of date of birth, identity because it is a certificate of foreign birth, so essentially they are still birth certificate-less.  It also says that it is just a certificate certifying foreign birth.... which is about as good as it gets if you don't have any clue when that precious child of yours was actually born. There is a fee here. In CO it is about $38 per child (2010). You can buy extra ones for a discount at this time. Sounds like a good idea. One for the lock box and one for use. Once you get the birth certificates you can file for proof of citizenship. Unlike the Validation you CAN order more of these at any time.

3. With the new two trip rule the process here has changed for most. If both parents (or single parent) has met the child BEFORE court and AFTER referral then your child will enter the US on an IR3 visa and will automatically receive citizenship and the Certificate of Citizenship for no extra fee. How nice. I understand that this comes within one to two months of entering the US with your child after adoption. The child will have their Ethiopian name and the adoptive father's name as middle name and then your last name.... mostly (2008-11). If you want to change names there is a fee in the neighborhood of $300 + or so to get a new Certificate of Citizenship with the name change on it. I think you can do a Date of Birth change with tons of proof on it at the same time. I do not know if you change their name and or date of birth on the Validation if that nullifies the COC or not. I expect it is traceable to them and still proof of citizenship. Getting that COC without the validation first is causing a great deal of complications for name changes and date of birth changes.

For those of you who adopted under the old policies or who have had to recieve a waiver and only one parent met your child prior to court then the following applies to you.
Apply for your child's citizenship papers. (USCIS forms and info and fact sheet on citizenship) You will need to fill out the N-600 and pay the $550 per child (2013, this will go up each year). They DO  NOT accept personal checks you will need a bank check or money order. Until you do this your child WILL NOT be able to prove the he or she is a citizen of the US. This means your kids entered on an IR-4 visa (meaning the court procedure declaring the child officially yours happened before you met them in Ethiopia). In addition my understanding of and experience with this is that you will not be able to do this until after you have filed for and received the validation of foreign adoption as the US does not consider the adoption full and final abroad for certain legalities that I do not understand. Even though it is, you still have to have this paper. You DO NOT have to apply for the green card, your child is a legal alien (you should have received a green care in the mail after returning to the US) until the validation of foreign adoption at which time they become a citizen but can't prove it, they keep the green card as their form of ID. If you come in to the States on IR-4 you will get the green card automatically. (Two trip families who both traveled for court: If you come in on IR 3 your child will be automatically a Naturalized Citizen and you get the COC.) If your child comes in on IR 4 -YOU MUST FILE FOR PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP, while your child is a citizen after the validation they can not prove it without this. This can get sticky after they turn 18. A passport should prove this, but there have been some issues with it for some.

Other notes on this process:
From USCIS "The USCIS has re-engineered its processing in order to streamline the production of Certificates of Citizenship for certain children adopted abroad. Streamlined processes have been developed for newly entering IR-3 children who are automatically U.S. Citizens when they arrive. These newly entering IR-3 children will receive Certificates of Citizenship within 45 days of their arrival instead of receiving a Permanent Resident Card and then filing the
N-600 for a Certificate. (Please see our Fact Sheet for additional information)" This is NOT for a child entering on IR4 visa. It later explains that you have to buy that proof if both parents did not meet the child before the foreign adoption.

4. SS#. (form and explanation of procedure) This is free!!!! Yippee!!! If you do this before the validation and or citizenship you will have to re do the name, if you are changing that. You can get a temporary # like a person on a work visa can get. You have to finalize it after the validation. Some offices will give you a hard time about it and will try to get you to have the cert. of cit. first and validation too. You don't have to do it this way, but we have opted to wait until last so that we have all the needed papers the first time through. We hope anyway. This also will not prove citizenship. If you go after validation but before Certificate of Citizenship or after *Certificate of Citizenship* this is what you need:
*US birth certificate (this is not going to do you any good as it is a mere formality and considered a "souvenir" paper as it is only a certificate saying your child was born in another country). Useless.
*US passport or *Certificate of Citizenship*
* my driver's license
*a filled out SS card application
*validation court decree

This should take 14 days. There is the possibility that they will have to verify your child's paperwork with USCIS and that will take an additional 14 days. We have that issue, likely because we changed the date of birth.

Notes on SS#:
While some have been refused a SS# based on not yet having the COC, you should be able to legally do this with a passport.

*“Your Social Security Number and Card,” available at:
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10002.pdf*

* *Citizenship or immigration status: We can accept only certain
documents as proof
of U.S. citizenship. These include a U.S. birth certificate, U.S. consular
report of birth, U.S. passport, Certificate of Naturalization or Certificate
of Citizenship.

*“Proof of Citizenship / Naturalization,” available at:
http://www.socialsecurity.gov/hlp/isba/10/hlp-isba005-ctzn.htm***

We can accept most documents that show you were born in the U.S. If you are
a U.S. Citizen born outside the U.S., we need to see a document such as a:

  - U.S. consular report of birth,
  - U.S. passport,
  - Certificate of Naturalization, or
  - Certificate of Citizenship.

5. Some families get a passport (link form and procedure) for their kids right away.  :) We are not getting these until we plan to go abroad. Not anytime soon for us. See above note from SS administration.  This SHOULD prove citizenship, but has been problematic for many. Therefore, we are not going this route.To apply for the passport your child will need to have one of these documents. (this is from the US passport office) :

You can prove your US citizenship with one of the following:

• Original Birth Certificate (if born in the United States);
• or Old (undamaged) passport;
• or Original Certificate of Citizenship or FS-240, DS-1350 ( if born outside the US );
• or Original Certificate of Naturalization issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Office.

6. Return of Documents. forms here. This is how you get the papers back which you turned in at the airport immigration (sealed packet from the US embassy in Addis) when you came into the US with your child. It is called the G-884 Return of Original Documentation. It is FREE!

Birthdate change post here

Notes on Citizenship:
*****:A word on Citizenship (Italics and bold mine. )

from the US gov. page
"U.S. CITIZENSHIP FOR AN ADOPTED CHILD It’s very important that you make sure your adopted child becomes a U.S. citizen. The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 was designed to make the citizenship acquisition process easier and eliminate extra steps and costs. Under the Child Citizenship Act, children adopted abroad can automatically acquire U.S. citizenship if:
1. At least one parent of the child is a U.S. citizen;
2. The child is under the age of 18;
3. The child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant for lawful permanent residence; and
4. The adoption is final. (re-adopt or validation is complete)

Because of the Child Citizenship Act, many (IR3) parents are no longer required to make a separate application for their children to be naturalized. If your adoption doesn’t meet these requirements, however, acquiring citizenship for your child will require an additional process and additional fees. If you postpone or even forget to file for your child’s naturalization, your child may have difficulty getting college scholarships, working legally, voting, et cetera. In some cases, your child might actually be subject to possible deportation. Make plans right away to protect your child’s future."
Page 31 | FROM A to Z

From the USCIS website:
"Children with IR-4 and IH-4 visas:
   - do not acquire automatic citizenship upon entry to the U.S., but
   instead become permanent residents.
   - will automatically receive a permanent resident card (green card).
   - will automatically acquire citizenship on the date of their adoption in
   United States, if the adoption occurs before the child’s 18th birthday."
USCIS site on this issue

"Permanent Residence (a "green card") grants the right to live in, leave and
reenter, and work in the U.S. It does not grant, for instance, the right to
vote in U.S. elections. Permanent Residence may be deemed abandoned if the
U.S. government believes that the permanent resident has not maintained
sufficient ties to the U.S. to demonstrate intent to keep it. It can also be
revoked if, for instance, the permanent resident commits certain crimes.

Citizenship includes all those rights, plus the right to vote and certain
other rights. Citizenship cannot be deemed abandoned even if the citizen
resides aborad for long periods of time without strong ties to the U.S. It
can be taken away, but normally only if the naturalized citizen can be
proven to have misrepresented something during the naturalization process
(or does something which could also cause removal of citizenship to a
U.S.-born citizen, such as fighting with a foreign army against the U.S.)"
http://www.reichimmigration.com/ImmigrationInfo/FAQs/PRvCitizenship.html 

My personal opinion note on this: It has been the experience of several families and on the advice of several agencies involved with adoptions as well as adoption lawyers, that it is imperative that you get the COC for your child. The passport will not prove citizenship in an official way before you validate the adoption in the US, because they are permanent residents, not citizens. It is debatable if it proves citizenship after the validation/finalization/readopt. I realize that the documents are not 100% clear on this issue, there is debate on this subject. However, I make this statement on the experience of so many others who I have read about and met on line finding out the hard way that they needed the COC. For the passport you pay for it every few years and after they are 18 they have to keep doing it, or they bear the burden of having to go through all the naturalization stuff that you could have spared them, they can not just get the COC after they are 18. You pay for the COC once-before they are 18. In the end the cost of the renewal of a passport and the risk of it lapsing and the burden of maintaining it after 18 is a far greater cost and risk than paying the $420 for the COC one time and never having to consider it again. You KNOW you have done the best thing for your child the first time.

When should I do this?
I would strongly suggest starting on this while you are waiting for the embassy date. You can download most of the forms to your computer and fill out what you can and get the name off the adoption birth certificate, etc. when you receive it. You will need the court adoption forms from Ethiopia. You can have the validation papers ready to go when you get home with a few add in's and that will be great being as tired as you will be when you get home. Sometimes, for older kids you need to wait a bit to see if their given age is off or not. Mostly it is, but if it needs changed is entirely up to you. In any case you have until they turn 18 to do this, of course I think it is best to get it done in the first two years home.

Legal information
Government page on International adoption
Inter Country adoptions A-Z
Adoption magazine guide to paperwork, clear and well laid out.
BAAS.org
http://www.legal-eaze.com/index_files/Page1946.htm
What ID do you need for what services or proofs? Check it out here.
http://www.coloradoidproject.org/RTF1.cfm?pagename=Resources
Article on why you should get the Certificate of Citizenship
http://www.ethicanet.org/