Homestudy Fees

Posted on 8.27.09 from the blog "My Something Beautiful"
This time our homestudy will be more expensive because of the Hague Accreditation. We will pay $825 for the update which will be only ONE visit this time unlike the first one in which we had to have 3-4 visits. We will also have to pay a $300 Hague Liason fee. I was told this was because of all the extra requirements that Hague required versus those countries which aren’t Hague.

I was also told that with this new agency doing our homestudy that we would be required to pre-pay for the post-placement reports before we would be able to obtain the homestudy. Post-placements are $230 each. For the Colombia program, we need 4 post-placement reports. We didn’t have to pre-pay the previous agency. So, this was kindof a bummer.

I had hoped that as soon as we get an approved homestudy, we would begin applying for grants. After that, we would start to save and work toward the Immigration/FBI fees (which are over $800). Paying the post-placements initially would delay us in getting some of the other paperwork rolling. I took a shot and asked the agency if we could pay for half of the post-placement reports when the homestudy is complete, and then the final half after we file with UCIS. Surprisingly, I got an email today, stating THEY WOULD allow us to pay installments for the post-placements! Yea!!! God is good!

So, we have the total fee for the homestudy! The past few months, I have been able to work a few extra shifts that has allowed this. Now, we are beginning to save up for the next BIG step with UCIS. We are brainstorming different ways to raise some extra money to help accelerate the process of putting our dossier together! (I have a personal goal of completing the dossier before December!)

Please post your fun fundraising ideas! Thanks!