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Arkhangelsk Region TRAVEL ITINERARY Following is a travel itinerary for all families adopting from the Arkhangelsk region of Russia. Please review this itinerary before traveling, so that any questions you have can be addressed with your consultant to your satisfaction. Note: most of the children available for adoption in Arkhangelsk Region live in orphanages of Arkhangelsk town. However, some children are adopted from small towns out in the region (Kotlas and Koryazhma towns), which involves extra travel. If the child to be offered to you lives outside Arkhangelsk town you will be notified of that in advance. A. The First Trip. 1. It is recommended that you arrive in St. Petersburg. For families going to Kotlas or Koryazhma town, Arkhangelsk region: If the child to be offered to you lives in Kotlas or Koryazhma town, Arkhangelsk Region, arriving in Moscow recommended. At the airport you will be met by AAI person holding a sign with your names on it. Services provided by our St.Petersburg/Moscow staff:
2. You will fly to Arkhangelsk in accordance with your travel itinerary, which is usually the next day. 3. In Arkhangelsk you will be met by AAI regional coordinator and taken to the hotel. Your coordinator will arrange all scheduling of adoption related appointments and transportation during your stay. 4. You will first visit the Adoption Center to whom you must give copies of your visas and copies of all your airline tickets. The Adoption Center will then give you written permission to see a child or children at the orphanage. Either the same day or the following day you will visit the orphanage, depending on the time and orphanage location.
Regarding dress code: For the first trip families are welcome to wear jeans and other informal clothes, especially while in an orphanage (playing with children on the carpet). Heavy suitcases will only make additional difficulties while on a plane. Official suit (dress code) is required only for the second trip - for the court hearing. For families going to Kotlas or Koryazhma town, Arkhangelsk region: If the child to be offered to you lives in Kotlas or Koryazhma town, then upon receiving the permission at the Adoption Center you will take another flight. Kotlas and Koryazhma are nice rural towns about 800 km. away from Arkhangelsk. Flying there takes 1 hour and 15 minutes in a nice small twin-engine jet plane. With this sort of planes you have to carry all your bags onboard, so it is recommended not to take too much baggage with you. Please be advised that buying food, water, diapers and whatever else you may need on the trip is not a problem even in rural places of Russia, so you do not need to try and bring everything from the USA.Your regional coordinator will be traveling along with you on the trip. 5. Your regional coordinator will accompany you to the orphanage to visit with the child(ren). You should ask the doctors questions about the child's medical condition at this time. On this first trip, it's extremely important to do the following:
You may inquire at the facility if you will be permitted to take either photographs or video of the child. This will be entirely up to the orphanage authorities and handled on a case by case basis. 6. You will have the opportunity to see the child 2-3 times during this first visit. At the end of the trip you will have to sign the document stating your decision and the court petition. 7. After your first trip the Adoption Center sends your request letter to Moscow to begin the process toward a court date. 8. You will then return to St. Petersburg and depart the country. You will not need to go to the American Embassy at this time. For families going to Kotlas or Koryazhma town, Arkhangelsk region: Families adopting from Kotlas or Koryazhma usually return to Moscow and fly out of there. 9. Once home, you will wait for the region to receive an approval letter from Moscow, followed by the scheduling of your court date. Usually this will take no more than six to eight weeks. When you receive your court date, you will return to Russia. B. The Second Trip. 1. When you receive your court date you will return to Russia. You may book your tickets arriving in St. Petersburg or Moscow, and going back home from Moscow. During your stay in Moscow, AAI Moscow coordinator will assist you. 2. You must arrange your arrival in the region at least one business day prior to your appearance in court to see the child and visit the Adoption Center. The regional coordinator will schedule these visits and accompany you. For families going to Kotlas or Koryazhma town, Arkhangelsk region: On the second trip you will not need to travel to the place where your child is. You will fly to Arkhangelsk, and you regional coordinator will arrange for your child to be brought to Arkhangelsk. Your court hearing will be held in Arkhangelsk. 3. You will represent yourself in court but will be well prepared by your regional representative for this event. You should dress with some formality for this occasion (men should wear a nice shirt & tie and women a nice dress). Typically court can take between one to three hours. 4. A court decision will be rendered at the end of this proceeding. It has been our experience that judges in this region usually waive the ten day waiting period, however, there is no guarantee of this. It is a Federal law of Russia that there is a ten day waiting period after all court decisions. It is entirely up to the judge's discretion to waive these days. If the ten day waiting period is waived, the written court decision is usually issued the same day or following morning. If the ten day period is not waived, then you will only receive the written court decision 10 days after the court hearing. 5. Once the written court decision is issued you will need to then go to two offices in order to obtain a birth certificate, an adoption certificate, and a travel passport for the child. Depending on the day of the week, you can usually complete these tasks in two - three days. 6. You will then return to Moscow where you will complete the U.S. Embassy process, including having your child examined by the Medical Center recognized by the US Embassy. The Moscow coordinator will make the appointments and accompany you and your child. The Medical Center charges approximately $100 for the service (if they find that your child needs some additional tests or vaccinations, you will be charged for that separately). Generally, this is a very brief examination and is not intended to provide you with significant information about your child's health. 7. Embassy appointment - see the list of documents listed in the Russian travel packet. The purpose of the interview is obtaining the visa for your adopted child to enter the USA. You will then be given a sealed envelope containing the information you will need to present to the U.S. Immigration upon your return to the USA. 8. Moscow coordinator will also arrange the registration of your adopted child with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A final note: The cities where you will be are normally safe cities where you may walk comfortably in the daytime. However, at night we prefer that you be accompanied by one of our overseas partners or their staff. Also, you can expect that people who you will meet on your trip will be nice and friendly, and they will do their best to make you feel comfortable. |
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Travel Itinerary |
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| © 2005 Adoption Associates, Inc. Representative Office in Russia |