After you have completed steps one through five (see below for links) in the Viet Nam adoption process, you will begin to compile your dossier. Most adoption agencies will advise you to hold off on collecting documents for your dossier as many have expiration dates. Getting documents too early could force you to start over again on them if they do expire; this causes much more of a headache and financial strain than you need this far into the process.

A dossier is the set of documents that will be sent to Viet Nam and essentially be your family’s file for your adoption in country. Your dossier will include your home study report, I171H approval titled “Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition,” birth/marriage/death/divorce certificates as applicable, copies of the signature page of your passport and a letter from your employer stating your title and salary, among other documents.

Your adoption agency will guide you through this process and advise you as you compile your dossier. There will be numerous forms that you will need to get notarized. Be sure to check with your agency, as many times the signatures and notary information must be done in a blue pen to be acceptable. Also make sure to make photocopies of every single document that you work on, and carry these with you to Viet Nam (carry them on your person, not in checked luggage.)

After you have gathered all the required documents, the dossier will be authenticated (our agency did this for us, thank goodness!) and sent over to Viet Nam where it will be translated and logged in. Once your dossier is accepted, you will be officially DTV or Dossier to Viet Nam! The bulk of your paperwork is done and you can take a short, but much deserved breather. Next we will discuss getting and accepting your referral.

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More Reading:
The USCIS Process for a Viet Nam Adoption
The Viet Nam Adoption Home Study
Choosing a Viet Nam Adoption Agency
Deciding to Adopt from Viet Nam
Making the Decision to Adopt