Crossroads is approved by the government of P.R. China to place Chinese children. The China Center for Adoption Affairs has the sole authority to refer and place children internationally.
OVERVIEW:The China Center for Adoption Affairs CCAA is the agency which governs adoptions in China. They have developed a system which created an adoption process that is smooth and easy. Typically, the adoptive family will be linked with a girl who is between 8 and 12 months of age. Adoptive families must be at least 30 years of age and preference is given to families where one adoptive parent is no more than 45 years older than the child. Approximately two months after the family has accepted the referral of a child, the adoptive family and child are united in China. The length of stay in China to complete this process is 2 weeks. Please click through the tabs across the top of this page for further information.
NEW REQUIREMENTS AS OF MAY 1, 2007: Minimum 2 years marriage, if a divorce, 5 years of marriage. Limit of 2 divorces. Both spouses over 30 and under 50 years of age--exception to age 55 for a special needs child. Good physical and mental health-no major sight, hearing, ambulatory loss; no major organ replacement; no severe facial deformation; BMI=weight. Both spouses are high school graduates or above. Four or fewer children in the home with the youngest child being at least 1 year of age-exception for families who adopt special needs children.
The adorable Chinese girls who are available for adoption are usually infants 8 - 12 months of age and are generally in good health. Occasionally, twins and boys will be available. It is unlikely that sibling groups will be available. The referral information will be translated into English in 24 – 48 hours. The referral information includes at least one photo of the child, one page of medical information, a developmental chart, and information about the child’s personality and day to day routine.
There are many children with medical special needs, some are minor and some are medically correctible such as a cleft lip and/or palate. The ages of these children range from infant to 10 years old. Crossroads has pictures and information on special needs children. Visit our waiting children’s page to find some of the children who are waiting. If you are interested in a child with special needs, we are able to send you the information by e-mail.
China has the following restrictions:
- Adoptive parent's age is a minimum of 30 years of age and are under 50 years of age. The family’s annual income is a minimum of $10,000 per family member (this includes the child to be adopted). The family should have minimum net assets of $80,000.
- The adopters are a married couple with a minimum length of marriage of 2 years. In case that either spouse is divorced, the length of marriage should be a minimum of 5 years. No more than 2 divorces per family are allowed.
- The health of the adoptive parent(s) is generally good and do not have the following conditions: AIDS, mental handicap, infectious disease within infective stage, binocular blind or binocular parallax or monocular blind and with no ocular prosthesis, binaural hearing loss or language function loss (adoption of special needs children who have identical conditions will be exempt from this limitation), afunction or dysfunction of limbs or trunk, severe facial deformation, severe diseases which require long-term treatment and which affect life expectancy such as malignant tumor, lupus erythematosus, nephrosis, epilepsy, post-surgery of major organ transplants which are less than 10 years, schizophrenia, medication for severe mental disorders like depression, mania or anxiety neurosis, BMI weight of 40 or less.
- Education of graduation from high school or higher.
- A family has 4 or fewer children presently in the home, the youngest of which is a minimum of 1 year of age. Adoption of special needs children will be exempt from the limitation of the number of children in family under 18 years of age.
- No criminal sanction. Adoption application will be given consideration on a case by case basis when either spouse has less than 3 criminal records of slight severity with no severe outcomes and the time for correction of wrong has reached 10 years or has less than 5 records of traffic law violation with no severe outcomes.
The Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs makes the final decision on the suitability of the family and makes all matches between parents and children.
As soon as your home study is completed, Crossroads or your home study agency will send it to the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS). The approval time varies from state to state, from 2 weeks to 2 months. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, this time is 3 – 5 weeks. During this time, the adoptive family is working with the Crossroads Program Specialist to assemble the dossier. This is not a difficult process and is usually completed well in advance of receiving the I-171H CIS approval. Upon receipt of the I-171H, the dossier documents are assembled. The documents are then taken by the adoptive family or sent by courier to the Secretary of State where each notarized document is certified with a Certificate of State. The next step is to send the certified dossier to the China Consulate for authentication. For Minnesota and Wisconsin residents,this is in Chicago. The dossier will be authenticated in one to two weeks and returned to the Crossroads Office. Your dossier will then be bundled with other family’s dossiers. The CCAA requires that agencies form groups of adoptive families. At Crossroads the typical group consists of 5 – 10 families. You will know in advance which group you are assigned and will know when the dossiers have been sent to the CCAA. All work with your dossier is by courier – either Federal Express or DHL – so that no time is wasted. The dossiers are logged in at the CCAA. The time to referral is currently 19-24 months after a group of dossiers is logged in. During this time, the dossiers are translated and reviewed for accuracy and content. If all is well, and usually is , the dossiers are approved and are sent to the referral department. As the referral department receives information of children who are legally free for adoption, they match those children with the next group of waiting families.
The CCAA sends all referrals by courier. Families are called the same day that the referrals are received in the Crossroads office. Families either come to the office to receive the referral or the referral photo is scanned and sent by e-mail and the referral documents are sent by courier. At this time, the family reviews the information and sends their acceptance to the Crossroads office. Crossroads sends the acceptances to the CCAA by courier. Within approximately 4 weeks, the CCAA will send “Travel Letters” to Crossroads which allows the families to make arrangements to travel to China. Our liaison in China will make the necessary appointments at the capitol city of the province of your child’s birth and the US Consulate in Guangzhou. Your adoption will take place on a Monday in the capitol city and the following week the U.S. will issue your child’s visa at the Consulate in Guangzhou.
Crossroads holds a "travel meeting" prior to a group traveling to China. The focus is to review the paperwork needed to complete the adoption and to discuss any last minute questions. It is a marvelous time for the group to share the trip excitement.
Go to travel for the most exciting step of your adoption process.
Envision acclimating to "China time" by visiting the Great Wall, Touring the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace or walking across Tiananmen Square, or enjoying the evening watching an acrobat show or an opera. Most Crossroads families fly into Beijing arriving on Wednesday or Thursday evening which give them enough time to experience the wonders of China, rest after the long flight and meet the Crossroads liaison for the first time.
Sunday is the day to travel to the capital city of your child’s province. Our liaison will arrange for all of your flights, hotel and daily travel. You will have time to settle quickly into your hotel and then you will receive your child in your arms for the very first time! This is a wonderful moment and you will have our liaison and other families in your group to share this happiness. When the documents are ready, the group will fly to Guanzhou. The US Consulate requires that all immigrants have a medical exam before a visa is issued. This is usually scheduled for Saturday. Appointments at the US Consulate are given on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays. Whatever day you are assigned, your visa will be issued the following day. If you are leaving China via Hong Kong, you should be able to make the evening flight. If you are flying to the US from Guangzhou, the flight leaves early the next morning.
The sights, the culture, the personal assistance of our liaison and the support of other families makes this truly exceptional and satisfying.
The CCAA requires that reports are sent to their office at 6 and 12 months after placement.
Your adoption counselor will visit you within the first few weeks after you return home. She will gather a copy of your child’s legal documents which include a copy of her Chinese passport showing the photo page and the US visa page. You will also be given instructions on how to proceed with obtaining a Minnesota birth certificate or, if you live in Wisconsin, instructions on how to proceed with re-finalization. If you live in a different state, Crossroads will assist your agency as needed in this area. Hearing about your travel experience and the happy moments when your child was first placed in your arms is always a priority. Your adoption counselor will also help with the adjustment and bonding of your newly adopted child.
Crossroads will visit with you again at 5 months and 11 months after placement. The CCAA and Crossroads wants to make sure that your adjustment continues to be smooth. Several photos will be obtained at this meeting—some of your child and some of your whole family. The Post Placement department at the CCAA scans every photo into their computer and they roll across their screens, one after the other, showing beauty and happiness as well as those fun photos that every parent is able to snap at just the right moment.
Crossroads will write the required reports and send them, along with the photos to our liaison who will translate them and submit them on time to the CCAA. If your home study agency is visiting and preparing the reports, Crossroads will assist them as needed.
Submitting the proof of citizenship, post placement reports, and photos to the CCAA is very important. Fulfilling these requirements in a timely manner is important to Crossroads and confirms to the CCAA our satisfaction with their program and respect for their rules and requirements.