Rwanda Adoption Process

Click here to view a complete overview of an international adoption process.

Below is an overview of a Rwandan adoption process from the time AGCI receives adoptive parents' completed dossier and home study.

AGCI Sends Dossier for Authentication and Translation - 1 month

After your dossier is complete, it will be sent for authentication at the Rwandan Embassy. After authentication, your dossier will be sent to Rwanda where it is translated.

Referral Process - up to 6 months

Once translated, your dossier will be submitted to the Ministry of Family & Gender. Your family will wait up to six months to be approved by the ministry, receive a Non-Objection letter, and then be matched with an available child. Referral information includes the child's photo, medical history, and social background. Each child is tested for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and other medical conditions. This time frame can fluctuate.

Adoption Process - 2 to 4 weeks

After your family has formally accepted a referral, AGCI's in-country staff will then sign the Act of Adoption and gather documents from the orphanage to be authenticated. The documents will then be submitted to the local court and a court date will be scheduled within one to two weeks. Once a verbal approval has been given by the judge at the court date, you will wait five business days for the official signed judgment finalizing the adoption to be released.

Travel - 7 to 10 days

Once your adoption has been approved and the written judgment has been received, you will travel to Rwanda, where you will spend time bonding with your child as well as finalizing the paperwork and obtaining your child's passport. You will spend a minimum of seven days in Rwanda, then travel to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to finalize the U.S. visa process. When the visa is approved, your family can travel home.

Post-Adoption - 2 years

In Rwanda, an adoption is finalized before entrance into the United States. Upon arrival, post-adoption reports are due at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months on the anniversary of the U.S. Embassy appointment date.

To request a complete list of AGCI requirements please e-mail info@allgodschildren.org.

"Land of a Thousand Hills," Rwanda is a small, verdant country in central Africa. The beautiful rolling landscape is dotted with tea plantations, rugged mountains, and towering volcanoes, with the shimmering Lake Kivu in the west. The capital city of Kigali, situated at Rwanda's geographical heart, is the country's most important business center and the main point of entry.

Today Rwanda focuses mainly on ecotourism, being a nature lover's paradise and home to the world's largest population of mountain gorillas within the Volcanoes National Park. Gorilla tracking is the number one tourist attraction, with the plight of these endangered animals brought to international attention by the film Gorillas in the Mist, which was shot on location in the Virungas. Nyungwe Forest National Park is home to a large number of smaller primates, as well as more than 275 bird species, while Akagera National Park is big game country where herds of elephants, buffalo, lions, hippos, and plains animals inhabit the African savannah landscape set among a web of swamps and lakes. The waters of Lake Kivu are enclosed by green terraced hills that give way to beaches, inlets, and the resort towns of Gisenyi, Kibuye, and Cyangugu.

Rwanda's past, however, does not paint as an attractive picture. The legacy of almost 60 years of sporadic fighting has taken its toll on most of the population. The horrific genocide of one million Rwandans in 1994 shocked the world. Since then, Rwanda has had to work hard to raise awareness of the nation as an unspoiled, scenically stunning destination rich in culture and wildlife, boasting fine food and one of the friendliest welcomes in Africa.

http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/ua.htm

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Orphan Statistics

An estimate of one million children is orphaned in Rwanda.

Adoption Trend

Immigrant visas issued to US citizens:

Map of Rwanda

Capital: Kigali

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Climate:

Rwanda experiences a pleasant, tropical highland climate with temperatures that vary depending on altitude, but vary little from month to month in the same location. There are two wet seasons and two dry seasons; a long and a short one. The wettest time of year is between March and May, while the driest months are July to September. There is also rain between October and November. Temperatures rarely go above 86°F (30°C) during the day or drop below 59° F (15°C), except on the upper slopes of the Virunga Mountains where frosty conditions are possible.
http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Countries/Rwanda/Climate/

Government:

Republic; Presidential, Multiparty system

Population:

10,473,282
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2009 est.)

Life Expectancy:

50.52 years

Religion:

Roman Catholic 56.5%, Protestant 26%, Adventist 11.1%, Muslim 4.6%, indigenous beliefs 0.1%, none 1.7% (2001)

Language:

Kinyarwanda, French and English are the official languages. French is widely spoken, but English is limited to a few people in the tourist centers.

Currency:

Official Rwandan currency is the Rwanda Franc (RWF). The US dollar is the hard currency of preference; traveler’s checks are difficult to exchange, even in the capital. Credit cards are only accepted at the major hotels in Kigali.

Photos of Rwanda:

http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Countries/Rwanda/Photos