The number of documents requested when doing an international adoption is amazing! For our home study, we had to submit local background checks, birth certificates for all of our children, our marriage license, employer references, personal references, medical statements from our doctor, and financial statements.
Now the Taiwan court wants everything above, plus the adoption agreement, a copy of the Missouri adoption law, and copies of our passports. To submit these documents, we have to jump through a series of hoops.
1. Collect all forms/documents (obviously).
2. Have the signature notarized. If there is no signature to notarize, the notary must sign an affidavit verifying that the document is an original or exact copy of the original. If there is a signature on the document, the person who signed the original document must also sign the affidavit. If the document is an official document from the county or state, you can skip this step.
3. Take all documents and affidavits to the Secretary of State. They will authenticate the notary and attach a document with the state seal on the document. Some states offer a discounted price for multiple documents authenticated at once. We have moved a few times, so we had to mail one birth certificate to Kansas ($7.50 plus the cost of postage) and our marriage license and two other birth certificates to California ($20 per document plus postage). Everything else can be done in Missouri ($10 per document with a maximum of $100).
4. Take all documents to the Taiwan Embassy (TECO) to be TECO stamped. They charge per $15 per document, per translation.
5. Mail documents to attorney in Taiwan to be submitted to court.
That's some pricey paper!
