Uzbekistan, officially called the Republic of Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia and is boarded by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on the south. Uzbekistan is a former Soviet Union republic. Its orphanages are similar to those in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Children available are similar to those in Kazakhstan. Taking this into consideration, Uzbekistan may be a good option to consider.

Even though Uzbekistan has been placing children internationally since 2000, adoption continues to be a sensitive issue in Uzbekistan. Traditionally, adoption is unpopular in Uzbekistan among general population and is frequently opposed by the government officials regardless of the fact that there are many children in orphanages throughout the country.

Children available for adoption:

Uzbekistan has a three-tier orphanage system organized by age similar to that in Russia. Healthy children, including infants, may be adopted at any age, if their parents are deceased or if they were abandoned by unmarried mothers. Siblings are also available for adoption. Families are allowed to adopt unrelated children. Most children are of Asian origin, however, there's a small percentage of Russian children available for adoption

Adoption Process:

Main adoption authority in Uzbekistan is Ministry of Education and the local Mayor's office called Hokimiat. Adoption Pros representatives will submit the dossiers to a local Mayor through its GTO, Guardianship and Trusteeship Organ.

The process for adopting a child includes the following steps: home study completion, submitting documents to the Uzbekistan Consulate in Washington D.C. for legalization, sending the documents to Uzbekistan, receiving a referral, traveling to Uzbekistan to meet a child and finalize the adoption process.

Families complete their international dossiers under Adoption Pros supervision. The total time frame is estimated to 10-18 months, depending on the circumstances. Each family will be given an opportunity to review all the documents of the child, talk to the care givers, doctors, and interact with the child before the final decision is made.

Who can adopt:

• Single or Married
• No restriction on length of marriage
• No upper age restriction
• Parents have to be at least 15 years older than the child
• No income requirement (must comply with the USCIS guidelines)
  

Estimated Total Adoption Cost: $25,000

Foreign Fee, travel, etc. included