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Process

  1. Register with CHOICES and complete your home study with a CHOICES Social Worker (approximately 3 months);
  2. Apply to sponsor your adopted child with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (at the same time as your home study is being completed).*
  3. Once we receive your application and the home study, CHOICES will guide you through all phases of the adoption process by assisting you in completing your paperwork and preparing your dossier.
  4. Once your Canadian dossier has been prepared and approved by your provincial ministry, the authenticated file will be forwarded to the Orphanage Director for review and presentation to the Department of Social Welfare in Ghana.
  5. Once a proposal of a child has been received and accepted, the signed consent form is returned to Imagine. Imagine will then notify the Orphanage Director in Ghana, who then begins the adoption proceedings, and a court date is set at the High Court in Ghana.
  6. The court process formalizes the parent / child relationship. Imagine’s Lawyer in Ghana will represent prospective adoptive parents at a court hearing. At that time, the 24 month interim guardianship order will be granted.
  7. Following the court hearing, the new Birth Certificate, Court Decision, and Passport are obtained. Imagine’s Lawyer in Ghana will then apply for the child’s visa on the basis of the interim order. When the visa has been received, prospective adoptive parents will be asked to travel to Ghana to pick up the child and travel home to Canada.
  8. One trip of 10-14 days to Ghana will be required. Adoptive parents are required to apply for a Visitor's Visa to Ghana before they travel, and a Yellow Fever vaccination is required as part of the Visitor's Visa application. A representative from Imagine will pick you up at the airport and arrange for your accommodations at a local guest house near the orphanage.
  9. A post placement report is required one month after placement.
  10. At the end of the 24 month interim guardianship period in Canada your CHOICES Social Worker will be required to write a report which addresses your child’s attachment and wellbeing in Canada. Imagine will send this report to their Lawyer in Ghana who will set a final court date, and attend the hearing on your behalf. Neither you, nor your child, will be required to travel back to Ghana to finalize the adoption.

* The immigration process will need to be completed before bringing the child to Canada for the 24 month interim guardianship order. There are two different processes that families can choose from. They may decide to bring their child home as a permanent resident or as a Canadian citizen.

The Court decision, Passport and Birth Certificate are sent with an application for the child’s Permanent Resident Visa or Canadian Citizenship to the Canadian High Commission in Ghana. Once the Canadian High Commission issues the Permanent Resident Visa or Facilitation Visa, the child is able to travel to Canada.