Costs of the Adoption Process

General Information about Interpedia’s Adoption Costs

Interpedia’s adoption service activities are financed through adoption service fees paid by the clients and through targeted funding granted by Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA). Interpedia divides the adoption process expenses into service fees and compensation for adoption costs. In addition to these costs paid to or via Interpedia, the clients incur costs to varying degrees from the acquisition and translation of documents as well as from the adoption trip.

Interpedia’s Service Fees

Interpedia’s service fees cover the share of adoption service expenses that cannot be financed by the funding granted by Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA) or by other revenue. The service fees are determined on the basis of the actual costs incurring to Interpedia in the provision of adoption services.

The fees cover personnel costs as well as costs regarding office maintenance and support services. A significant part of the personnel resources is used for the maintenance of foreign contacts, thus guaranteeing the continuity of cooperation.

Service fees are subject to change during the adoption process. The fees are invoiced from the clients in accordance with the price list valid at the time.

Registration Fee

A registration fee of 500 € is paid when clients register as Interpedia’s adoption clients.

Annual Service Fee

The registration fee covers the service costs of the registration year. An annual service fee of 500 € is paid annually following the registration year until the end of the year when the adopted child arrives in Finland or until the adoption process is terminated.

Adoption Service Fees

Adoption service fees are collected in three instalments: 1^st instalment (1,800 €) at the adoption permission application phase; 2^nd instalment (2,100 €) at the sending of application documents; and the 3^rd instalment (2,100 €) at the official child identification (date varies by country). Each instalment of adoption service fees constitutes a compensation for Interpedia for expenses that have arisen before the collection of the fee.

Adoption Service Fee’s Sibling Surcharge

Interpedia collects a sibling surcharge in connection to the child identification. The sibling surcharge is 500 € per sibling. Foreign service providers may also impose sibling surcharges.

Country-Specific Service Fees

Country-specific service fees cover country-specific general costs arising from the provision of adoption services, e.g. office maintenance and labour costs in terms of Interpedia or the contact person, as well as expenses incurred by the permission procedure.

Renewal of Adoption Permission

A fourth adoption service fee (400 €) is collected at the renewal of the adoption permission.

Compensation for Adoption Costs

Compensation for adoption costs is used to fund the adoption expenses that pass via Interpedia. The compensation is paid to Interpedia in advance. The amount of the advance is set to correspond to the actual expenses as closely as possible. If the adoption costs have changed significantly during the applicants’ adoption process, the second instalment of the compensation will be collected by way of derogation from the price list so that the total sum corresponds to the expected total costs.

After the conclusion of the official adoption process and the arrival of the adopted child in Finland, the clients will receive a report detailing the use of the compensation for adoption costs. The surplus of the compensation will be refunded to the clients, whereas the deficit will be collected from them in the form of a balancing bill.

Costs concerning the items 1–4 in the list below vary. Costs connected to the updating of documents are not included in the cost estimate.

Costs for item 5 will be reviewed in connection to the balancing bill. The costs will be charged in accordance with the payment rules valid at the time of the child’s arrival in Finland.

Costs during the application compilation phase (1^st instalment of the compensation for adoption costs)

1 Legalization of documents, translations and sending

The costs include the apostillation of documents at a register office or legalizations made by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs or by embassies. Authorised translators’ fees in Finland. DHL or other corresponding courier postal costs.

2 Source country administration and official fees

Administration fees payable to local adoption authorities or the adoption contact.

Costs during the child proposal phase and after (2^nd instalment of the compensation for adoption costs)

3 Childcare fees

A childcare fee paid to the children’s home or foster family. Payments will be collected separately for each child in sibling adoptions.

4 Source country administration and official fees

Local interpreter and/or lawyers’ fees. Translators’ fees in the source country.

5 Processing and sending of follow-up reports

Processing and sending costs of follow-up reports. The number of follow-up reports required by the contact is used as the basis for payments.

To qualify for the adoption grant, you must be covered by the Finnish social security system. More information available on Kela’s website.