On February 1, 2018, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released a new schedule of non-refundable accreditation fees for ASPs. While the DOS estimates only modest increases in overall fees paid by most ASPs, and even a decrease for small or home-study only ASPs, many in the adoption community estimated much larger increases in the fees that would be shouldered by agencies and, ultimately, prospective families.

The new fees are connected to the transition to a new accrediting entity (AE) for adoption service providers under the Universal Accreditation Act of 2012 (UAA). Intercountry Adoption Accreditation and Maintenance Entity, Inc. (IAAME) will take over full accrediting duties from the Council on Accreditation (COA) as of December 2018.

Learn more and stay up to date about the accrediting entity transition and new fee schedule at adoption.state.gov. If you are in the process of adopting internationally, stay in close contact with your ASP.