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You must be approved in the UK, which is the same process as approval for UK adoption. The information on the government process, which follows this, is herehttp://www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/intercountryadoptionLatvia seems to have ratified Hague which means that you have to go through Hague procedures to adopt. http://bit.ly/fFQytoYour UK social worker will explain all this kind of thing to you though. You need to find out who does overseas adoption approvals in your area (your local authority will know this, even if it is not them).Adoption from Eastern Europe is not cheap - though I think not as expensive as Russia which can be up to about £50,000.

We are adopting intercountry. The process vary depending on weather Latvia is a Hague Convention country or not. Roughly, you will need to be assessed in the UK by your local authority (LA)or an agency (VA). They will charge you between £5000 to £7000. All expenses will need to be covered by you (medicals, checks, etc) as the UK does not subsidise intercountry adoptions (disgusting, I know). Then you need to be aproved at panel in the UK. After that your application goes to the Departament for Education, Schools and Children for checking and they'll charge you almost £2000. Then you need to legalize all your documents (for which you will also have to pay), get them translated and send them to the local authority in Latvia (or the adoption homes, depending on what the system is like in there). They will assess your aplication and the FINALLY match you with a child. The rest of the process you need to find out from Latvia. There are more and more fees here and there and every where so if you think of a figure double that and that will be close to what you may end up paying in total. Not cheap! Some countries do not charge anything, some other charge up to U$40000. Consider the fees you need to pay here as well as what you will have to pay there, includin travel, accomodation, etc.Please contact the IAC for further information. They are very helpful and will answer all your questions.http://www.icacentre.org.uk/contact_usA bit of advice from me: start the process NOW. This process is VERY long and hard to go through. Don't think about it, just do it and if you change your mind you can pull out at any time.Good Luck

Ahem, I said that Latvia had ratified Hague.