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Is it long and tedious?
so long that you might just say forget it
Absolutely not, if the rescue is reputable.
We chose our pet from a rescue through Petfinders. I asked the person in charge of the rescue and the foster mother a lot of questions. My only difficulty was that our dog was in another state, which took a few weeks (due to extenuating circumstances - the foster mother's mother was very ill).
are you sure it's the right time to adopt? A companion animal of any age is going to take your time -- LOTS and LOTS of time, for a (hopefully) VERY long time. It's a commitment.
Many of the animals up for adoption are there because their owners didn't understand that up front. Many, sadly, have been given up more than once.
Each time an animal is left behind, its outlook and behavior can diminish.
Do yourself and the animal a big favor -- make certain you are ready and well-informed going into this. I love having my companion, but with all the MANY, MANY rewards, sometimes the responsibility is weighty. Can you endure?
If you can, waiting for your companion's adoption process won't be an issue.
Is it long and tedious?
so long that you might just say forget it
I would think that adoption procedures for pets vary from shelter to shelter and state to state. Our first adoption was an older dog; she was 6 and we found her online...she was in the doggie hospital being treated for heartworm. No one was adopting her and we fell instantly in love with her. We went to see her at the hospital and she came over to me and laid her head on my lap...ugh...I was in love. We were able to do all the paperwork within a week and then because of her heartworm treatment, we were able to have her at home with us within another week...so that took 2 weeks total. We had Cheech with us for 6 years and she was the best dog ever.
Cheech passed away here at home in June of 2006 and within a week, we were out looking for another pet to adopt. We found Alice, our pit bull, the end of June 2006. She had been rescued/confiscated from owners who had tied to a dumpster and were not feeding her properly. We put our name on her cage and gave a donation to the shelter but couldn't pick her up for 8 days after that. Even though she was confiscated from someone, the shelter had to advertise in the paper for 8 days before they could let her go home with us. So, Alice came home after 8 days and is the best little dog on the face of this earth...so well behaved, so quiet and so gentle.
I would plan on a week to two weeks once you find the pet you want. It is all going to depend on the rules of the shelter and rules your state has about adoption.
Bless you for wanting to adopt...it is a beautiful thing and your new pet will show you every day how grateful they are with the love and companionship they will give back to you.
They vary shelter to shelter...as does the paperwork. One I worked with in Napa, Ca. had app to fill out..questions on housing, time spent with the animal, asking how many previous animals you had owned and how many current. Nothing outlandish. But one in San Diego turned down my son for a kitten, because he lived in an apt..
Rescues go a little bit more in depth...I've seen some ask about income.... A note of advice...don't even think about "sugar coating the truth"....most actually check things out as they take it very seriously. It is how my daughter has her dog now :Repo...because we repo-ed him back from a potential owner who lied through her teeth about his care.
As everyone else says, depends on where you're adopting from.
I've got my application on my website that can be cut and pasted into an e-mail. I can usually have an approval or denial within one business day. Then I set up a home check and bring the pet with me so they can see how the pet behaves in their environment.
From there, there are 3 options - approval and they can decide if they'd like to keep the pet then or we can take it back with us while they make a final decision. Denial, and that's period. Or approved with stipulations. I'm probably going to have one of those with a chow I'm adopting out. He's had pets before and kept them UTD on vaccinations and spayed/neutered, but he's lost two because his yard isn't fenced. So he'll probably be approved if he fences his yard, at least around the entry/exit doors for the dog's safety.
Adoption time depends upon the agency--could be immediate, one day, a week, or more. What type of organization are you planning to adopt from? Do your homework. Don't rush into adoption. Read lots of the posts in this forum as I think you have. Talk to the agencies and go visit. Ideally, the agency would be able to provide you with a fairly accurate accounting of the dog's history and behavior--which is not always the case. My most recent shelter dog had no available history (and has an unfortunate one to be sure based on behavioral challenges) even though he seemed like a well trained/adjusted dog during the "get aquainted visit" at the shelter. Our last shelter dog came with two pages of history which proved extremely helpful except they neglected to mention she was aggressive on leash. Just be prepared for anything!
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If the length of time bothers you...
. 
. A note of advice...don't even think about "sugar coating the truth"....most actually check things out as they take it very seriously. It is how my daughter has her dog now :Repo...because we repo-ed him back from a potential owner who lied through her teeth about his care.
