Well, I'm sitting here trying to think of the best way to tell this story without saying something too mean or horrible about our home study social worker. Dealing with her has become a nightmare, basically. The worst part is that I did so much research before choosing her, and spoke with people who had worked with her before -- all of whom said that she was fast, professional, and great to work with. Boy, I wish I knew where THAT version of her went!
The version WE got is one who set out a timeline of no more than six weeks beginning with our first visit on December 12. Six weeks is pretty normal for a home study (we have since talked to a number of people, and no one had their home study take longer than 6 weeks). Well, here we are THREE MONTHS later and we just received our final home study in the mail this past Saturday. After our placement agency reviewed it, they discovered -- what else -- that she had not corrected a mistake that both FTIA and I pointed out to her in the first draft. Fortunately, it's a mistake that Vietnam won't really notice. Unfortunately, it's one that USCIS will notice. Argh! So, we now have to wait in suspense until USCIS gets around to reviewing our file and decides one of two things: either they will see that it's a mistake and there is other documentation covering the issue, or they will say that an adendum must be added to the home study to address the discrepancy. If they let it go, we'll get our I-171H. If they want an adendum, we have to deal with the social worker again and nag her into actually doing her job and writing the correction and sending it in. This will delay everything long enough that we will have to redo most of our documents. So we're on pins and needles for the next two months.
On a positive note... Jack, Ethan, and I took the HS that will be included in our dossier to Vietnam to the Secretary of State office in downtown Chicago today. We left home at 1:15 and got to the office at 3:00 (finding a parking garage took forever). I had packed lots of books and snacks thinking that we'd be sitting in the waiting room for awhile. Both of the boys wanted out of the stroller, but they were very good and stayed close to me. I talked with a woman who is adopting from Guatamala. Five minutes later they were handing me my certified home study! I was very surprised it went so quick considering it takes two weeks when I mail things to Springfield (I'm still waiting for the documents I sent back there on March 6). They were super nice, too, and actually smiling! In a government office! So back to the car we went, paid our $18 parking fee, and we headed home about 4:00. The boys got to have their Sponge Bob Square Pants Cheez-Its and watered-down juice on the way home. A big adventure to the Big City. We got home at about 5:40, so the whole trip took us 4 1/2 hours, but now we can send the HS in with our other documents to the consulate. After that, all we have to do is wait for the I-171H! Whoo -hoo! Another step checked off the spreadsheet. :)
The boys were so good on our trip today. Jack had a great time seeing all the crazy sculptures and glittering lights on the theatre marques. They didn't even ask to watch a dvd on the way home in stop-and-go traffic. We are so blessed to have such great kids. Ethan is just all smiles again now that his teething has subsided for awhile, and Jack is the cutest little jokester. We were hanging out in my bedroom this morning and the boys were watching Noggin when I drifted off to sleep on the bed. I woke up to Jack's little voice saying, "Mommy..." I opened my eyes and his face was right up against mine. He gave me a little kiss and then said, "Make me a sandwich, please." It totally cracked me up. Then when I said ok and sat up, he started yelling, "Yeah!" and jumping around the room. Ah, the power of peanut butter and jelly! Today he decided to have it cut in triangles. :)
So, we're still inching forward in the whole paperchase. Progress is slow right now, but it is happening. Oh, and since a lot of people have asked lately, we have it figured that the EARLIEST we would have a child home would be September 2008. A long way away, but so worth the wait!
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Thursday, March 1, 2007
I See a Faint Glimmer of Light in This Tunnel
Hey, sorry it's been so long since I posted. It has been a very crazy six weeks. We hit a whole bunch of snags, which got kinda discouraging at times, but we've pushed our way through and things are starting to untangle.
So far we have gathered our marriage certificate, birth certificates for all of us, two different medical certificates, employment and income letters, five (yes, five each!) police reports, passport photos, copies of the photo/signature page of our pasports, seven letters of reference, and more. We've completed two separate education workbooks and read countless articles and books. And we've sent our advanced application for USCIS clearance to allow us to adopt and bring an orphan into the country.
Our Michigan documents have been notarized and state certified and are waiting to be sent for authentication at the Vietnamese embassy or consulate. I had sent a batch of our IL documents to the secretary of state, only to have everything returned uncertified because one of the notaries is using a stamp that has his name different from what he was certified under (he left his middle initial off the stamp -- can you believe it?!). We now have to redo those four documents and have a new notary sign them before we send everything in again. That should be done this weekend. Then when those are returned (in about two weeks), we can send what we have so far to the consulate to be authenticated.
Our home study agency just sent our official home study to USCIS last night. That is the last document they need in order to review our application. If we are cleared, they will send us an I-171H form which we then must have notarized, certified, and authenticated. The Chicago Field Office of USCIS is running at about 9 weeks for turn-around time, so we should receive our I-171H the beginning of May. The HS agency and placement agency are working together now to make sure that the copy of the HS that goes into our dossier has all of the information that Vietnam requires. Hopefully, we will have that official copy sometime next week (and then IT is off to be certified and authenticated, too).
Meanwhile, as we wait for those documents to come our way, we will be concentrating on gathering the things that don't need to go through the certification/authentication process. These include photos of our home and family, an official application for adoption from Vietnam, a commitment of periodical reports form (once we adopt from Vietnam we must send the Vietnamese officials reports on the child every six months for the first three years and then every year until they are 18), and a confirmation letter (this is a petition to the People's Committee and the International Adoption Department (IAD) in Vietnam to approve our adoption of the child that is refered to us). There are also occassional changes to the documents required, and we may need to redo some or add additional ones before we're done.
Whew! Still with me?
So all of this has to be gathered together and sent to our placement agency no later than June 1 in order for it to get to the IAD in Vietnam before the six month deadline. What happens if it doesn't make it before the six months expires on our documents? We have to redo them, which means more time and money. The worst will be redoing the medical certificates because we have to have all these blood tests done, and I'm sure our insurance will not pay for them a second time. The cost for our blood tests was $1,000. I really, really don't want to have to redo that!
Yeah, I know, it's all pretty confusing. You should see the Excel spreadsheets I have going to try to keep track of it all! :) We are pushing it to be able have everything together by the deadline. Please think good thoughts for us that the delays are over for now and we make it!
On a fun note, Grandma and Grandpa Mikkola will be here for the weekend, which means Date Night for John and I on Saturday! We are going to take the train into the city and have dinner at Le Colonial, an "up-scale French-Vietnamese restaurant which vividly recaptures the beauty, romance and spirit of French colonial Southeast Asia from the 1920s" (from their website). We saw a local food show on cable one night and a Vietnamese guy was saying it was his favorite restaurant and had authetic Vietnamese cuisine, so we're really excited to go try it out. Plus, Mommy gets to dress up for a night! Wow! I may even put on makeup! Jack and Ethan probably won't recognize me with contacts in, clean hair, and a nice outfit. LOL
Well, it's getting late so I'll end here. I'll try not to go so long before the next post. Thanks for all of your support!
Christine
So far we have gathered our marriage certificate, birth certificates for all of us, two different medical certificates, employment and income letters, five (yes, five each!) police reports, passport photos, copies of the photo/signature page of our pasports, seven letters of reference, and more. We've completed two separate education workbooks and read countless articles and books. And we've sent our advanced application for USCIS clearance to allow us to adopt and bring an orphan into the country.
Our Michigan documents have been notarized and state certified and are waiting to be sent for authentication at the Vietnamese embassy or consulate. I had sent a batch of our IL documents to the secretary of state, only to have everything returned uncertified because one of the notaries is using a stamp that has his name different from what he was certified under (he left his middle initial off the stamp -- can you believe it?!). We now have to redo those four documents and have a new notary sign them before we send everything in again. That should be done this weekend. Then when those are returned (in about two weeks), we can send what we have so far to the consulate to be authenticated.
Our home study agency just sent our official home study to USCIS last night. That is the last document they need in order to review our application. If we are cleared, they will send us an I-171H form which we then must have notarized, certified, and authenticated. The Chicago Field Office of USCIS is running at about 9 weeks for turn-around time, so we should receive our I-171H the beginning of May. The HS agency and placement agency are working together now to make sure that the copy of the HS that goes into our dossier has all of the information that Vietnam requires. Hopefully, we will have that official copy sometime next week (and then IT is off to be certified and authenticated, too).
Meanwhile, as we wait for those documents to come our way, we will be concentrating on gathering the things that don't need to go through the certification/authentication process. These include photos of our home and family, an official application for adoption from Vietnam, a commitment of periodical reports form (once we adopt from Vietnam we must send the Vietnamese officials reports on the child every six months for the first three years and then every year until they are 18), and a confirmation letter (this is a petition to the People's Committee and the International Adoption Department (IAD) in Vietnam to approve our adoption of the child that is refered to us). There are also occassional changes to the documents required, and we may need to redo some or add additional ones before we're done.
Whew! Still with me?
So all of this has to be gathered together and sent to our placement agency no later than June 1 in order for it to get to the IAD in Vietnam before the six month deadline. What happens if it doesn't make it before the six months expires on our documents? We have to redo them, which means more time and money. The worst will be redoing the medical certificates because we have to have all these blood tests done, and I'm sure our insurance will not pay for them a second time. The cost for our blood tests was $1,000. I really, really don't want to have to redo that!
Yeah, I know, it's all pretty confusing. You should see the Excel spreadsheets I have going to try to keep track of it all! :) We are pushing it to be able have everything together by the deadline. Please think good thoughts for us that the delays are over for now and we make it!
On a fun note, Grandma and Grandpa Mikkola will be here for the weekend, which means Date Night for John and I on Saturday! We are going to take the train into the city and have dinner at Le Colonial, an "up-scale French-Vietnamese restaurant which vividly recaptures the beauty, romance and spirit of French colonial Southeast Asia from the 1920s" (from their website). We saw a local food show on cable one night and a Vietnamese guy was saying it was his favorite restaurant and had authetic Vietnamese cuisine, so we're really excited to go try it out. Plus, Mommy gets to dress up for a night! Wow! I may even put on makeup! Jack and Ethan probably won't recognize me with contacts in, clean hair, and a nice outfit. LOL
Well, it's getting late so I'll end here. I'll try not to go so long before the next post. Thanks for all of your support!
Christine
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