Well, tomorrow afternoon we have our second, of three or four, homestudy visits. Tom will be interviewing Tim and I seperately. He said that for China they require three or four visits. Not sure if he will be doing three or four, so, I am planning to have him interview the kids on the next visit and then tour the house on the last visit, unless he has other plans.
The final packet of paperwork for WIA will be on its way tomorrow, which gets our background checks started. Holding my breath on that one. With so many states taking so long, who knows how long the entire background process will take. We can't complete the homestudy until the background clearances and the reference letters are in. It's just a long waiting game right now.
Once the homestudy is written, we can submit our I800a to USCIS, and then begin waiting again. It is taking about 90 to 120 days on average to get the approval from them, so, Im looking to March before we can confidently move on any child we see on the lists.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
It's Turkey day, and I'm working a four hour shift this morning. I'll get home at about 11am, and start the turkey. We never eat before about 5pm, so, I have plenty of time. James is coming over today, and it will be great to see him, as I haven't been home on the days he has come over for about a month now.
The kids had their medical checkups yesterday, and I got the letters written for WIA. That completes all the paperwork I need for the homestudy, except for the reference letters to all get in. I'll send the packet of documents off tomorrow.
I have emailed Ky at AAI to see if there is a form she can email me, as I do not have the official financial statement, and know I will need that for the dossier. Once I have that filled out and notarized, I can batch all the Utah documents and send them for state certification. I have to nail Tim down on getting the marriage certificate and his birth certificate, as we are using his credit card for ordering, and he and I need to coordinate that. I will wait to have my birth certificate certified until our marriage certificate is here, as they are both from Maryland.
After that, it's just waiting to see how the homestudy goes, and as long as we continue to have a green light from WIA, I will go ahead and get the big pile of docs certified. Then, it's just wait for the homestudy to be completed, and send it, along with an I800a application form, to USCIS. Right now the processing time is between 90 and 120 days for that document. But, it's the last document we have to wait for, so, hopefully, we can get the rest of the dossier docs done long before that one comes back in. If we get the homestudy done by Christmas, we are looking at March or April for our I800 approval. It seems like it is still so far away, but, I know the time will pass quickly.
The kids had their medical checkups yesterday, and I got the letters written for WIA. That completes all the paperwork I need for the homestudy, except for the reference letters to all get in. I'll send the packet of documents off tomorrow.
I have emailed Ky at AAI to see if there is a form she can email me, as I do not have the official financial statement, and know I will need that for the dossier. Once I have that filled out and notarized, I can batch all the Utah documents and send them for state certification. I have to nail Tim down on getting the marriage certificate and his birth certificate, as we are using his credit card for ordering, and he and I need to coordinate that. I will wait to have my birth certificate certified until our marriage certificate is here, as they are both from Maryland.
After that, it's just waiting to see how the homestudy goes, and as long as we continue to have a green light from WIA, I will go ahead and get the big pile of docs certified. Then, it's just wait for the homestudy to be completed, and send it, along with an I800a application form, to USCIS. Right now the processing time is between 90 and 120 days for that document. But, it's the last document we have to wait for, so, hopefully, we can get the rest of the dossier docs done long before that one comes back in. If we get the homestudy done by Christmas, we are looking at March or April for our I800 approval. It seems like it is still so far away, but, I know the time will pass quickly.
Monday, November 24, 2008
More paperwork to do
Today I need to contact Maryland about our marriage certificate. Apparently, we need to get it from the archives since we were married SOOOO long ago.
I need to get Tim's birth certificate ordered, and contact his sister Michelle to write us a letter of reference, and then get that in the mail.
Im waiting to hear back from WIA to see if the doctor's letter for the kids can be an all in one or if they each need to have a letter.
Somehow AAI put our file in the Ethiopia program office, and I had to call last week, after we got our agency packet for the wrong program, to have our file sent over to Ky in the China program. Now I am just waiting for the financial statement form to get it filled out and notarized.
Then I just need to wait for Tims birth certificate and our marriage certificate and I have all the documents gathered that we have control over. Once they are notarized, I can batch them and send them for certification. Since the Hague convention changed the rules, some may only need apostille's, so, I need to get that figured out by contacting my courier, Laura at Assistant Stork.
I need to get Tim's birth certificate ordered, and contact his sister Michelle to write us a letter of reference, and then get that in the mail.
Im waiting to hear back from WIA to see if the doctor's letter for the kids can be an all in one or if they each need to have a letter.
Somehow AAI put our file in the Ethiopia program office, and I had to call last week, after we got our agency packet for the wrong program, to have our file sent over to Ky in the China program. Now I am just waiting for the financial statement form to get it filled out and notarized.
Then I just need to wait for Tims birth certificate and our marriage certificate and I have all the documents gathered that we have control over. Once they are notarized, I can batch them and send them for certification. Since the Hague convention changed the rules, some may only need apostille's, so, I need to get that figured out by contacting my courier, Laura at Assistant Stork.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The homestudy has begun
Wooo Hooo!!!!
We officially had our first homestudy visit on Monday, and to my surprise, it went very well.
Tom Baxter, who prepared the first half of our postponed homestudy back in 2006, is handling the homestudy this time, and he said he can use most of our original paperwork.
We have the next visit set up for December 1st, due to all the holiday scheduling conflicts, which is fine, it gives me time to finish preparing the paperwork I do need to get, and to hand out the reference letters.
We need four reference letters, one of which has to be a family member.
I need to get letters from our Dr. stating our health, and have the kids looked at and letters written for them as well. We will be sending in our background check forms, and all the required documents probably in the next two weeks. It all depends on how quickly I can get the kids in for a quick checkup and have the letters written. Everything has so far gone so smoothly, I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Praying it doesn't.
Tom seems to think our homestudy will go very quickly, but, I'm not so confident. So many things can still go wrong or cause a delay, not the least of which is the reference letters. One person takes a long time, drags their feet, forgets to send it in, loses it, whatever, and the whole process is stopped in it's tracks. The background checks in all states we have lived since we were 18 could be a sticking point, since Tim has lived in Minnesota, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, and California, and I have lived in Minnesota, Utah, and California. All of those states will have to be checked.
We officially had our first homestudy visit on Monday, and to my surprise, it went very well.
Tom Baxter, who prepared the first half of our postponed homestudy back in 2006, is handling the homestudy this time, and he said he can use most of our original paperwork.
We have the next visit set up for December 1st, due to all the holiday scheduling conflicts, which is fine, it gives me time to finish preparing the paperwork I do need to get, and to hand out the reference letters.
We need four reference letters, one of which has to be a family member.
I need to get letters from our Dr. stating our health, and have the kids looked at and letters written for them as well. We will be sending in our background check forms, and all the required documents probably in the next two weeks. It all depends on how quickly I can get the kids in for a quick checkup and have the letters written. Everything has so far gone so smoothly, I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Praying it doesn't.
Tom seems to think our homestudy will go very quickly, but, I'm not so confident. So many things can still go wrong or cause a delay, not the least of which is the reference letters. One person takes a long time, drags their feet, forgets to send it in, loses it, whatever, and the whole process is stopped in it's tracks. The background checks in all states we have lived since we were 18 could be a sticking point, since Tim has lived in Minnesota, South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, and California, and I have lived in Minnesota, Utah, and California. All of those states will have to be checked.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Still waiting
I sent the application forms for the homestudy to WIAA last monday. Still haven't heard anything, hoping to hear that they have accepted us tomorrow. This waiting isn't as bad as it was when we adopted Myleigh. I seem to have a lot more peace about the whole thing.
Now that we are planning on a trip to China in the coming year, suddenly, we are looking at decisions regarding whether to take what would end up being expensive trips for potential funerals.
Tim's grandmother's health is failing. She basically raised him for the first four years of his life, and he is so close to her. We would definitely want to go to pay our respects to her in Minnesota. Then there is my mother. We are far from close, and in fact have not spoken for three years. I found out two weeks ago that she had not told a surgeon performing a gall bladder surgery that she had been diagnosed two years ago with emphysema. She probably did not share the fact that not only does she have arrythmias but, that she is also addicted to pain medications. She is a three pack a day smoker, and doesn't want to give that up, so, she just didn't tell the doctor much of anything. After the surgery, she was being discharged when she started having difficulty breathing, collapsed, and had a heart attack. Tests revealed two badly clogged arteries to her heart, so, when she stabilized, they performed bypass surgery. During that surgery they discovered two more blocked arteries, and that her lungs were in terrible condition. The couldn't complete the last two artery repairs, the tissue was so flimsy it wouldn't have held up. She crashed once on the table, and they had to stop the procedure completely. She is now on a respirator, and they have given her less than a 10% chance of survival, and even if she lives, she will likely be on a respirator for the rest of whatever life she has left.
So, now that they feel some obligation, family members are calling me that I haven't heard from for probably 30 years to tell me how bad things are. The one sister that I still talk to called the day it all happened, and I had her relay to them that I know all about it so they would leave me alone. Either way, we may be seeing one, perhaps two funerals soon. I have no hesitation going to Minnesota for Tims grandmother's funeral, but, I really don't know if I will spend the money to go to Pennsylvania for my mother's funeral. That sounds terrible, but, she, along with the rest of my family, have had absolutely no interest in me or my children for 25 years. They don't even know their names, and I would be surprised if any of them cared about our little Myleigh. They are all so prejudiced and bigotted. It just isn't a good place to be.
I guess I will cross those bridges when I come to them.
Now that we are planning on a trip to China in the coming year, suddenly, we are looking at decisions regarding whether to take what would end up being expensive trips for potential funerals.
Tim's grandmother's health is failing. She basically raised him for the first four years of his life, and he is so close to her. We would definitely want to go to pay our respects to her in Minnesota. Then there is my mother. We are far from close, and in fact have not spoken for three years. I found out two weeks ago that she had not told a surgeon performing a gall bladder surgery that she had been diagnosed two years ago with emphysema. She probably did not share the fact that not only does she have arrythmias but, that she is also addicted to pain medications. She is a three pack a day smoker, and doesn't want to give that up, so, she just didn't tell the doctor much of anything. After the surgery, she was being discharged when she started having difficulty breathing, collapsed, and had a heart attack. Tests revealed two badly clogged arteries to her heart, so, when she stabilized, they performed bypass surgery. During that surgery they discovered two more blocked arteries, and that her lungs were in terrible condition. The couldn't complete the last two artery repairs, the tissue was so flimsy it wouldn't have held up. She crashed once on the table, and they had to stop the procedure completely. She is now on a respirator, and they have given her less than a 10% chance of survival, and even if she lives, she will likely be on a respirator for the rest of whatever life she has left.
So, now that they feel some obligation, family members are calling me that I haven't heard from for probably 30 years to tell me how bad things are. The one sister that I still talk to called the day it all happened, and I had her relay to them that I know all about it so they would leave me alone. Either way, we may be seeing one, perhaps two funerals soon. I have no hesitation going to Minnesota for Tims grandmother's funeral, but, I really don't know if I will spend the money to go to Pennsylvania for my mother's funeral. That sounds terrible, but, she, along with the rest of my family, have had absolutely no interest in me or my children for 25 years. They don't even know their names, and I would be surprised if any of them cared about our little Myleigh. They are all so prejudiced and bigotted. It just isn't a good place to be.
I guess I will cross those bridges when I come to them.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Finally
Here we go.
The check and forms are on their way to WIAA. The coming week will be about gathering the last documents originals, and prepping them for certification etc as needed.
As soon as WIAA has approved our file, Tom Baxter will be calling us to get the homestudy visits scheduled.
Yes my timeline is way messed up at this point, but, oh well, so much has been going on, it just wasn't going to happen any other way. There is just no way to tell how long USCIS will take, it is looking like about 90 days at this point. The homestudy could take as long as two months. We are realistically looking at another 6 months, so, sometime in the Spring. In the meantime, I will be processing paperwork, and watching the SN lists for our little one to pop up.
The check and forms are on their way to WIAA. The coming week will be about gathering the last documents originals, and prepping them for certification etc as needed.
As soon as WIAA has approved our file, Tom Baxter will be calling us to get the homestudy visits scheduled.
Yes my timeline is way messed up at this point, but, oh well, so much has been going on, it just wasn't going to happen any other way. There is just no way to tell how long USCIS will take, it is looking like about 90 days at this point. The homestudy could take as long as two months. We are realistically looking at another 6 months, so, sometime in the Spring. In the meantime, I will be processing paperwork, and watching the SN lists for our little one to pop up.
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