Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Kind-of updates

On October 12th I received an email that our I800a application had been received on the 6th (which I knew because of my tracking info). All it really said is that an official letter stating the same thing would be received in 7-10 days. I got that letter yesterday (the 17th) and am now just crossing my fingers that our fingerprint appointment is here very soon. Our I800a expires in 2 weeks and fingerprint appointments are often scheduled that far out or more. I just am dying to know if there will be any lapse in our I800a which is what allows us to accept a referral.

We don't have any reason to believe that our referral is pending any day, but I think I'm extra on edge knowing that Chareyl (our adoption facilitator) is in Haiti now. I wonder if she's finding anything out about our file? Will she have news for us? Will she (knowingly or unknowingly) see/hold our child?

AAAAARGH. I just want to know the things. I want to move on from this stuck stage of waiting and wondering and want to see our child's face and know anything about her. So, when I'm feeling that way extra - I feel extra protective about making sure that I do everything I can to be sure that an expired document won't stand between that and us.

You know what...I'm going to call USCIS now and see if our file has been passed on to a case worker yet. The letter said they would receive it 10-14 days after our application was initially received. Today is 13 days. I'm calling. Maybe we'll get lucky and get to "refresh" our fingerprints this time instead of needing an appointment, and maybe they'll be able to give me any information. ANYTHING!...calling now.

Done calling. Well, I got a helpful person on the phone but not great news. She said that they have our file, but that our file hasn't been assigned to a case worker yet and that once it has they anticipate 4-6 weeks for approval if everything is perfectly in order. So, we'll likely have at least a month of lapse in coverage.

She said that they only refresh fingerprints on the 1st free extension (which we've already done) or if we have an approved I800 (which happens after we are matched). So, we'll definitely have to go in and do fingerprinting...and she said those are scheduling out 2-3 weeks. I said that hopefully everything is in order with our application, but asked if there was a need for an RFE do they wait to schedule the fingerprinting appointment until that is satisfied (so we aren't waiting another month after the RFE is fulfilled) and she said sometimes, but not always. She said that depends on how the caseworker likes to handle it. The reasoning behind that is that if it takes 2 months to satisfy the RFE then that is 2 months of time "lost" on fingerprints, so it's seen as a favor to the applicant not to go ahead and run those before approval is ready.

It looks like I'll want to call again in a few days and talk to our assigned case worker and feel things out. Best case scenario if he/she says that everything is in order and that our approval will be complete upon receipt of fingerprints...and that she'll be sending out fingerprint appointments right away...that would be next week at the earliest before I'd get our appointment, then at least 2 weeks later to do our fingerprints. So at least a month from now at the SOONEST before we could get approval. Possibly longer even if things go smoothly, and definitely longer if they issue an RFE for current background checks. I'm so frustrated and sad. Sounds like a minimum 2-4 week period where we will be ineligible to receive a referral for the first time in several years of waiting. And of course this happens at a time where it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that a referral could come in the near future.

I guess there is nothing else that I can do right now. Wait. Wait. Wait.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Fingers crossed

That's me right after handing over our I800a renewal application (and home study) to the FedEx lady. I overnighted that sucker to arrive by 10am tomorrow. Let's get this show on the road!

So, there are back-logs for the background check process (which we need in order to complete our home study...so we could mail it off with our I800a renewal). We have to do state, federal and child abuse registry annually. Normally it takes 2 weeks and it is taking 9+ weeks currently. The delays would have put us getting those background checks finished after our I800a would have expired. Leaving a lapse in approval the entire time we applied with USCIS and redid our fingerprinting.

My agency agreed to go ahead and finalize our home study so we could send it off to apply for our I800a since our background checks are actually currently valid until December. Our new background checks will be in well before that so our agency is still complying with keeping those current. The question is whether USCIS will look at our home study (submitted with our renewal application) and say, "Uh...no, your background checks expire too soon" and submit an RFE (request for evidence). We would be able to satisfy that RFE, but that would result in a period of lapse for our I800a approval and therefor a period where we are ineligible to accept a referral of a child.

Sidenote - we applied to have our background checks expedited and were denied (since they don't expire until December), but they reconsidered based on our circumstances...however with them being expedited they were estimating them being done in 3 weeks. At least if we get an RFE we'll have quick turn around being able to satisfy it I guess. Hopefully if that happens USCIS is still willing to submit our fingerprint appointment while they wait for that to be satisfied so we aren't waiting on that afterward too. *sigh*

So!! The fingers are crossed that they don't care about the upcoming fingerprint expiration that is written in the home study and that they go ahead and submit our fingerprinting appointment (I'll never understand why we have to physically go in and re-do those)...and that we get our I800a renewed before November 2nd when it expires.

I'm also crossing my fingers that we get our referral SOON dang it! We're nearly 26 months officially registered with IBESR in Haiti, and almost 3 years into the Haitian adoption process (not 2 mention the 2 years with Ethiopia before that). We are ready to see her face!!

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

5 years ago today.

I'm not sure why I feel compelled to post today. The only things I can update about are long and boring: paperwork, updates, denied expedite request, pending expirations, backlogs, judge strikes, blah...blah...blah.

However, 5 years ago today we took our first concrete step in this adoption journey and submitted our preliminary application to our first adoption agency. We were "only" with them for 2 years before needing to change to our current agency and switching to Haiti, but that day was like a commitment for us in my mind. After lots of research and prayer we felt like we were on the path we needed to be on to complete our family. I still think that.

I am a woman of faith. Sometimes I may feel like I'm not as strong as I should be, but I do believe that God loves me and listens to my pleadings regarding my family. I believe that He answers my prayers and guides me. I also believe that I may not always be able to see or understand His timing or His way of doing things. But that doesn't mean it isn't perfect. Not just because He is perfect, but because His love for me is. I know that He wants what is best for me, for our family, and for our future daughter. Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to look back on this long, twisty, roller-coaster ride that officially started 5 years ago now...and I wonder if I'll see answers to some of those why's. Or will I not be able to see any answers to why, but just feel right-ness of it all?

At the beginning of this year this year I committed to focus on trying to replace my fear with faith. I have often times fallen short. Very short. But I do have faith that we are where we need to be on this journey right now. I would be lying if I said that I was ok with not being further down the road by this point, but I do believe that we are where we need to be and that He knows who our child is even if we don't. And the beautiful thing is...because He knows who she is and her needs, I can pray for her and He can succor her. He can find someone else to hold her and to comfort her for now. He can use someone else to feed her for now. He can guide the complex maze of paperwork that will eventually link us together. And He will bring her home to her family when the time is right. Now if I can just replace all my worries with faith in the meantime...and hold onto hope until the day that I can be the one He blesses to hold her, to feed her, and to comfort her.

Until then my prayers are for those who are caring for our child, for her first family in whatever they are suffering, for those running her orphanage, for our adoption facilitator, for each set of hands that is progressing our paperwork in both countries, and for my heart to be still as I ache to see her face and hold her for the first time.