Hope, Expectation and Anxiety

It's the beginning of another Monday morning and we are filled with hope, expectation, and a healthy bit of anxiety as we wait to see if THIS could be the week that brings the news of when we will meet our children. We start this day knowing that only God can do this for us and all our hope is in Him. We start this day filled with anticipation and confidence. And we also start it with memories of the many Mondays we've started this way, and ended feeling deflated and disappointed.

Our case officer at USCIS (God bless this amazing woman!) assigned us appointments to have our fingerprints taken in Hartford. First available date: November 11. She recommended that we take the appointment card and walk into the office this week and explain our situation and hope for mercy and flexibility. As long as they have our recent fingerprints on file, USCIS should be able to process the approval update before it expires while we're in Brazil.

It looks like LIMIAR finally has the electronic copy of the Acordo and Lino is taking it to CEJA today so that they can make up the final packet that the president of the CEJA needs to sign and send to the courthouse.

The pieces are coming together. We will get to our children. We will be a family and God will be glorified.
We just have to remember to breathe.

Paperwork Progress

Someday, my life will be dedicated to children and not to paperwork.  It's looking like that day will be very soon... but it hasn't come yet.  We waited for a notarized original Visa Letter to arrive from Brazil.  It came in record time and we immediately realized why the Brazilian consulate would not accept the copy we initially brought them.  Just look at it!  It has an original signature with a "Notary" arrow pointing to it, a printed notary declaration with signature, a very official looking sticker with two different stamps on it, and a raised seal initialed for authenticity.  This is one seriously official letter.  If this is what they were expecting at the consulate, it's obvious why a copy wouldn't suffice. 

We're also ecstatic to be in possession of four USCIS "Provisional Approvals."  One for each child.  We're not quite sure why a second set arrived today, but we're still very glad to have them.

Provisional Approval!

Celebrate!  We received "Provisional Approval" for our children's visas from USCIS today!  1...2...3...4! 4 visas ready and waiting to be printed as soon as the adoption is finalized. 

Here's what I think we have left:

• Provisional Approval should have been sent to the US Consulate in Rio also.
• Rio makes up a document called "Article 5" by the US and known as the "Acordo" by the Brazilians.
• Lino makes us a court appointment.
• Away we go to Brazil to meet our children!

Look how short that list is!  I can hardly believe all we've been through is down to 4 bullet points.  I'm not even willing to guess how long all of this will take, but I know we're closer than ever to being parents to four children hand-chosen to be our family by the same hands that created the universe! 

We're all in agreement

We are still elated thinking about the judge's decision to grant our petition and allow us to adopt our children from Brazil. Our minds are racing wondering what we need to do to get ready, and our hearts are "oh so happy," as James put it today.

We're not sure when we'll actually be leaving for Brazil to meet our children, because there's still a small mountain of paperwork to accomplish. Back in our post entitled Hope, we started to explain some of the tangle of red tape that needed to be straightened out before everything can be legal, final, and just as we desire it to be. Well, three weeks after that posting, we understand the process better, and I'm going to spell it out here so that the record of our journey is as accurate as we can make it for our children, so that everyone who reads this can pray that God will carry us through these next few steps, and so that anyone who follows behind us on this path will have a better idea of what to expect. I'm working this out as I go, so things may not turn out the way we expect them to (they almost never do), but here's what I've deduced so far:

• Judge decided to grant our petition!!!
• We start working on our USCIS I-800 application, and all the documentation that goes with it. Lino has to get copies of the kids' birth certificates, so we asked him to get more photos and info about clothes/shoe sizes while is at their home.
• CEJA creates a document called an acordo, which is an agreement between the Judge, CEJA, and the US Department of State
• Until very recently (a couple weeks ago) no one knew who, from the US Department of State would sign the acordo, since the Hague Treaty changed all the rules. Seems like it's almost all sorted out (thanks to another AWAA family getting their acordo before us) now and we should be able to be one of the first families to creep through the new channel.
• When the acordo is all signed, a Letter of Invitation (LOI) is generated
• A copy of that letter comes to us so we can get visas, a quick 2-day process
• The letter itself goes to the US consulate in Rio because they will be the ones to issue visas to our children. (Visas that make them automatically US citizens when we arrive home.)
• USCIS approves our I-800 application which ensures visas for each of the children
• Meanwhile, Lino makes our court appointments and we make our travel arrangements

So, it's still a pretty complicated process, but until the judge gave us her YES, it was all paused. We've pressed play, and we'll make it to the bottom of the paperwork list and to Brazil as soon as we can.

Hope

We're getting to the end of July, 2009 and still don't know when we are going to go meet our precious children. The latest estimate is sometime in September. That's because even after the judge decides to grant our petition, there is still a tangle of red tape to sort out.

• Judge decides
• Submits decision to CEJA
• If it's a "yes" CEJA creates a document called a "Letter of Invitation" (LOI)
• A copy of that letter comes to us so we can get visas, a quick 2-day process
• The letter itself goes to the US consulate in Rio
• The consulate apparently has to send it up to the US to... USCIS
• USCIS approves our I-800 which ensures visas for each of the children
• Meanwhile, Lino makes our court appointments and we make our travel arrangements

That whole thing will probably take 2-3 weeks, but no one really knows because no one has ever done it before. The I-800 process is a new one and we were going to be the first Brazil family to go through it. However, we're told that another AWAA family is beating us to the finish line and will adopt their children soon. They are currently in the pre-travel document-push right now. Hopefully they will pave the way for us. And if things go well, we may overlap some time in Brazil with them.

The thing is that before the judge decides, she will have to receive a report from CEJA's psychologist, Daisy. All the letters (13 of them!) and answers to questions that we sent to Luciana on Monday (July 20) were translated by Lino and another helper that same day and taken to CEJA on Tuesday (the 21st). The psychologist needs to put all of that information into a report (even though I think it would have been easier and just as effective to put it into a folder!) for the judge. Having read all 13 letters from our friends and family and having easily answered all the judge's questions with very well-reasoned and heart-felt answers, We really think that the only thing the Psychologist can say in her report is, "This is clearly the family God has chosen for these four children."

So, everyone is feeling very positive about the future outcome of this process. We all feel like the Judge is looking for reasons to say YES, not reasons to say NO and that she will eventually say yes.

Last Wednesday when Luciana suggested that we might need to move on and look for other referrals... that was really the pit of despair for us. We had dinner that night with our friends Rose and Marcelo. We had dinner with them again this Wednesday and they commented that we seemed much more joyful and less burdened. It's true. We went through that moment of darkness, sustained by God's grace and the purpose He has given us (that's YOU, my children!) and we are now filled with hope.

We WILL be a family. Hopefully, after the LOI is written, Lino will be able to get us some updates on the children... more pictures, clothing sizes, more info! That will make the time go so much faster.

We missed Maynara's 10th birthday in April not long after we knew these were the children God had for us, and it looks like we'll miss Brayan's 4th birthday at the beginning of August too. This is sad for us, but we are focusing on all the birthdays and everydays that we'll celebrate when they are finally our sons and daughters.

Another thing that has been encouraging is the tremendous outpouring of love and prayers and support from our friends and family and some blogland people we have never met. We feel like we've really grown during the last 3 years and we are looking forward to the stretching growth we'll experience as parents.

BIG news (but not quite THE big news)

There are big things happening with our paperwork today and thinking about what it means for our family is causing a serious flow of adrenaline to rush through my system right now. 

 

We got two bits of news today.

 

(The Brazilian court is ready to approve us NOW but needs one more piece of paper from USCIS)  +  (Our USCIS caseworker called to say she finished processing our paper TODAY and is emailed it to us right away)  =   We could be applying for travel visas in just 3 or 4 weeks!

 

As my dear friend Michelle said earlier today, "There lies the finish line... I can see it."

I800A Approval

Good afternoon Kim, 

Congratulations, again!  Attached you will find the I800A scanned copy of the approval and the next step instructions that are sent with the approval in the mail.  The approval notice will be sent today in the mail and a copy also sent to your Adoption service provider.

Thanks for your patience and Happy Holidays!

________________________________________

Tia

Sweet Approver!

Kim,

I apologize for the delay today, our systems went down!  I'm approving you case as we speak!  Congratulations!!!!   I will hurry to scan your approval!

Take care and once again Congratulations and Happy Holidays!

___________________________________________

Tia

Click and Refresh

I spoke this morning with Tia, the adjudication officer assigned to our case at USCIS.  She has received the Homestudy Addendum and is reviewing it right now.  She has said that she will be finished approving our case before the end of the day! (she actually said "in an hour" 11:30.)  She even suggested scanning the approval notice and emailing it to me as soon as she's done.  (Can I get an "AMEN"?)

 

Turns out someone in my school is a notary, and the Secretary of the State's in Hartford office has agreed to take me as a walk-in since I only have one document to apostille.  The Consulate General of Brazil in New York extended their document drop-off hours, giving me enough time to get there tomorrow right after I'm done in Hartford. 

 

Praise God for showing us how Good He is! 

 

(I'm trying not to hold my breath, or count my chickens, or get myself too hyped up.  You know, just in case.  Problem is:  I'm ALL HYPED UP!)

Continuation

Got a letter in the mail today from USCIS.

Nope.  It's not the one we've been waiting for.  It's a paper copy of the email we got last Saturday requesting more information.  Bummer.  But not really, because in the time it took a letter to get here from Missouri, we got the whole thing taken care of.  I received a notarized hard copy of the addendum in the mail yesterday, so it shouldn't be too much longer before it arrives in MO.  I called to check up today and got our case worker Tia (not Anita any more) just before she stepped out for the day.  She recognized my name and told me that we should be all set to be approved by the time the addendum arrives--unless there's "a little something" that she needs changed by the social worker.  

Anyway, the point of this post is to document an answered prayer.  I pray frequently something that my dear friend Michelle has prayed for us:  that we will find favor with the people on whose desk our papers land and that those workers would be fresh and positive and eager to process cases quickly.  

Tia told me today that she wants to be efficient so that she can get us approved as quickly as possible and that "this work is really fulfilling."  I told her that that has always been our prayer for those who work on behalf of our family.  It may seem very small, but it is as clear as could be that this is an answer to prayer.  If God will answer this very specific prayer so readily, then how many other prayers are being answered outside of our field of view?  Surely He is faithful to protect our children, provide them with loving caretakers, use those caretakers to whisper words of Truth from God's Word to them, ensure them that they have a family waiting for them, and prepare them for a new life with us.

Praise God for the millions of ways He is at work, and for the small glimpses of His Faithfulness that He gives us when we need them!

Feels like a Miracle

Well, it feels like I've been on the phone all day long, but I think our USCIS crisis is averted.  The agency sent us a description of the Brazil-specific requirements and the social worker sent us an addendum answering all the "deficiencies" USCIS pointed out. 

I even got an email from USCIS:

if all areas are covered in the addendum [and we think they are] this would make the case Hague compliant according to the regulations and would be approvable.

What I think that means is that we're all set, and they should approve us very soon!  This feels monumental, but I've decided that nothing else in this process will be monumental until we get on an airplane to Brazil.  I can't let my heart get all tangled up in disappointments about paperwork.  It's a distraction.  We’ll celebrate our milestones, but no more counting down days to something that isn’t meeting our kids.  Too much heartbreak.

 

Deficiencies

Got an email from USCIS today: 

I have reviewed your case and below are the home study deficiencies, which will need to be addressed in the addendum home study. 

We'll just have to get on that, now won't we?  Here's the rest of it: 

History of Abuse or Violence as an Offender:  In reviewing your home study, we have identified that it does not include evidence that the home study preparerasked the applicant, spouse, and any additional adult household member whether they have a history of the following:  substance abuse, sexual abuse, child abuse, or family violence, whether it be in the US or abroad even if such history did not result in arrest or conviction. This information must be documented in the home study.   In addition, please notate the applicant’s and/or any household member’s responses to the direct questions.  Please note that a single offense may constitute a history. If there is a history, the home study should also include the following information:

1. The dates of each arrest or conviction or history of substance abuse, sexual abuse or child abuse, and/or family violence; or,

2.  If not resulting in an arrest, the date or time period (if occurring over an extended period of time) of each occurrence and

3.  Details including any mitigating circumstances about each incident.

Each statement must be signed, under penalty of perjury, by the person to whom the incident relates.

 

Criminal History:  In reviewing your home study, we have identified that it does not include evidence that the home study preparer has inquired about any criminal history of the applicant, spouse, and adult household members.  Any criminal history must be detailed in the home study. If criminal history does not exist, this should be noted in the home study as well.

 

Country Specific Requirements: In reviewing your home study, we have identified that it does not include a statement of the facts relevant to the applicant’s eligibility for adoption in the indicated Convention country, in light of the specific requirements of that country. Please include this in your home study.

 

I hope this information helps. Once the revisions are complete please forward an electronic version to me for preview before sending the original out to the address below:

 

Department of Homeland Security

Oh, it helps.  Thanks Homeland Security.  

Really, since the last sad post, I've been encouraged by so many faithful friends, and am not feeling half as desperate as I was when I wrote it.  Sure, this is discouraging, but I've decided to go back to not waiting... just spending time preparing.  Counting down to anything builds up expectations that can't give us security the way continuing to Hope in the Lord does.  We're praying that this addendum can get written and submitted QUICKLY nonetheless.  I've asked the social worker if she can meet with us Monday.  Should be a quick interview seeing as the answers to all the above questions are straightforward and simple.

One other encouraging note--the email was sent at 1pm on Saturday.  They're working overtime!  That is good news.

PRAYER REQUEST

Please pray for Anita M. and her two trainees who are currently (right now) looking at our file at USCIS.  100 days have gone by since USCIS entered our paperwork into their system--107 since it arrived at their office--and when I called today to check up on things, Anita, the officer assigned to our case, opened our file for the first time.  She was sweet and polite and very candid with me; she gave me 10 minutes of her time on the phone and answered several questions.  She also volunteered the information that she is training two "mentees" who will be learning how to evaluate cases by evaluating our case.  Trainees!  She asked me to give her another week and a half to finish evaluating our case.  

She glanced at our file while we were on the phone and noticed something that might turn out to be a problem with our homestudy and she has promised to call me on my cell phone by tomorrow to let me know if we will have to have our social worker do another home visit and amend our homestudy again.  Everything I've read says that we should not have to do that, but she seemed iffy about it.  So, she'll tell me tomorrow if I have to endure more interactions with our social worker.

I can be honest in this blog, right?  This is the very first moment that I have felt the impatience, frustration, exasperation and exhaustion that so many adoptive families have told me were recurring themes of their adoption process.  It has been just about two and a half years since we started this process by choosing an adoption agency, and something about my conversation with Anita M. today walloped my spirit somethin' fierce.  I'm trying not to wallow in self-pity here, but the truth is that if it really takes her another week and a half to finish reviewing our case--even if it's approved after that--we probably won't get the official letter until the week before Christmas, leaving it nearly impossible to notarize, certify and legalize it before the first of the year.  Meanwhile, another Christmas goes by during which our children do not know that they have parents waiting for them with all their hearts.

There have been headaches, time crunches, and days during which I felt like a chicken running around with its head cut off, but there have been few tears shed about this process so far--it's a process--anyone can wait one more day, right?  Well, at the moment I can't muster up any hopeful sayings to re-inflate my sagging heart.  

So, pray.  Please pray as you read this that Anita M. and her trainees will catch the vision that their work is worth far more than paper-pushing.  Pray that they are motivated by the true fact that in their hands they hold the hopes and dreams and futures of children and families.  Pray that the true gravity of what they do each day will motivate them to work quickly and with purpose for all the families whose lives sit in manila folders on their desks.  And pray that after reading our papers carefully, they will be able to confidently approve our file.

I haven't forgotten the purpose of this blog.  I am writing even these tearful words and pleas for prayers for them.  They need to know that our hearts break each day we're not with them and that every delay feels like an eternity to us and that our family is not complete until they are in it.  I think it's good that they see the hurt along with the hope.

The latest in waiting

Waiting is all the rage.  All the cool kids are doing it.  You should give it a try.  

While I was waiting today, since I didn't have anything of note in my mailbox (except a birthday card for my darling husband!) I decided to call the USCIS Hague Adoption helpline to find out what's the latest on our nearly 100-day application process.  Here's the news:

*Our case has been assigned to an adjudication officer.

*The sweet woman who answered the phone asked me, "Would you like to speak with the officer assigned to your case?"   "Um, yeah!" quoth I, just as I did when James asked me to marry him--as if there was any other option in my mind!

*I got her name and left her a voicemail.  Let's see if she calls back!  

And now I'm waiting again.  Seriously, it's an up and coming fad.  You really should jump on the bandwagon before it fills up.  :o)

Still...

Well 90 days have come and gone and I'm told by a lovely gentleman at the Hague Adoption Convention customer service center that we're "one of the next several dozen cases to be looked at by an officer."  While this information was somewhat less that helpful, the 800 number I called to get this tidbit of pseudoinformation has real live people on the other end and they are quite willing to help in any way they can.  If you call the general USCIS customer service number, you get someone who tells you that if your application is less than 180 days old, they can't look at your file.  They also tell you that the only ones who can tell you about your case are the people at the field office your application was submitted to--and no, they don't have the field office's phone number, and the number listed on the field office's website is the same one that can't tell you anything unless you call the field office.  

The USCIS Hague Adoption customer service number, on the other hand, is answered by  people who are perfectly willing to look at one's file and answer as many questions as you can throw at them.  In case anyone who reads this is adopting internationally and is waiting for USCIS approval, this contact information has been very helpful:  nbc.hague@dhs.gov or 1-877-424-8374.  They service anyone who has filed an I-800 or I-800A.  I found it here, on the USCIS website under the "adoptions" heading. 

In the meantime, I guess we're still waiting.  Maybe before Thanksgiving.

This is an empty mailbox

My mailbox is empty too.  Still no USCIS Approval.  Somehow running straight for the mailbox every day hasn't sped the process along at all, so far as I know.  Stopping home "on the way" back to work after running school-related errands didn't speed it along either.  I'm thinking about calling CIS to find out what the status is.  Maybe tomorrow.  They are closed for today.