Today marks the 2 year anniversary of our LID! Two years ago today our paperwork was logged into China! At that time we thought that in about12-13 months we would be parents! How exciting! But as time raced on, the wait time started to become longer, then longer, then even longer. This is something that we definitely don't understand and to try to explain it is even more difficult. In the meantime, alot has happened. We have had some tradegy in our lives (the passing of my dear mother into a better place), we have felt the joy of our nephews becoming Dads, we have tried to be a substitute parent for an exchange student and we have gained another addition to our family (Cheyenne). Life goes on....but as we continue to wait, we do know that our God has that perfect little one already picked out for us, we know that He will help us to be patient as we wait on his timing and we know that He does love us. On that being said, here is the surprise:
December 29, 2008
Referral and dossier review update:
Through the CCAA's on-line site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before February 28, 2007.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before February 28, 2006.
Yes! We have referrals for January! The last batch of referrals came out December 10th so this is a nice surprise. Actually, I think that there is a holiday coming up soon in China and they worked hard to get the referrals out before the holiday. Wish this was the case every month! Anyhow, again the time between the LIDS was only 5 days again....that is still disheartening.
Please continue keep us in your prayers. It sure does help!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Official Rumor
The rumor is true. Here is the Hot News from our agency:
December 10, 2008
Referral and dossier review update:
Through the CCAA's online site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:
Document Processing
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before February 28, 2007.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before February 23, 2006.
So, it looks like another month of 5 days of referral....we are praying and praying that our day will come!
December 10, 2008
Referral and dossier review update:
Through the CCAA's online site for adoption agencies, we received the following update regarding the review of dossiers and placement of children:
Document Processing
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before February 28, 2007.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before February 23, 2006.
So, it looks like another month of 5 days of referral....we are praying and praying that our day will come!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Referrals
It is already December 9th and there are no referrals that have been sent out for this month. I have seen a rumor that the cut off date is Feb. 23rd. With last months referral cut off of Feb. 17th is seems that they are still working at a snail's pace. The latest piece of news that I can report is that the orphanage fee has gone up from $3000 to $5100. I definitely understand this....the orphanage fee has not changed since 1995. Plus I am hoping that this in an incentive for the orphanages to work a little faster to get babies paper ready for international adoption. Please pray for all those littles ones waiting to get a forever family and for the process to speed up.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
New Puppy
This is our new puppy, Cheyenne. She is a yellow lab, and is 6 weeks old. I think this is good practice for having a baby. She had us up every two hours the first 2 nights that we had her. Now I am getting up at 5:00am because she is crying and ready to go out. Tony seems to think a baby will be easier....I am not so sure!
Monday, November 10, 2008
November Referrals
This is all I have this month....This is from our adoption agency.
Program updates
The CCAA just issued referrals for families with LIDs of February 16-
17, 2006; since our next group of LIDs is February 24, 2006, we did
not receive referrals this time. This makes the wait time up to 33
months from LID to referral. We hope to have referrals in December
for the 2/24/06 LID group and after that our next group of LIDs would
be 3/6/06.
As you can see from the previous posts, the last LID referred was Feb.15th. Two days! That is all the referrals for this month! I am going to say it! This REALLY sucks!
Program updates
The CCAA just issued referrals for families with LIDs of February 16-
17, 2006; since our next group of LIDs is February 24, 2006, we did
not receive referrals this time. This makes the wait time up to 33
months from LID to referral. We hope to have referrals in December
for the 2/24/06 LID group and after that our next group of LIDs would
be 3/6/06.
As you can see from the previous posts, the last LID referred was Feb.15th. Two days! That is all the referrals for this month! I am going to say it! This REALLY sucks!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Good News!
This is an email that I received from our adoption agency on the ruling of the
I-600A from USCIS:
Dear China families,
We are writing as a follow-up to an email you received last week from Keith Wallace announcing a Call To Action regarding the “grandfathering” of families that had applied for CIS approval prior to April 1, 2008. We are more than pleased to announce that the USCIS has heard our voices!!
Today the USCIS announced that families who had started the adoption process using an I-600A approval, and who had received the one time free extension, may now file one additional form I-600A as long as they file before the current approval expires. Families will have to pay for this additional approval. If a family does allow their approval to expire, they will need to reapply using the I-800A form with a home study that meets all of the Hague requirements.
For more information on this topic, please refer to the USCIS website at: uscis.gov and go to “What’s New.” There is also a list of Frequently Asked Questions that appears below the announcements.
Many thanks to the families who participated in this Call To Action!!
Sincerely,
Your China Team
Even though we have to pay for another extension it it still good news! Praise God!
I-600A from USCIS:
Dear China families,
We are writing as a follow-up to an email you received last week from Keith Wallace announcing a Call To Action regarding the “grandfathering” of families that had applied for CIS approval prior to April 1, 2008. We are more than pleased to announce that the USCIS has heard our voices!!
Today the USCIS announced that families who had started the adoption process using an I-600A approval, and who had received the one time free extension, may now file one additional form I-600A as long as they file before the current approval expires. Families will have to pay for this additional approval. If a family does allow their approval to expire, they will need to reapply using the I-800A form with a home study that meets all of the Hague requirements.
For more information on this topic, please refer to the USCIS website at: uscis.gov and go to “What’s New.” There is also a list of Frequently Asked Questions that appears below the announcements.
Many thanks to the families who participated in this Call To Action!!
Sincerely,
Your China Team
Even though we have to pay for another extension it it still good news! Praise God!
Monday, October 13, 2008
I-600A Issue-Your Help Needed
This is in the Hot News from our agency. My previous blog touched upon this subject but hopefully this will help make the importance of the matter more clear.
I-600A Issue - Your Help Needed
We are asking for your assistance/advocacy to address the serious concerns that families presently in the process of adopting from China - and other countries with long waits for referrals - will face if the current CIS policy of only one (free) extension of the I-600A is permissible. Right now, if the family does not complete their adoption before the one extension expires--which is not likely given the current wait for referrals in China--families will have to file an I-800A. There are many unknown implications of what filing an I-800A will mean to families but will undoubtedly cause additional expenses and delays for families and children.
You can follow the links below to see what FTIA in cooperation with JCICS is asking of families. Please read the letter from JCICS that lists 5 ways to help. The JCICS position paper provides a clear explanation of the issues & concerns.
As Step #3, JCICS is asking families to sign on to a petition that was initiated by some parents in process of adopting from China. Notwithstanding our concerns about the accuracy of some information in the petition (e.g. the number of agencies denied Hague accreditation, the implications of switching agencies, etc) we still support the fact that families in process of adopting from China who submitted their original I-600A prior to the effective date of the Hague Convention on April 1st 2008 should be able to complete their adoptions without having to file an I-800A. Therefore we are asking you to support this advocacy by signing on to the petition, along with the other 4 steps suggested by JCICS in their "5 Ways to Help Us."
Link to JCICS letter: http://www.jcics.org/I600A.htm
Link to JCICS position paper: http://www.jcics.org/I600APosition.htm
Link to what you can do: http://www.jcics.org/5WaystoHelp.htm
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I-600A Issue - Your Help Needed
We are asking for your assistance/advocacy to address the serious concerns that families presently in the process of adopting from China - and other countries with long waits for referrals - will face if the current CIS policy of only one (free) extension of the I-600A is permissible. Right now, if the family does not complete their adoption before the one extension expires--which is not likely given the current wait for referrals in China--families will have to file an I-800A. There are many unknown implications of what filing an I-800A will mean to families but will undoubtedly cause additional expenses and delays for families and children.
You can follow the links below to see what FTIA in cooperation with JCICS is asking of families. Please read the letter from JCICS that lists 5 ways to help. The JCICS position paper provides a clear explanation of the issues & concerns.
As Step #3, JCICS is asking families to sign on to a petition that was initiated by some parents in process of adopting from China. Notwithstanding our concerns about the accuracy of some information in the petition (e.g. the number of agencies denied Hague accreditation, the implications of switching agencies, etc) we still support the fact that families in process of adopting from China who submitted their original I-600A prior to the effective date of the Hague Convention on April 1st 2008 should be able to complete their adoptions without having to file an I-800A. Therefore we are asking you to support this advocacy by signing on to the petition, along with the other 4 steps suggested by JCICS in their "5 Ways to Help Us."
Link to JCICS letter: http://www.jcics.org/I600A.htm
Link to JCICS position paper: http://www.jcics.org/I600APosition.htm
Link to what you can do: http://www.jcics.org/5WaystoHelp.htm
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