Wednesday, November 25, 2009
It's Gone
The Last Piece
This is so exciting! I never really thought this day would ever come. I have been gathering documents since early September.
Next step: Dossier goes to DC to get bound. From DC it goes to CCI in FL. Our Agency will send it FedEx to The Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
I got my notarized Home Study document in the mail on Friday. Because I have this, I was able to get together my I600a form last night. I needed an original Home Study to send with that form along with copies of our birth certificate, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, and a check for $830. This form is an orphan petition. The purpose of this form is to:
- determine the eligibility and suitability of the prospective adoptive parents looking to adopt
- determine the eligibility of the child to immigrate to the United States
We will have to go to the USCIS office in Milwaukee to get fingerprinted as part of this process. They will do a background check on us. We did this for our Police Certificate. The Manitowoc Police Department did the fingerprints. Total cost of fingerprinting: $180
After we get approved by the I600a form, the USCIS sends us an I171-H(Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition). This allows us to file an I600 form while in Ethiopia. This form is a Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative.
I am praying that there aren't too many deer hunters in the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Justice office! They should have received my application for a Police Certificate on Friday. I have the UPS numbers to track so I will be watching them. My goal is to get my Dossier of the the State of WI for a State Seal before December 1st.
Friday, November 13, 2009
About 1.5 years ago, 2 college students with Campus Crusade for Christ were out evangelizing in a village.. They knocked on a door and a woman answered. They asked if they could come in and talk to her. She said yes they could, but to hurry because she had something to do. They talked with her and told her about Jesus and His salvation message. She listened and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior! She then explained to them that she had just found out she was HIV+ and was going to commit suicide the moment they knocked on the door. She had three children and no way to support and feed them. She didn't know what she was going to do. The college students didn't know either what she was going to do with her children. They went back to the church they were working through and talked to the lady there. The lady said to them, "don't you know our church has an orphanage?" They went back and talked to the mother and told her that they had a place for her children. The mother, knowing she would die, agreed to put the two youngest (ages 1 & 4) up for adoption. My agency, CCI, put the two on their waiting list and a single mom, who was paper ready, saw them and accepted a referral. She was paper ready so they went straight to the transition house. She picked them up in June. She was surprised to find there was an older brother, age 10. He didn't want to be put up for adoption because he wanted to take care of his mother.
When it came time for court, the mother was very sick. The students said she was "rigid". They found orange Fanta and poured it down her throat to revive her so she could get to court. It is required if a parent is alive that they go to court to give up parental rights. She made it to court and decided she needed to have her son taken care of too. He got put on the waiting list and we saw him.
I had posted on my homeschool forum asking if anyone had used CCI. One lady came forward. I told our agency director I was in touch with "Mary". She said that Mary had T's siblings. Mary said it was her cousin who had them. I got an email from this cousin. I then got pictures. I got the story of picking up the two siblings. The cousin had went to T's mother's house and visited and met T.
Mary's cousin had been with another agency and was #300 in line for a child/children. Mary had asked why she would wait when her agency had many children available and there was no wait. She changed agency's, made a few changes to her paperwork and was very quickly paper ready.
I guess I saw God's hand in it all and we were meant to take T.
I think this got put in the mail. My third reference letter is in the mail.
Then, I am waiting for this: Home Study- Include the License of the Home Study Agency and the Diploma/License of social worker providing the Home Study as the last two pages of your Home Study so you can have these 3 documents notarized as one.
Not sure where this is at but shouldn't be too far behind.
After I get these items, I can finish my dossier and get it off to Wisconsin Secretary of State for authentication. I will FedEx it there, it will take 2-3 days and they will FedEx it back. Then it goes to DC to get Authenticated.
Then:
10. CCI will receive the completely authenticated Dossier and review it
11. CCI will mail Dossier to Ethiopia to the in country representative
12. Dossier is translated and authenticated in Ethiopia (2 weeks)
13. Your dossier goes (3-6 weeks)
14. CCI’s in country representative submits your case to court for a court date (1 week)
15. Your court date is given (4-6 weeks later)
16. Court takes place with an in country representative from CCI acting on your behalf by Power of Attorney to complete the adoption (same day)
17. File goes to WACM to get letters needed to have a passport and birth certificate created (1 week)
18. Case is submitted to American Embassy for embassy appointment (1 week)
19. Embassy appointment is given
20. Family travels to Ethiopia to pick child up and to go to the embassy appointment (5 weeks after exiting court)
We are expecting traveling in May.