Hi all, here's our latest list of prayer requests, but first we have a praise.
The orphanage is now allowing children to be received again. However, there aren't any adoptable children there at the moment.
Prayer Requests:
1) That our dossier is not lost but is just finishing clearing customs. Our dossier was sent 3 weeks ago today. It left Hanoi (the capital) to go to the province 2 weeks ago yesterday. It's not unusual for a dossier to sit in customs for a week or so, but now that we're over 3 weeks we're starting to get apprehensive.
Please pray that our dossier is delivered safe and sound to our facilitator very soon.
2) Please pray that we receive an official referral in time (by Sept. 1). This means that any adoptable children will have to be found and brought to the orphanage by June 1. After that ads have to be run, paperwork completed, and then wait for the official referral to come from DIA (Department of International Adoption--the Vietnam side).
3) Please pray that there aren't any more bumps, road blocks, whatevers in the process. We had another scare today that kept me glued to the computer following leads for hours. A newspaper misprinted the end date for referrals as July 1 and made it sound like it came from the head of DIA. Then several other newspapers all copied the original article but made it look like there was multiple sources all verifying the new date. Arrrgggghhhh!!! Not true, it's been verified that the end date is still Sept. 1. Whewww!
Thanks for praying,
Shae
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Announced Ending Dates
Our US Embassy in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, has announced that dossiers have to be logged in by July 1, 2008, and only those families that have an official referral by September 1, 2008 will be allowed to continue to process their adoptions.
So here's our list of prayer requests:
1) Our dossier left the US on April 8. It was originally supposed to be delivered by the 18th which then changed to "In Transit" since the 14th. We do not know where our dossier is AGAIN. It could be sitting at customs or still being transported 11 days later.
Please pray that our dossier is delivered to our agency's facilitator (employee that does all in-country stuff) ASAP. He still has to translate it into Vietnamese and take it back to Hanoi to be logged in with DIA (Dept. of International Adoptions).
2) Please pray for the situation in the province. It is not good. I can't go into detail. It has to do with some of the prayer requests below but with more specifics.
3) Please pray that we have an official referral long before Sept. 1. We are still next in line.
4) Please pray that the orphanage director will allow paperwork to be processed on any unmatched orphans that are there. This is very important. Paperwork and ads take several months. If he does not start soon, it will be too, late.
5) Please pray that the director will allow true orphans into the orphanage instead of turning them away.
6) Please pray that other orphanages may even be opened as needed. This is a possibility. It is stuck in the "red tape" process right now. A new orphanage would definitely help the situation.
7) Please pray for the orphans of Vietnam. Pray that true orphans will find forever families. Yes, there has been a few cases of misconduct within the adoption process as there is in any country including ours. Overall the adoptions there are ethical. Pray for discernment for our Immigration investigators that they will find the wrong doing but not punish all the innocent people involved in ethical adoptions as well.
We really need and appreciate your prayers.
Thanks,
Shae
So here's our list of prayer requests:
1) Our dossier left the US on April 8. It was originally supposed to be delivered by the 18th which then changed to "In Transit" since the 14th. We do not know where our dossier is AGAIN. It could be sitting at customs or still being transported 11 days later.
Please pray that our dossier is delivered to our agency's facilitator (employee that does all in-country stuff) ASAP. He still has to translate it into Vietnamese and take it back to Hanoi to be logged in with DIA (Dept. of International Adoptions).
2) Please pray for the situation in the province. It is not good. I can't go into detail. It has to do with some of the prayer requests below but with more specifics.
3) Please pray that we have an official referral long before Sept. 1. We are still next in line.
4) Please pray that the orphanage director will allow paperwork to be processed on any unmatched orphans that are there. This is very important. Paperwork and ads take several months. If he does not start soon, it will be too, late.
5) Please pray that the director will allow true orphans into the orphanage instead of turning them away.
6) Please pray that other orphanages may even be opened as needed. This is a possibility. It is stuck in the "red tape" process right now. A new orphanage would definitely help the situation.
7) Please pray for the orphans of Vietnam. Pray that true orphans will find forever families. Yes, there has been a few cases of misconduct within the adoption process as there is in any country including ours. Overall the adoptions there are ethical. Pray for discernment for our Immigration investigators that they will find the wrong doing but not punish all the innocent people involved in ethical adoptions as well.
We really need and appreciate your prayers.
Thanks,
Shae
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Dossier Sent
Well, it was a busy week last week for us and our dossier.
Tuesday, I received a voice mail from an unidentified man at the Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco. He stated that he had our dossier but didn't have a return FedEx envelope and wondered what we wanted him to do. He also left a phone number.
Well 2 things here:
1) I watched the return envelope go in the outer package before it was sealed. Also a FedEx supervisor later confirmed that it was there. So obviously someone at the Consulate "misplaced" our envelope.
2) For anyone that's ever tried to contact the Consulate they know that any phone number you have, just doesn't work. It actually hangs up on you which is frustrating to say the least when you've gone through all their menus. Also, their email gets rejected every time. Well the number this man left was no different.
So...we tried faxing the Consulate, but then didn't hold our breath. Immediately we called a courier from the area that specializes in adoption deliveries (she's an adoptive mama herself). The courier was able to get our dossier back and sent it to us overnight. Thanks Jill!
So in the end it just cost us more money (ha!) and the stress of almost losing 10 months of work and thousands of dollars I'm sure was great for our hearts.
Wednesday morning the dossier arrived. I spent the rest of the day and evening making the required collated photo copies and typing up the cover sheets. Over 400 copies...yeah! Who am I kidding, I really didn't care, I was just so glad to get our dossier back.
Thursday I took Ethan to preschool, we went to the bank to get one of the complete copies of the dossier notarized, picked up Ethan, and then off to the Secretary of State Office in the Capital building in Lincoln for State seals.
Friday morning I was able to send the dossier and it's copies to our agency. It is there now. After our agency director reviews it, our dossier will go to Vietnam to be translated and finally logged in with the Department of International Adoption (DIA).
Tuesday, I received a voice mail from an unidentified man at the Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco. He stated that he had our dossier but didn't have a return FedEx envelope and wondered what we wanted him to do. He also left a phone number.
Well 2 things here:
1) I watched the return envelope go in the outer package before it was sealed. Also a FedEx supervisor later confirmed that it was there. So obviously someone at the Consulate "misplaced" our envelope.
2) For anyone that's ever tried to contact the Consulate they know that any phone number you have, just doesn't work. It actually hangs up on you which is frustrating to say the least when you've gone through all their menus. Also, their email gets rejected every time. Well the number this man left was no different.
So...we tried faxing the Consulate, but then didn't hold our breath. Immediately we called a courier from the area that specializes in adoption deliveries (she's an adoptive mama herself). The courier was able to get our dossier back and sent it to us overnight. Thanks Jill!
So in the end it just cost us more money (ha!) and the stress of almost losing 10 months of work and thousands of dollars I'm sure was great for our hearts.
Wednesday morning the dossier arrived. I spent the rest of the day and evening making the required collated photo copies and typing up the cover sheets. Over 400 copies...yeah! Who am I kidding, I really didn't care, I was just so glad to get our dossier back.
Thursday I took Ethan to preschool, we went to the bank to get one of the complete copies of the dossier notarized, picked up Ethan, and then off to the Secretary of State Office in the Capital building in Lincoln for State seals.
Friday morning I was able to send the dossier and it's copies to our agency. It is there now. After our agency director reviews it, our dossier will go to Vietnam to be translated and finally logged in with the Department of International Adoption (DIA).
Friday, March 28, 2008
Please Keep Praying
I'm trying so hard not to be discouraged. Everything has taken so much longer than it was supposed to. Our dossier was overnighted to San Francisco last Tuesday morning. It wasn't received until Thursday AM. It's still sitting there. We paid for the expedited service which is only supposed to take 4-5 days. Also, the lady at FedEx had never done a prepaid return envelope before so I'm really hoping she didn't mess this up. This is all of our paperwork and work from 10 months. She didn't exactly instill confidence. I could see as she typed the address into the computer, and she kept getting it wrong.
So please keep praying:
1) That our dossier is safe and being processed in San Francisco or even better yet that it is safely on it's way home to us.
2) That the orphanage director would start processing paperwork/ads on the children that are there that aren't already matched so that they can if eligible become referable. Right now he's refusing to budge. He's trying to get more "humanitarian aid" out of our agency.
3) That the orphanage director would start accepting orphans again. Right now he's turning them away.
4) That those first 2 families from our agencies would get their I-600s approved so they can finally go get their babies.
5) That overall we get to bring our baby girl home. Please pray for her protection and for the spiritual battle going on.
6) The Lord's will be done and the grace for us to accept whatever that is.
So please keep praying:
1) That our dossier is safe and being processed in San Francisco or even better yet that it is safely on it's way home to us.
2) That the orphanage director would start processing paperwork/ads on the children that are there that aren't already matched so that they can if eligible become referable. Right now he's refusing to budge. He's trying to get more "humanitarian aid" out of our agency.
3) That the orphanage director would start accepting orphans again. Right now he's turning them away.
4) That those first 2 families from our agencies would get their I-600s approved so they can finally go get their babies.
5) That overall we get to bring our baby girl home. Please pray for her protection and for the spiritual battle going on.
6) The Lord's will be done and the grace for us to accept whatever that is.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Still Proceeding
After a scary few weeks, it looks like things will continue for us in Vietnam for now. We actually waited on sending our Dossier to San Francisco to be authenticated at the Vietnamese Consulate for over a week pending news from our agency.
The good news is that our Dossier is on its way to be Authenticated and we are next on the list for a baby girl. When we get our Dossier back, we will send it to the agency. They will send it to their employee in Vietnam to be translated. Then it will be logged in at the Vietnamese Department of International Adoption (DIA).
Please pray:
1) That our Dossier will be back soon so that it can be sent on to be logged in.
2) That the families that are waiting for I-600 approval (visa approval) from Immigration and Department of State will get their approvals...finally.
3) That our province will accept children into the orphanage again and process paperwork on any children there.
The good news is that our Dossier is on its way to be Authenticated and we are next on the list for a baby girl. When we get our Dossier back, we will send it to the agency. They will send it to their employee in Vietnam to be translated. Then it will be logged in at the Vietnamese Department of International Adoption (DIA).
Please pray:
1) That our Dossier will be back soon so that it can be sent on to be logged in.
2) That the families that are waiting for I-600 approval (visa approval) from Immigration and Department of State will get their approvals...finally.
3) That our province will accept children into the orphanage again and process paperwork on any children there.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
I-600 A Approval
Yeahhhhh!!! I received a email from USCIS today stating that our I600A app had been approved and our I71H should be coming in the mail.
What this means: This is our preapproval from immigration. Basicly it approves us to adopt an unknown orphan. This is also the last major piece we needed to complete our dossier (paperwork).
Next we send everything to the Sec of State for Seals.
What this means: This is our preapproval from immigration. Basicly it approves us to adopt an unknown orphan. This is also the last major piece we needed to complete our dossier (paperwork).
Next we send everything to the Sec of State for Seals.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Some Good News
Last Friday we received our first response to any of our inquiries from USCIS (immigration). We were fingerprinted on Feb. 7th and those have cleared. Yeah! It was rather hard to get fingerprints from Shae (she's done too, many dishes) so we rejoice that there wasn't any more delays.
The biggest piece of good news is that the USCIS officer hoped to get to our app for a final decision next week. Sooooo...hopefully we'll still see our I71-H (immigration approval of us to adopt) by the end of February.
We're still working on getting our medical letter. We've been having tons of fun with TB, HIV tests, etc. Sidenote--Have you ever been stabbed with a needle...twice...while your toddlers are tackling you. Like I said having tons of fun. Hopefully tomorrow's appt will be the day. Of course we thought yesterday's 3 hour appt was supposed to be it so we'll just keep praying.
Besides that the rest of our dossier (paperwork) is at the agency being reviewed. After that it will go to the NE Sec of State for State Seals. After that it has to go San Francisco or Washington DC for seals from the Vietnamese Embassy. Then it can go go Vietnam to be translated and finally logged in with the DIA (Dept of International Adoption) there. Maybe by the end of March or sometime in April???
We'd appreciate all your prayers on that. Things have gotten kind of topsy turvy with Vietnam since late last Fall. The bottom line is that the program will close this year unless the US and Vietnam agree to sign a new agreement, which it's not sounding too, hopeful. So in the meantime we're just trying to get everything done as quick as possible. I'll try and post more details of what's happening when I get a chance.
I believe last time I checked, we were sitting at #1, maybe #2 on the agency waiting list for a baby girl so this paperwork business really does need to be done.
The biggest piece of good news is that the USCIS officer hoped to get to our app for a final decision next week. Sooooo...hopefully we'll still see our I71-H (immigration approval of us to adopt) by the end of February.
We're still working on getting our medical letter. We've been having tons of fun with TB, HIV tests, etc. Sidenote--Have you ever been stabbed with a needle...twice...while your toddlers are tackling you. Like I said having tons of fun. Hopefully tomorrow's appt will be the day. Of course we thought yesterday's 3 hour appt was supposed to be it so we'll just keep praying.
Besides that the rest of our dossier (paperwork) is at the agency being reviewed. After that it will go to the NE Sec of State for State Seals. After that it has to go San Francisco or Washington DC for seals from the Vietnamese Embassy. Then it can go go Vietnam to be translated and finally logged in with the DIA (Dept of International Adoption) there. Maybe by the end of March or sometime in April???
We'd appreciate all your prayers on that. Things have gotten kind of topsy turvy with Vietnam since late last Fall. The bottom line is that the program will close this year unless the US and Vietnam agree to sign a new agreement, which it's not sounding too, hopeful. So in the meantime we're just trying to get everything done as quick as possible. I'll try and post more details of what's happening when I get a chance.
I believe last time I checked, we were sitting at #1, maybe #2 on the agency waiting list for a baby girl so this paperwork business really does need to be done.
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