We're in Review

I got an email from Great Wall today. The May and June 2008 groups are in Review. Wow. I thought it would take a lot longer to get there.

Hopefully, this means things are speeding up over there.

Keeping my fingers crossed and say my prayers.

USCIS Rant

I sent all of the paperwork for the I171-H renewal to their office in NYC back in OCTOBER. I've gotten nothing back yet.

I gave them until January, then sent an email. No response - despite their automated reply to my email that says they'll get back to me within 3 business days.

I wait a week or so then send another email. No response.

So I send another email. No response. The same auto-reply gives an 800 number. I called the number - no one there can help with adoption. Surprise, surprise. There is no 212 number to call. So, I'm thinking I have to take a day off of work and trek into Manhattan on the off chance someone can help me.

Last week, I sent an email that had, as one of my coworkers says, "some stank on it." I basically stated that I can't understand what the holdup is, that we are now considering a waiting child and things could move very fast, but they are holding up the process, that it is unconscionable that they haven't even bothered to get back to me. I also wrote my senator and The Department of State Office of Intercountry Adoption, asking both to intercede on my behalf and find out what is going on.

Strangely enough, I get a reply in 20 minutes. They say that my file has been placed with an officer and they will get back to me as soon as they can. They supposedly had staff shortages. The email also contained a 212 phone number for me to call between some very specific hours if I don't receive a reply in a reasonable period of time.

Why must everything be so freakin' difficult?

UPDATE - 2.10.10:

Guess what came in the mail today? A notice of favorable determination from USCIS. Strange how it showed up right after I raised hell.

Going Gluten Free

I'm not sure how much you may know about Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. I was diagnosed about 4 years ago and have been trying to get it managed ever since. I've been to four different endocrinologists with no success. I also went to a holistic nutritionist. She put me on a severely restricted diet (I could basically drink water and eat cardboard). Now I'm seeing a naturopathic registered nurse. She has worked up a treatment plan that is working out decently so far.

Part of my Hashimoto's treatment is to be completely gluten free, which is not an easy thing to do. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE bread and giving it up sucks. What sucks even more is the taste of store-bought gluten free bread. It's also extremely pricey.

I decided that it would make more sense to buy a bread machine and make my own bread. So I bought the Breadman Pro. It arrived today and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Here's a pic...



I'm doing a lot of research on what flour mixtures will make the best bread and I've found some very interesting gluten free sites (which you will find under Gluten Free Blogs to the left).

Where Is My I171-H?

I sent everything they requested on October 5th. So, now I have to ask, where is my I171-H?

Why, oh why, do I have to chase down every single thing?

Bad Fingerprints! Bad, Bad Fingerprints!

We got a notice in the mail the other day that both my and my mother's prints were unreadable, so now we both have to get letters of good conduct for all jurisdictions that we've lived in for the past five years and sign an affidavit attesting to certain facts (we haven't been arrested, etc., etc.). This is no big deal for me, as I've been a Suffolk County resident for the past five years., but my mom has only been here for 3 years. Before that, she lived in Katy, TX. I got a letter of Good Conduct from them the last go around, and I'm waiting to hear back from USCIS/NYC Adoption to see if I need a new one, or will the old be acceptable.

I sent the requests and money to Suffolk County on Thursday. They're generally pretty fast. We have 60 days to turn this around.

No News is - Well, No News

I haven't gotten another fingerprint notice, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the second time was the charm.

Not that it means a whole Hell of a lot. The process is moving slower than an arthritic snail.

UPDATE - Fingerprints

UPDATE - I went yesterday (7/22/09) to my appointment. I was there for a half hour while the technician printed and reprinted my left hand. Let's keep our fingers crossed that these took. When I asked why they don't back up with ink, she told me that they only use ink when the computers are down.

Silly. Just plain silly.

Fingerprints - Ad Nauseum

I have to be printed again. When we went the last time, they said that they couldn't read my left hand, but kept trying until they got what they figured was a usuable set of prints. Guess again.

Why don't they back up their scanner with ink? I don't know. Maybe it makes too much sense? ARGH.

Fingerprinting

Well, it's been 15 months since our last fingerprinting and, since our fingerprints have "expired", we had to get printed again.

I can understand asking for a couple or three hundred dollars to re-run our prints, but reprinting? I didn't get new fingerprints for Christmas, so why do I need to be reprinted, at the tune of almost $1,000?

I am happy to say that the USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) ASC (Application Support Center) moved from the nasty building in Hempstead to a nice new facility in Hicksville. The people were all the same, which was nice, since they were pretty good the first go-round.

Tom's printing went without issue; my mom was there for about 15 minutes while they tried to find her prints (we'll probably have to go back, like we did last time, then do the affidavit). The prints on my right hand went fine, but apparently my left hand has really bad prints. I was there about 10 minutes.

Time will tell if we have to go back.

The Wait

The wait seems as if it will never end. Each month, when I get the Places Everyone email from Great Wall, I compare it with the prior months. I am sad to say that I have seen no movement on that list since January, and only minimal movement since August.

We were told that things would start to speed up in the beginning of 2009, but I don't see any evidence of that. It looks like the 5 year prediction is going to come true. If things keep crawling the way they are, I can see it going longer.

Of course, our I-171H expires in May, so we have to go through the process of getting re-fingerprinted (which makes absolutely no sense to me) and have a home study update ($150) done. The first renewal of the I-171H is free (if we get everything done by the expiration date - a HUGE feat when you have a CPA husband that's been working 7 days a week). The I-171H expires every 15 months, so the next several will cost $960 each. Then there's the home study update fee each time.

We got reprinted (at the local level) a couple of weeks ago and sent that paperwork up to get the state check redone. We have to wait for that to come back and then send the results and the updated home study to USCIS (Immigration) for our reprint appointment at the federal level. You may ask why they can't both use the same prints. I asked the same question. I honestly think it comes down to each bureaucracy wanting to have control over its own little kingdom.

So, now of course, people are telling me to go to another country. Easy for them to say. We've already invested a lot of money toward this adoption. We have also started picturing our daughter, and she's Chinese.

Orphanage Donation

I figured this would happen - we got word that the orphanage donation went up. It was $3,000 US when we started. I knew it was going to go up, but in my mind, I figured it would go up by $1000 this year and maybe another $1000 next year.

According to the statement we received from Great Wall, the CCAA stated that, with the exchange rate, they are not able to make the money go as far as it once did (no surprise there - no one's money is going as far as it once did).

They have raised the donation to 35,000 Yuan (and payable in Yuan, which is new), which is, at today's (12/12/08) exchange rate:

35,000 Chinese Yuan(s) = $5,110.01 US Dollar(s)
1 USD = 6.8493 CNY
1 CNY = 0.146 USD

That's quite a jump. I wonder what it will be when we are finally in the home stretch?

Pending Review

People from May 2007 are still pending review!!! Holy crud, does t his mean we're going to be in THAT limbo for another year, before we're in review, then pending referral for another freaking 2 years?!? I can't believe it. It looks like the 5 year prediction may actually come true.

Un-freakin-believable!!

Pending Review

According to Great Wall, we are out of Translation and pending Review.

We're In Translation

We got our "Places Everyone" email from Beth at Great Wall today. We're now in translation. After that is Pending Review, Review, Pending Referral and...a long time later...Referral.

According to the email, Great Wall will receive the next referral group from CCAA in early September, and they will have experienced a 31 month wait.

31 months. Wow.

LID!!!

We have our LID - June 13th!!!

I spoke with Beth from Great Wall and she said that the wait time is currently 30 months. They are being told by the CCAA that the wait time should peak by the end of 2008, then start to drop in 2009.

DTC!!!

We are DTC (Documents to China). YEA!!!

The next steps are:

• After the dossier is received by Great Wall in China, they will walk it into the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) and we’ll get a Log In Date (LID). It typically takes about 6-8 weeks for the CCAA to send the agency the LID. The dossier is logged in pretty quickly, but it takes a while to get the date.
• Translation (CCAA translates all documents to Chinese);
• Review Room (CCAA reviews dossier for eligibility requirements); and
• Matching Room (CCAA matches us with child).

We are on our way.

Diedra from Great Wall sent an email yesterday - Our documents are with the courier for authentication at the Chinese embassy. We're almost done with that part of the process.

I-171H Received!!

We received our I-171H today. It's the last document needed in the paper chase portion. Nice wedding anniversary present (5/14/08 - 3 years) to Tom & me!!

I sent it off to Great Wall today via FedEx.

Amidst all the sadness for the people lost, missing and hurt in the earthquake, there's a little glimmer of happiness that we have finished a significant portion of our work.

5/14/08 - Update from Great Wall

From Great Wall:

"Here is an orphanage update received from our Beijing office. I still have not received any word on Fengdu SWI, Jiangjin SWI, or Guixi SWI. I continue to request updates and will pass along any information that I receive as it comes in. Here is the latest information we have received from the Civil Affairs:

Lianping, Chonqing: All children and staff are reported safe. Reports of serious structural damage.

Yunyang, Chongqing: All children and staff are safe. Some damage reported

Fuling, Chongqing: The staff and children are safe. The new orphanage building sustained some structural damage which is being assessed.

Nanchuan, Chongqing: All children are safe and no damage reported.

Xiushan, Chongqing: All children are safe and no damage reported.

Zhaotong, Yunnan Foster Care: All children in this program are accounted for and safe.

Chengdu CWI: Some foundation damage to the rehab building and some cracked walls in other buildings. The children’s building is in the best shape and all children have been moved to the first floor but spend most of the day outside, weather permitting – or in the institution buses if there is rain."

Earthquake In China

May 13, 2008

There was a horrific earthquake in China yesterday, killing tens of thousand of people.

Tom and I heard from our adoption agency that three of the social welfare institutes they regularly get referrals from were in that region. The information coming out of the area is spotty, due to the lack of phone services, etc., but early reports stated that the local regional guides are all okay, and the orphanages were evacuated. We sent a donation to the relief fund. Hopefully it will help.

There are still pretty large aftershocks happening in the area.

Please keep these poor people in your prayers.

Here's what we received from Great Wall:

Dear Families, Several orphanages in the Sichuan and Chongqing provinces that Great Wall regularly receives referrals from have been directly affected by the catastrophic earthquake that occurred in China May 12, 2008. In an effort to assist orphanages that have been affected by the earthquake; Great Wall has started a special relief fund for orphanages in need. These funds will go directly to providing rescue resources, reconstruction projects, and any other necessary assistance.

If you are interested in donating to the fund,please click on the following link to download the donation form. This form can then be emailed, faxed, or mailed directly to Great Wall. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Kimber at Great Wall China Adoption by phone at 512.323.9595 ext 3053 or by email at kimber@gwca.org.

Link to donation form: http://www.gwca.org/donate/earthquake-relief-fund/