Well....it's already March of 2012 & a few months ago we were certain that we would have our Referral by now. But the reality is that China is still processing August 2006 files & this past February they only reached up to August 21, 2006, which was only a few days more they processed than the month before. I know all of this sounds confusing for friends & family, but what else can I say? All we know is that we have been "So Close" for several months now yet it still it is unknown when. It can literally be any month now, especially if they decide to process a few weeks of files at a time, which they did last year. So it's been very frustrating to say the least.
In the meantime, it's time again to update lots of paperwork for our HomeStudy agency. Here's a list of what we have to update:
References Form
Guardian, Caregiver & reference form
Request for LIVE SCAN Service form
Employment Verification forms
Update HomeStudy Information Forms
Physical Examination Forms
Adoption questionnaire ( personality traits, family life, marital relationship etc. )
Fingerprinting
2011 Taxes
Auto/Medical Insurance stuff
Vehicle registrations
Then after we turn this in to our HomeStudy agency, they will send out a social worker to inspect our home etc. Then once they update our HomeStudy report, they will send it off to USCIS & we will need to wait for an approval from them, which grants us permission to bring an "orphan" into the US. And the reason we have to update all of this paperwork is because our old paperwork will be expiring in the summer, & we want to make sure we get a new approval before we travel. We would of bypassed all of this, had we received our referral early this year.
AND......as if this wasn't enough, we just received word that because we are going on 6 years of waiting to bring our child into the United States, our country will no longer allow us to request for an extension under a form called the I-600A form, even if we paid for it. We now have to fill out a new form called the -I800A form, which I've been told is a much lengthier form than the one we were used to.
AND.....if this isn't enough, there is one final thing about having to do this form that will most likely cause even more heartbreak for us & this has to do with our new travel time once we get our referral & get to meet our daughter through photos & medical records. Instead of traveling within 6 weeks of receiving her referral, we will now have to wait about 3 months! Talk about torture! I can not begin to imagine what it will feel like to finally see a little face, and know details about our daughter & have to wait for her to grow another 3 months in an orphanage. It will be heartbreaking....we are sure.
However, we don't have any other choice but to mentally prepare for it. We have endured this long, with all of the ups & downs, and there is no way we are giving up now. Even though I confess that there have been many times where we have thrown ourselves a pitty party & believe we are the only ones going through this. But the reality is there are lots and lots of families waiting along with us, & those who's files are from 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, & I can't imagine being in their place knowing how long this process is taking. As I've mentioned before, when we signed up back in 2006, the wait was only 6 months, 1 year max. I have heard rumors that China is purposely beginning to slow down their "healthy infant" program to push their "special needs" children, which are basically children over 2 years of age and children with minor health issues that can easily be corrected.
For now, we'll wait to hear how far China reached this month ( they send out referrals every month ). We're hoping they will finish with August finally!
We're also maintaing ourselves very busy with our graphic design business, my little side venture MKLittle ( which entails lots of sewing ), and with our wonderful Marriage Enrichment Ministry, which has been an unbelievable blessing to us. As a result of getting involved with this particular ministry ( right about the time we completed our adoption paperwork ), we have gained some beautiful new friendships! They have all become such a big part of our lives. We know for a fact that our lives would not be the same without them. They have provided us with the support we have needed to endure this very looooong wait.
Thanks for checking in!
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