Sometimes Our Government Makes Mistakes

Our wonderful government employees at the Newark Airport processed the boys paperwork.  A few weeks after we arrived home, we received these in the mail.

Sorry it is rotated, I couldn't convince it to go the right direction. 

I called the number that came on the paperwork with their Green Cards and told them we got the WRONG thing.  The very nice gentleman filed a form asking them to re-issue the boys' Certificate of Citizenship.  I knew that wasn't going to work since they hadn't issued them in the first place!  But, I played the game. 

About a week later, I received another notice in the mail from USCIS stating that we would have to fill out some form and send in some money to get a replacement CoC.  I called the number on that form and told them what happened.  The very nice lady that answered the phone gave me the phone number of the Child Citizenship Act office in Buffalo, NY.  I called them and spoke with a very nice gentleman there.  He told me that they had already sent the boys' paperwork to Missouri and that he would have to ask for it to be sent to him. 

About a week later, he called and said he had received the paperwork and everything had been done correctly.  He said he thought they just put it in the wrong pile when they got done!!! Anyway, he told me that I would have to send back the boys' green cards and as soon as he receives them he will send out their CoCs. 

Their green cards were FedEx'd on Friday.  Hopefully, we will have their CoC's in hand by the end of next week.

The Rest of the Story (or Now I Know Why - Part 5)

WOW!!!! God just keeps blessing the socks off of us!!!!!

It has been one roller-coaster of a ride

But GOD is faithful! 



(Prologue:  If you don't know what this is all about,

check out the blog links on the left: Our Journey - Parts 1 through 4)

After our paperwork got kicked back from the lockbox a second time, I called our USCIS Officer.  I told him what happened and he said not to worry, that he would see what he could do.  Well, he was able to work some magic on his end and got approval to process our paperwork anyway.  (Miracle #1)

He said that he would approve us as soon as he got the necessary papers on his desk, but that it could take a day or two.  That was Tue 1/25. 

I began to realize just how tight the timing was going to be.  You see, the CCAA closes for Chinese New Year from 2/2 through 2/8.  GWs birthday is 2/9.  We have to sign the adoption papers BEFORE 2/9 or it is too late.  As a result, we need our TA issued on or before 2/1. 

Assuming the worst case, our USCIS officer would not be able to approve us until Thur, our papers wouldn't make it to the National Visa Center until Friday and they wouldn't be able to cable our information until Monday.    The Consulate would have to process our Article 5 that day so our agency representative could pick it up and hand carry it to Beijing on 2/1.  Then, CCAA has to sign the TA then. 

WHEW!!!!  I was concerned that any other delays might create a huge problem for us.

So, I sent an e-mail to the Consulate and to NVC to make them aware of the upcoming paperwork and deadline.  They responded to me and assured me that everything would be expedited due to the nature of the case. 

God then reminded me of a distant relative who "happens" to be a retired US State Department employee.  So I called him and explained our predicament and asked if there was anything he could do.  He said it had been two years since he retired and that since the State Department moves people around regularly, he wasn't sure that he would be of any help.

Late Tue afternoon, our USCIS officer e-mailed me that he would have the needed papers on Wed morning!!!!!   (Miracle #2)

Later that evening, I received a call from my relative.  He explained that he had been able to make contact with a former colleague and ask if he knew anyone at the Guangzhou Consulate that could help us if needed. 

As God had pre-ordained many years ago, this former colleague was now himself stationed at the Guangzhou consulate!  (Miracle #3)

I knew right then and there that GOD was in FULL Control of this adoption and NOTHING would stop it.  (Yes, I had doubted before, but this sealed the deal for me)

But Satan was STILL trying his darndest to keep his hands on our son.  I got a phone call Wed morning from a different USCIS officer.  He told me that our officer was out sick that day.  While I had a moment of panic, the confirmation from God the night before kept me calm.  Our substitute officer asked me a few questions, needed one more piece of paper from our agency and was able to e-mail me our I-800 Pre Approvals by 1:00pm and overnight our package to the NVC.  He was even gracious enough to send me the tracking number so I would know exactly when it got to NVC.  (Miracle #4)

Thursday morning at 10:30, I saw that our package had been delivered to NVC. I called them and got through rather easily (Miracle #5)  I spoke with a wonderful lady there who asked for the tracking number and said she would get right on it.  She said it would most likely be later that evening or Friday morning before we were cabled.  I asked if I could call around 4pm and see how things were going and she said that was a good idea.

So, at 3:30 I started calling and got through right about 4pm.  I spoke to another very helpful lady who told me that we had just been cabled!!! (Miracle #6)  I profusely thanked her and hung up giddy with excitement. 

Friday morning, I was up early and checked my e-mail.  I had an e-mail timestamped 11:02pm Thursday night from my agency (who by the way has been ABSOLUTELY AWESOME throughout this whole process).  The first line in the e-mail was

We have your consulate appointment!



I nearly fell off of my chair! This meant that
1) the wonderful folks at the consulate processed our Article 5, (Miracle #7)
2) our agency was able to get that to the CCAA in Beijing (Miracle #8)
3) the CCAA issued our Travel Approvals, and (Miracle #9)
4) the consulate gave us our Consulate appointment (Miracle #10)


all in SEVEN HOURS!!!!!

I called our Senator's aide who had been helping us on Friday morning to tell her the good news.  Her words to me:

"You realize this is a miracle don't you!" 

I said, "Yes, I do!"

She then proceeded to tell me that she had been e-mailing people and leaving messages but had so far received NO REPLIES to any of them.  So, in my mind, there is no doubt who the "Higher Power" was that was expediting this adoption (and he doesn't live in Washington, DC) 

Oh, and on a side note - our paperwork did NOT get kicked back a second time. It turned out that the person our Senator's aide had talked to at the lockbox was talking about the FIRST (and only) time it got kicked back. They apparently didn't realize that we had already corrected it and sent it back and had been in their hands for four days when our Senator's aide called. But I believe that God used that misinformation to start the process that got all of this moving. Our papers did eventually make it out of the lockbox, but not until Thursday 1/27.

So, if there was ever any doubt that God is still in the Miracle business, I think this should be MORE than enough to put that doubt to rest.

This is my Memorial Box Monday post for this week. 

WOW!!!!!

I serve an AWESOME and MIGHTY GOD!

Is there really any question that his heart is for the orphan?

I feel somewhat like the Grinch at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  You know the line where it says "that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day"  Well, God has grown my faith three sizes through this adoption.

Someday soon, I will post more of the details.  I'll try to do it before we leave.  But here is the latest update:

We have our Article 5!!!!!

And our Travel Approval!!!!

And our Consulate Appointment!!!!

Now is God AWESOME OR WHAT!?!?!??!

God is still in the business of Miracles!

Our substitute USCIS officer (yes, there is another God story here coming later) overnighted our paperwork to the NVC.

They have already processed our file and we have been Cabled to Guangzhou!!!

YIPPEE!!!!!

See, I told you God was moving!!!

God is Moving

I can't share much at the moment, but God is MOVING.  Please continue to pray! 

James 5:16b

(King James Version)

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Still Waiting

We have had no news from the lockbox since Friday.  I have left a message with our Senator's office asking for an update, but they haven't called yet.  I keep checking my bank to see if the checks have cleared yet. 

We are getting down to the wire here.  I am unsure of the last possible moment for this to happen, but it's getting close.  I do know that CCAA will NOT stay open during Chinese New Year in order to issue our TA.  So, everything has to be done by 2/1. 

God is in control, but he is really stretching my faith right now. 

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 

Still Not out of the Woods

Right after I opened our returned package from Hague on Tue night and saw the rejection notices on our applications, I sent an e-mail to the lockbox asking for further clarification.  I finally received a response this afternoon, but their answer has left me even more confused.

They noted a mistake I had made on the forms (darn copy/paste error).  My officer spotted that mistake and we corrected it on the forms we returned.  But then they made this statement:

If these children are NOT related then no fee is required.

If the children are related a fee of $720 is required.

Now this seems exactly the OPPOSITE of everything else I've read.  If they ARE related you don't have to pay and if they are NOT related then you do have to pay.

I sent THREE separate checks - one for the I-800A Supplement 3, one for the first I-800 and one for the second I-800.  I PRAY that they don't reject them all yet again because we have now OVERPAID!!!!!

It shouldn't be THIS confusing.  I know God is in control, but I also know we are running out of time....

Making Progress

I just got off the phone with our USCIS officer (who is WONDERFUL, by the way). Bottom line - we have to pay a second $720


It is still unclear if this is because we sent in the I-800 for our original referral and that was considered our "free" I-800 or if it is because we are adopting two at once and they are not related.

I know at least one person has told me that they had to pay $720 twice when they were adopting two unrelated kids at once. This doesn't make sense to me since it plainly states on the form,

"If more than one Form I-800 is filed during the approval period for different children a fee is required for the second and each subsequent Form I-800."

It even says the same thing in the I-800A filing instructions if you are filing a Supplement 3 for a change in the number of children. Anyway, I'll fork over the $720 in protest because we NEED our son home ASAP. I'll be curious to hear from others that have brought home two - at the same time or subsequently - what they ended up paying.

God is in Control

I am amazingly calm considering the huge speed-bump we ran over last night.  When I talked to our agency contact, we both said that God just wanted something to be able to show just how BIG he is!!!

I have contacted our USCIS officer and our Senator's office (who was already working with us) and they are both on the case. 

I don't believe God would bring us this far to have things fall apart at the last minute. 

God is in Control!

LOA Times 2!

We actually got our LOAs for both boys yesterday. We signed them and shipped them off to our agency today along with the original, signed LOI and our DS-230.  We also signed and sent copies to USCIS.  Now if the lockbox would just send the package to Missouri, we can get approved!!!

Gan en ji kwai le!

Translation - Happy Thanksgiving!

or


We finally got our LOA today!!!

No News

is NOT good news in the adoption world - HMMPPPHHHH!!!!

No LOAs came in today, but at least 8 TAs came in. I guess the good news is that at least we didn't get skipped. It's so hard to wait - especially since it's been two weeks since anybody got a LOA.  Also, another family who submitted their LOI the day we did got their TA today.   The big difference is that they didn't need a waiver and so they were submitting their I-800A the same day as their LOI.  We ended up not being able to submit our I-800A for 55 days!!!  I guess, it was a lack of faith on my part that God would move the waiver mountain for us.  I wasn't willing to fork over the $$$$ for our updated homestudy until we knew for sure we would get our waiver. 

All in God's timing.

Another Step

Three Letters!

WOOOHHHHHOOOOOO!!!!!

It's O-fficial. 

Delivered!!

Our certified copy of the USCIS approval for our adoption of DJ was delivered to Small World this morning.  This is the LAST piece of paper they were waiting for.  SWA will now have it authenticated and then it will be prepped for sending to China!!! 

Unfortunately, this whole process takes TWO WEEKS!! because it has to go through the US Dept of State and then to the Chinese Embassy.  With processing time and shipping time (and a weekend!)  it just takes that long.  So, here's for a DTC date of around 8/20.

APPROVED!!!!

I called our USCIS officer yesterday to make sure he got my message from Friday about our fingerprints.  He said he did and that he approved us yesterday morning!! One more step down on this process. 

Now, I just have to get the approval letter, make a copy, send it to a courier in Tallahassee, have her get it certified, then have her send it to our agency! Whew!!

Fingerprint Appointment

We finally got the letters for our fingerprint appointments yesterday.  The scheduled date is 8/13 - yes - FRIDAY the 13th!!! Fortunately, we can walk in early and are planning on doing so this Friday 7/30.  This will shave TWO WEEKS off of our timeline.  Too bad we had an extra two weeks thrown in due to the delay in our Child Abuse Clearances :-( 

Busy, Busy

Things have been VERY busy around our house. Trying to catch up after having been gone for 10 days and starting a new job has taken a lot of my "spare" time. Signing up for benefits should be pretty easy, but the hardest part is always the Flexible Savings Account portion. Trying to figure out how much to put in the FSA so that most all will be spent by the end of the year is challenging - especially when it is unclear how much things (such as prescriptions) will cost. I could look it up online, but I have to register. To register, I have to have my prescription policy number. To get my prescription policy number, I need to submit all of my benefits choices - including the FSA. Can you say Catch-22?

Oh well. Things are starting to settle down. And on a positive note, I finally received an e-mail on Wed that USCIS had our I-800A application!!!

Immigration

I checked the tracking number on our I-800A package and it was received by USCIS on 6/25!!!!

One more step towards DJ.