I am breaking my "blogging silence" only because it is urgent. This may make absolutely no sense to some readers, but it will make a great deal of sense to others in the international adoption process!
We were originally told firmly and unequivocally by the USCIS office in Lima, Peru (who will be processing our I-600A) that we could not submit the I-600A until we had our homestudy in hand to send with it. So, we waited. And the homestudy still has not come. And the deadline is Tuesday, April 1. And on one hand we were told it didn't matter if we missed the deadline (the deadline being the date on which the Hague Convention goes into effect in the United States and after which a new form, the I-800A will be used.)
Well, I checked the I-800A today and it specifically says it cannot be used for adoption from non-Hague countries - which Haiti is - and it says to refer to the I-600A. Which, says nothing at all on the subject! So, I called our agency and the director told me that we should definitely file before April 1 because no one really knows what the ramifications of the Hague will be at this point.
Prior to all this, I had a lengthy conversation with the other American adoptive mom who was homestudied at the same time we were. It turns out that she had an awful time at the US Embassy getting runaround after runaround, just trying to get in there for fingerprinting! She warned me to call right away because otherwise it might be too late. So I did, and I spoke to two different people who also tried to give me the runaround and tell me that I couldn't speak to anyone personally and that I had to send an e-mail (which historically go unanswered) even though I told them I didn't have that kind of time! This document and my prints need to be in Peru by Tuesday!!
I had the foresight to try the proverbial "name dropping" and gave them the person's name I had received from our contact at USCIS/Lima. Bingo! All of a sudden, everyone was ever so helpful and we now have fingerprinting appointments for Monday at 3 pm.
And yes, Monday is March 31 - the day before deadline. The lady told me she is pretty confident that if we pay and submit the I-600A that day, even if it doesn't get to USCIS/Lima until Tuesday (or if it gets delayed in the mail) then it should be considered submitted prior to April 1.
Please pray that will be the case and that nothing will get in the way of having this all-important form received by the office in Lima. Please pray that our homestudy gets here in time. Please pray for God to give us favor with the US officials and Haiti officials and everyone in between. We need your prayers, and appreciate them so very much! Thank you!!
We were originally told firmly and unequivocally by the USCIS office in Lima, Peru (who will be processing our I-600A) that we could not submit the I-600A until we had our homestudy in hand to send with it. So, we waited. And the homestudy still has not come. And the deadline is Tuesday, April 1. And on one hand we were told it didn't matter if we missed the deadline (the deadline being the date on which the Hague Convention goes into effect in the United States and after which a new form, the I-800A will be used.)
Well, I checked the I-800A today and it specifically says it cannot be used for adoption from non-Hague countries - which Haiti is - and it says to refer to the I-600A. Which, says nothing at all on the subject! So, I called our agency and the director told me that we should definitely file before April 1 because no one really knows what the ramifications of the Hague will be at this point.
Prior to all this, I had a lengthy conversation with the other American adoptive mom who was homestudied at the same time we were. It turns out that she had an awful time at the US Embassy getting runaround after runaround, just trying to get in there for fingerprinting! She warned me to call right away because otherwise it might be too late. So I did, and I spoke to two different people who also tried to give me the runaround and tell me that I couldn't speak to anyone personally and that I had to send an e-mail (which historically go unanswered) even though I told them I didn't have that kind of time! This document and my prints need to be in Peru by Tuesday!!
I had the foresight to try the proverbial "name dropping" and gave them the person's name I had received from our contact at USCIS/Lima. Bingo! All of a sudden, everyone was ever so helpful and we now have fingerprinting appointments for Monday at 3 pm.
And yes, Monday is March 31 - the day before deadline. The lady told me she is pretty confident that if we pay and submit the I-600A that day, even if it doesn't get to USCIS/Lima until Tuesday (or if it gets delayed in the mail) then it should be considered submitted prior to April 1.
Please pray that will be the case and that nothing will get in the way of having this all-important form received by the office in Lima. Please pray that our homestudy gets here in time. Please pray for God to give us favor with the US officials and Haiti officials and everyone in between. We need your prayers, and appreciate them so very much! Thank you!!
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