A bit of hope

A bit of hope came our way last week with a request to send our original paperwork for the USA visa process.

We assume that this means that IBESR continues to work on our case and our file is not lost or misplaced.

Next week the director should return from her vacation and we pray that she will start signing charts for referrals as well as for families like ours to exit IBESR and enter the court system for the adoption.

Upon our request we received F's June update on August 12th, which was quickly followed by his August update August 19.

We should receive an update and pictures every two months.

F's first foster family wrote the June update and his new family the second one.

He continues to learn more English, even translating for the new family. F's been healthy and enjoying school.

His aunt visited recently and it was a good visit.

Praying for the paperwork and process.
May the Lord be glorified.

Answers and extension.

After hearing back from F's adoption coordinator, we contacted the USCIS staff in Haiti requesting our first I-600 application extension.

We are very thankful to receive the three-month extension just hours after sending our e-mail!

In addition to this information, we also learned today that F's mother did travel for her appointment at the Embassy.

A report from God's Littlest Angels [link to full report here] contained encouraging news.

As far as we know we remain in IBESR. After we exit we will be in the court system.

• "IBESR seems to be getting more organized and hiring new people for the adoption unit so that they can keep up with the proposals, the interviews for biological families, and the interviews required with the socialization visit that adoptive parents must make at the beginning of each adoption.  We are so thankful that they finally hired people so that they can finally try and get caught up with all of the work that they have to do!"

• "Other adoptions that are past IBESR and in the courts are finally moving again too.  We had children stuck in the adoption court where the final adoption decree is written.  They had to change the decree to match the new adoption law.  This took them more than 6 months to get it the way they wanted it but now these final decrees are being issued and adoptions are moving again through the system.  We hope to have several finished in the next month or two."

I-600 application questions

Last week, we received an E-mail from our agency asking if we'd heard anything about our I-600 visa application.

Today marks 12 weeks since of our appointment at the Embassy.

Now being very busy we'd not thought much about this as we assumed that we would not be hearing anything until all the needed documents [15 or so] were turned in as requested.

We also have not heard anything about F's mother going to the Embassy for her appointment.

We knew we needed to ask for an extension before August 25th if not all the documents are turned in by that date and since one of the documents is the adoption decree, we plan to ask for the extension.

But the questions about having obtained a receipt started us thinking and so we sent off an e-mail inquiry? [We received two papers listing the deadline and what documents needed to be turned in, which we turned over to the crèche worker]

The US department of Immigration services does not see any papers for us about an I-600 application.

So we're left wondering....maybe the Haiti office holds all the documentation until they have 100% of the paperwork and then sends them off to the USA?

No word yet about exiting IBESR and entering the courts for our adoption.

Praying and waiting for answers.