Answered Prayer
Biometrics was today. We brought Josiah even though his appointment is on the 9th. Thanks to all for prayer, because they let Josiah get his done today instead of waiting six more days. We are now getting our dossier ready for Ukraine.
Based on many other adoption blogs I've seen where Ukraine adoptions are getting completed in recent months, the time between biometrics and getting the needed I-171H approval from Homeland Security is two weeks. Therefore, we are moving as fast as we can to get our dossier together. A dossier is a pamphlet of documents from federal and state agencies that verify we are really Nellie and David Moore, and that we would be good adoptive parents. An adoption is a legal matter, filled with many requirements.
One of the comments on the last blog was what all the terms meant. USCIS is the Federal Immigration Service. In order for us to adopt two foreign children, we need to US government to allow us to do so. The I-171H form will be a document showing we have been given US approval to adopt two foreign children. Biometrics is a fancy term for "Finger Printing".
The process ahead will be dossier submittal, translation of all documents to Ukrainian by our agency, and then a wait for an invitation from Ukraine. I have heard from other adoptive parents that the SDA in Ukraine can give as much as 3 weeks notice, or as little as 5 days. In either case, Nellie and I are making plans to go. Zach and Matthias are joining us. Nellie and Matthias will fly back to the Twin Cities after our court date (about 3 1/2 weeks after we get there), while Zach and I will stay in Ukraine until after the 10 day waiting period is up, and we bring the children back with us (about 5-6 weeks). Zach already got permission from all his teachers at Armstrong to be absent for 6 weeks. They recognize what an amazing learning opportunity this will be for both of our younger boys.
We obtained the phone number of the orphanage today. ECAS told us the best time to call is between 5-6pm evenings and weekends (Kiev Time). This means we have to call here between 9:00 am and 10:00 am. We have a friend of the family, Sonja, who speaks Russian,who is coming over Saturday so we can talk to Anya, and hopefully, a few words to Artium as well. Sonja helped us greatly when Anya was hear.
One final note. The response from everyone we know has been truly amazing, and we cannot tell you how much we see God moving in all of this. I cannot name everyone here, but I wanted to call attention to a few. One is my spiritual mom, the person who led me to Christ when I was 17. She has been a huge support for us, and we are so grateful. Nellie's parents, David and Terry, have been very supportive. We saw them this past weekend, and the excitement they feel is just amazing. Our Life Group at Church has been really supportive. And also, the parents of our future son in law in Oklahoma....they have been very supportive as well. We are just so blessed. Thank you Lord.
Based on many other adoption blogs I've seen where Ukraine adoptions are getting completed in recent months, the time between biometrics and getting the needed I-171H approval from Homeland Security is two weeks. Therefore, we are moving as fast as we can to get our dossier together. A dossier is a pamphlet of documents from federal and state agencies that verify we are really Nellie and David Moore, and that we would be good adoptive parents. An adoption is a legal matter, filled with many requirements.
One of the comments on the last blog was what all the terms meant. USCIS is the Federal Immigration Service. In order for us to adopt two foreign children, we need to US government to allow us to do so. The I-171H form will be a document showing we have been given US approval to adopt two foreign children. Biometrics is a fancy term for "Finger Printing".
The process ahead will be dossier submittal, translation of all documents to Ukrainian by our agency, and then a wait for an invitation from Ukraine. I have heard from other adoptive parents that the SDA in Ukraine can give as much as 3 weeks notice, or as little as 5 days. In either case, Nellie and I are making plans to go. Zach and Matthias are joining us. Nellie and Matthias will fly back to the Twin Cities after our court date (about 3 1/2 weeks after we get there), while Zach and I will stay in Ukraine until after the 10 day waiting period is up, and we bring the children back with us (about 5-6 weeks). Zach already got permission from all his teachers at Armstrong to be absent for 6 weeks. They recognize what an amazing learning opportunity this will be for both of our younger boys.
We obtained the phone number of the orphanage today. ECAS told us the best time to call is between 5-6pm evenings and weekends (Kiev Time). This means we have to call here between 9:00 am and 10:00 am. We have a friend of the family, Sonja, who speaks Russian,who is coming over Saturday so we can talk to Anya, and hopefully, a few words to Artium as well. Sonja helped us greatly when Anya was hear.
One final note. The response from everyone we know has been truly amazing, and we cannot tell you how much we see God moving in all of this. I cannot name everyone here, but I wanted to call attention to a few. One is my spiritual mom, the person who led me to Christ when I was 17. She has been a huge support for us, and we are so grateful. Nellie's parents, David and Terry, have been very supportive. We saw them this past weekend, and the excitement they feel is just amazing. Our Life Group at Church has been really supportive. And also, the parents of our future son in law in Oklahoma....they have been very supportive as well. We are just so blessed. Thank you Lord.
:)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification of terms!
Sounds like you're coming down to the wire...yay!