Immigrations Round #1

Today we received our updated home study. Yep, that's right, revisions were needed. Let me inform you about this step in the adoption process called Immigrations Round 1. When your home study is approved, the case worker writes everything up in a long report that hits all of the specific points our government and the foreign government is concerned about. Things like mental health, financial stability, ability to overcome difficulties, and willingness to seek professional help when needed. You need the approved home study report in order to move on to the next step in the process-Immigrations. The completed Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition (I-600a) along with brand new state certified copies of our birth and marriage certificates (an unexpected expense) had been sitting on the counter waiting for the home study to arrive. I had gone through the checklist several times, but the excitement got to me on the day the home study arrived and I rushed to send our stuff to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office without including the (hefty) processing fee. About midnight I realized my mistake and got to UPS first thing in the morning to overnight the check and an explaination. A week or so later we received our rejection due to improper payment notice from the Department of Homeland Security. A few days afer that we received our check. Bummer. If at first you don't succeed, pay another overnight fee. You better believe I got it right the second time. 

A few weeks passed before we received notification that USCIS was reviewing our application. It also stated that we should expect to receive a biometrics appointment date within 2 weeks. Sure enough, the appointment letter arrived explaining our June 28th fingerprint appointment. The four of us enjoyed a trip into the city, an adventure among towering buildings, and a visit into a federal building. They scanned our fingerprints and sent us off within 10 minutes. It was a breeze.

A month later a little envelope from the Department of Homeland Security found itself in our mailbox. I wanted to be overwhelmed with excitement, but 3 words stamped at the top assured me this wasn't the envelope I was waiting for. It seemed odd that "Return Service Requested" would be necessary if we were approved. It turns out, Carey's fingerprints weren't clear and he would need to try again. At least this time we didn't have to wait for another letter to give us the appointment date, it was included. Luckily the grumps at the USCIS office were overpowered by someone who must have been God-sent because the next day they squeezed Carey in without an appoitment. The angel even called Carey that evening to assure him that this time, the FBI accepted his prints. Have you ever heard of someone in a governemnt office calling a perfect stranger after closing time on a Friday? Just to reassure him things went well? That is beyond crazy. That is God.

Fast forward another 10 days. An envelope from the Department of Homeland Security arrives. This time I could see pink paper inside. Pink paper is only good for baby shower invitations, folks. This was an invitation to try again...again. We were rejected because our home study states we had never been the subjects of an unfavorable home study and did not clearly state that we had never been rejected as potential adoptive parents. Isn't that the SAME THING??? Whatever. You say tomato, I say God is in control. 

Our home study agency said this was the 2nd time they've ever had this issue with the exact wording of the phrase. They were on it and would have our revision to us by the end of the week. Except that our case worker was on vacation and it was actually a week and a half later before we received our new and improved home study report. 

That brings us to today. Home study in and right back out, overnight of course, to USCIS. They've raked over our application and probably tapped our phones. Maybe they'll be consistant and send us our approval in 10 days.   :)

PS-no grammar or spell check. I apologize, friends.