Government Bureaucracy
Even though Bridget has been legally adopted, she is still a citizen of Malawi and not the USA which means that she can only stay temporarily in the US. We submitted paperwork to the US Embassy in Lilongwe before we left to make her a US citizen. We were told it would take 2-3 months to complete and then we would be required to return to Malawi to finish the paperwork, which would take 1-2 weeks and upon our return to the US she would be a citizen. Currently, she is in the US on a visitors visa which allows her to stay in the US for 6 months.
The following explanation of our government in action may get confusing as it sometimes confuses us too:
The Malawi embassy sends the I-600 documents to US Embassy in S. Africa as they do the actual approvals. The first of November we contacted the S.A. embassy and were told we needed a few more documents which we immediately faxed to them. We then received an email from the officer that process the paperwork which stated that she had been reassigned and was no longer in S.A. We were to direct all inquiries to another person. At this point we knew that things were going to get interesting.
We contacted our NEW contact and he informed us that they are waiting for a document from the Malawian embassy that verifies Bridget's orphan status. The incredible thing about this is that we couldn't have adopted her if we hadn't proved that she was an "official" orphan. Our frustration is beginning to rise... It gets even better--because they no longer have someone to process the I-600 in S.A. they will be sending our paperwork to Rome!!! Yes, that is Rome, Italy. I wonder how long that will take?! At this point we can only say, God knows.
We have been through 6 adoptions and there has always been a point where things looked impossible and we had to trust the Lord to work it out and He did but in His time. We said from the beginning that we would need a miracle for Bridget to be our daughter and I believe the we need one now.
The latest update from S.Africa was that they were still waiting for the document from Malawi but that they had forwarded the paperwork to Rome anyway. We emailed the embassy in Malawi and they received our email but have not replied.
Since it looks like we won't be returning to Malawi before Bridget's visitors visa runs out (March 3) we now have to apply for an extension. Not only does this cost another $300 but the paperwork is not set up for a parent to be filling out the form for a non-writing child. The place for her signature states that she understood and answered all the questions OR someone translated the questions for her in another language and then she answered. Since we couldn't check either box we just left them blank and Andy signed it as the preparer. We sent in the application and it is returned to us because Bridget didn't sign it even though we attached an explanation of our situation. We just love working with our government!!
Andy was able to speak to someone at Immigration (which is a miracle) and they told him to sign his name for her. The reason he didn't do this in the beginning is because in Malawi when we filled out the I-600 he had signed his name for her and they made us white it out and put her thumb print there. Arghhhh...
So here we wait...
The following explanation of our government in action may get confusing as it sometimes confuses us too:
The Malawi embassy sends the I-600 documents to US Embassy in S. Africa as they do the actual approvals. The first of November we contacted the S.A. embassy and were told we needed a few more documents which we immediately faxed to them. We then received an email from the officer that process the paperwork which stated that she had been reassigned and was no longer in S.A. We were to direct all inquiries to another person. At this point we knew that things were going to get interesting.
We contacted our NEW contact and he informed us that they are waiting for a document from the Malawian embassy that verifies Bridget's orphan status. The incredible thing about this is that we couldn't have adopted her if we hadn't proved that she was an "official" orphan. Our frustration is beginning to rise... It gets even better--because they no longer have someone to process the I-600 in S.A. they will be sending our paperwork to Rome!!! Yes, that is Rome, Italy. I wonder how long that will take?! At this point we can only say, God knows.
We have been through 6 adoptions and there has always been a point where things looked impossible and we had to trust the Lord to work it out and He did but in His time. We said from the beginning that we would need a miracle for Bridget to be our daughter and I believe the we need one now.
The latest update from S.Africa was that they were still waiting for the document from Malawi but that they had forwarded the paperwork to Rome anyway. We emailed the embassy in Malawi and they received our email but have not replied.
Since it looks like we won't be returning to Malawi before Bridget's visitors visa runs out (March 3) we now have to apply for an extension. Not only does this cost another $300 but the paperwork is not set up for a parent to be filling out the form for a non-writing child. The place for her signature states that she understood and answered all the questions OR someone translated the questions for her in another language and then she answered. Since we couldn't check either box we just left them blank and Andy signed it as the preparer. We sent in the application and it is returned to us because Bridget didn't sign it even though we attached an explanation of our situation. We just love working with our government!!
Andy was able to speak to someone at Immigration (which is a miracle) and they told him to sign his name for her. The reason he didn't do this in the beginning is because in Malawi when we filled out the I-600 he had signed his name for her and they made us white it out and put her thumb print there. Arghhhh...
So here we wait...
"The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." Lu 18:27
posted by Langdon Family at 11:05 PM
7 Comments:
You might consider contacting your local Congressmen/women. I have heard of these people working wonders with USCIS in quite a few different adoption situations. It seems that USCIS is not too fond of getting in trouble with Congress. I'll be praying, and wish you all the best of luck!!
We did that for Andrew/Alina's adoption when Immigration wanted to fingerprint Andy's 80 year old mother (because she lived with us) a second time because the first ones hadn't taken. They wrote a letter and had the requirement waived. We are considering it if this goes much longer. Lisa
I would contact them now. With the Hague taking effect and all that havoc that will take place to get compliant...start soon.
Hi..
I was wondering if you knew what an AP would do ..if they recieved a 2 year interim adoption? How does " our govt" deal with that? If you have any ideas we would greatly appreciate.
Thank you
Monica
I'm not sure what you mean by your question as I don't know what an "AP" is. If we had stayed in Malawi and Bridget had been adopted for 2 years we wouldn't have to apply for an I-600 but a change of status which is very simple. Is that what you mean by "interim adoption"? Sorry if I'm clueless!
Lisa
Lisa
Sorry to reply this way..but my email to you did not send:( AP is just adoptive parent. There is a possiblity of a family adopting from GHana and recieving a 2 year interim adoption instead of an adoption decree. The child can travel to the states but the family must return in 2 years to finalize the adoption. My question is more what to do about health insurance, and things such as that..also if the INS issues a "special" visa for that type of situation?
Thanks for any insight... I am clueless too.
Monica
It sounds like an "interim adoption" is basically foster care. Visitor visas are only good for 6 months and are renewable for an additional 6 months only. the US govt. doesn't make exceptions very often. This set-up sounds like trouble to me. I would not trust anyone who says this is possible as I'm sure the price tag is not cheap. Unless they have proof that their govt. and the US govt. approve this, I would steer clear. That is just my opinion :)
Lisa
p.s. try to email again if you have other questions as our email was messed up for a while.
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