So, we've completed our end of the update, just waiting for our HS agency to submit it to USCIS. Please pray that things will move quickly and that our dossier will not expire before we can get everything to BG. Our expiration is 4/4/13. Knowing the US govt and their tendency to lethargically poke along, please pray our update is seen by someone who understands what asap means. To explain to those who don't know what happens now:
1. HS agency submits forms to USCIS
2. USCIS reviews forms and gives us the ok to get fingerprinted. They send an appt notice telling you when your appt is for step 3. (usually 2-3 weeks)
3. We have to get fingerprinted at the local immigration office. You don't have to wait until your appt date, if you don't mind sitting at the immigration office for awhile (like hours) until they can fit you in.
4. Immigration submits fingerprint results to USCIS. Immediate.
5. USCIS checks fingerprint results and give approval. They send officially approval letter. (2-3 weeks)
6. Once letter is in hand you take approval letter, home study, and letters of original document to be notarized.
7. Then if you live in TN, you take them to the county clerks office to be notarized A SECOND TIME for a fee.
8. Then you FEDEX all those documents to the State Capitol to the federal clerks office to be apostilled for a fee.
9. Then they FEDEX the documents back to you or on to your placing agency (whichever you prefer) for a fee.
10. Your PA then reviews and copies all documents and FEDEXs them on to BG. (2-3 weeks)
11. BG receives the documents and then has to translate them into Bulgarian. (1-3 weeks)
12. After translation they are reviewed and the update is approved.
13. You are officially registered for another 15 months in country.
However, if all of this is not done by your expiration date and your family comes up for a referral then you could possibly lose that referral.
We're told that BG doesn't understand why it takes us so long to get our paperwork done. They apparently go to the Dr the same day they want to, whereas we have to wait 1-2 weeks for an appt.
22 months registered
LOL about that doctor thing. When we needed to submit new medicals for court, our BG agency wanted us to wait until as close as possible to the court date because they wanted the documents to be really recent. I just said, "It takes six weeks to get into my family doctor for a well visit, so I think we're going to go ahead and just take care of that right when we get back from trip 1." They could not understand the whole "six weeks to see a doctor for a non-emergency" concept.
ReplyDeleteI know. We started going to a nurse practitioner for emergencies because by the time we could get in to see the dr we were already well.
ReplyDeleteFor instance we are going to the dentist today, appts which we made back in october...
We could always get in to see our doc for a sick visit same day, but for a well visit (like an annual physical) it took six weeks. We contemplated pretending to be sick just so we could get our medicals completed faster.
ReplyDeleteI have an adoption fundraising idea I'd like to share with you. Could you email me at mlee@coupaide.com?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Matthew Lee