Status Update
My expired documents arrived today. Back from my agency instead of going through the shredder. It would feel wrong to dispose of them, you know? After working so hard they almost feel like someone I know…I figure it couldn’t hurt to have them as a reference for the next set I will do in the spring.
I must admit they look quite beautiful! Golden-sealed, official and thickly stacked. It’s taken me a few weeks to get used to the idea that I will need to redo them. So today I just want to celebrate all the work that has gone into this stack of documents and those who have had similar things happen to them. I know I am not the only one.
Because my Home Study agency closed I had to find a new one. After much research and calling I was actually able to make contact with and meet with a new social worker. The interview portion was completed on August 18th and updated Home Study, extension request and associated documents were one-day mailed to the USCIS for extending my immigration clearances. (Big sigh of relief).
I called USCIS today. My documents arrival is pending as they receive “10,000 documents a day and mine is probably in there.” I hope and pray so…Will wait a few days and call again.
In honor of dossier’s everywhere….whether they are a file on your computer waiting to be opened, a half finished stack on your dining room table, or a perfectly sealed pile like these, let me tell you a little more about what a dossier is and how it works. (For those of you who don’t already know it by heart that is)
Each and every country is different. However, the basic premise is that for international adoption a person must be cleared first by the state they live in. This is accomplished by filing financial, personal, and professional documentation with a home study agency. A social worker comes to your house. They make sure you are not an axe murderer, don’t live in a dump, and can support and love a child. You are questioned about almost everything. Your spirituality, your discipline plans, your plan for incorporating cultural heritage, etc. You also have to complete a child abuse clearance, and state and local police fingerprinting and background checks. All of this material is complied into a Home Study and associated documents.
After state clearances, you must file for and complete United States clearances with both immigration and the FBI. Both involve their own set of fingerprints one electronic and one on cards. Fees are sent to the USCIS (immigration) and time is spent in the processing.
Misc. documentation is also a part of the dossier such a job verifications, physician’s letter, health screens, home owner documentations, etc. A complete psychiatric assessment and profile must be filled out by an independent agency also. This involves a lengthy questionnaire and phone interview. You must also take pictures of every room in your house and compile a portfolio to represent your life.
Each single paper must be notarized independently. This means that you must either pay an average of $5 per paper or find someone who will do it for free. I have been blessed to find a free notary. When all of this has been completed you must send the dossier to your state capital to get apostilled. This is basically where the authenticity of each and every notary seal is verified.
A lot of this depends on the country you are adopting from. Some require more some require less. Timing is everything. Each and every one of these documents is “good” for a different amount of time. Some three months, some six months, some a year, etc. Time is also a factor in the mailing and processing of each of these clearances. For example, one of my FBI clearances took as long as three months to complete and they only last three months to begin with.
As you can tell being organized is a must but there are a lot of factors involved. Most of which are out of my control. There are times when it all lines up and clicks together in harmony….at least I think so because people actually do complete this process! So far, it hasn’t for me. But I will not rest until it does. No matter the hours, the paper cuts, the tears, the money, the phone calls, the stamps, the ink stains on my fingers, the miles of driving, the personal questions, and the stranger’s visits in my home…..nothing can detour me from my daughter.
Am I bitter that parents who become so by adoption are required to go through such hoops, such personal inquisitions when biological parents are not? No. Not bitter at all. Just seems a little unfair sometimes. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for biological parents to have to go through such strenuous screening before their “abilities” are turned on and workable! (Just kidding.) At any rate, it is what it is. I have chosen this path to motherhood with my eyes wide open. I have learned, been shaped, tested and inspired. I take each new step with faith that at the end of this crooked road I will meet my baby girl. And none of this will even be a memory… Until then, my baby girl I love you and am waiting…
Love,
Mommy
