We just want to thank all who have made purchases through our online mall. Every little bit helps! Thank you!!!
Shane and Misty
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Nothing more to do but wait
Our fingerprint appointment went well. Now the information will be sent to the Taiwan embassy and we will receive the I-171H form...soon hopefully. Now we are just waiting for the phone call telling us that we have been chosen by a birth family. I'll let you know if there are any new developments.
Thanks for following our journey!
Misty & Shane
Thanks for following our journey!
Misty & Shane
Friday, April 18, 2008
Fingerprint Date
Well, we finally got our fingerprint appointment with US CIS to obtain the I-171H form. It is next Thursday, April 24th in San Antonio. In case you have forgotten what it's for, I copied the information from a previous blog:
1. After you submit your I-600A and fee they will wait for your home study and then send your fingerprint appointment. Get your fingerprints taken as directed in the US CIS letter. The fingerprint results will automatically go to US CIS.
2. US CIS will mail to you pre-approval to adopt an orphan from overseas. It’s called an I-171H and is a one page white letter. Your I-171H from US CIS is very important. We will send it to the country from which you are adopting along with your Home Study as part of your Dossier.
One step closer to our baby!!
1. After you submit your I-600A and fee they will wait for your home study and then send your fingerprint appointment. Get your fingerprints taken as directed in the US CIS letter. The fingerprint results will automatically go to US CIS.
2. US CIS will mail to you pre-approval to adopt an orphan from overseas. It’s called an I-171H and is a one page white letter. Your I-171H from US CIS is very important. We will send it to the country from which you are adopting along with your Home Study as part of your Dossier.
One step closer to our baby!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Court Process after we receive our referral
3 months and counting since we've been on the waiting list. It's actually gone by fairly fast so far. Just hope it continues to do so.
After we get a referral (get picked to be the adoptive parents by the birth parents) we then have to go through a lengthy court process in Taiwan. Here is a breakdown of it (thanks again Michelle!)
District Court Process-
a. The family court office reviews the case/petition and a Judge is assigned to the case.
b. Judge reviews and considers the case and schedules a "hearing". Hearings are handled differently depending on the birth family's situation, the judge's schedule, persons representing the birth family and those representing the adoptive family. The time involved in getting a hearing scheduled depends on the judge's calendar/schedule and that of everyone else required to attend.
What happens during the hearing?
Most often, the hearing just provides a judge with more information about the case and allows him/her to rule on the adoption with confidence. The responsibility of the District Court is to make sure that every issue related to the best interest of the child has been considered. Though lengthy &frustrating at times, the District Court process protects the child,the birth parent, the organization caring for the child, AND in the end protects us as adoptive parents. When the District Court decisions have been made, adoptive families can be confident that the process was handled with consideration and in the best interest of the child.
Next comes the FIRST RULING (Part 1 of first decree)
Once the District Court hearing has been completed and the judge has had time to make a decision to finalize the adoption, he/she issues the first part of the Final Decree. This is a short statement signed by the judge that is forwarded to the parties involved (social services organization on behalf of the adoptive family and the birth family) notifying everyone of his/her decision to finalize the adoption. This first part of the Final Decree must go to each party and there is a waiting period of 10 days before any more can happen to ensure everyone has been notified of the judge's decision. The First Ruling generally comes about a month after the Hearing.
The Second and Final Ruling (Part II of Final Decree)
Once the 10 day waiting period is up (and the court staff finds time!), the second part of the Final Decree is forwarded to all parties. When the second part of the decree is received by your child's social service organization, the court process is DONE! The final ruling generally comes about one month after the First Ruling.
After the Final Ruling all of the steps below need to be taken care of. We will be told when the Final Ruling takes place and then it is about 3 weeks or so before we are given our travel dates.
Before adoptive family travels, a lot must be accomplished by the child's social service organization.
All court documents and background info on the child must be officially translated to English and submitted with certain paperwork to AIT (American Institute in Taiwan).
Also, the child must have his/her Visa medical exam which is forwarded directly (unopened) to AIT's immigrant visa office. At some point the child's guardian must file for a household registration change. The household registration is a file located at local government offices in Taiwan that contains certificates and information about each person in Taiwan. Your child's household registration is attached to his/her guardian's file until the adoption has been finalized by the Taiwan courts. Once the child has been legally adopted in Taiwan, the guardian files with the government office to remove the file from theirs and create a new file showing that the adoptive parent(s) are the new legal guardians. The household registration change takes a day or two or a week depending on the placing organization and the local government office.
Last and final step:
New family receives a travel date. Each organization in Taiwan is different in when and how they schedule a travel date. Some wait until all of the above paperwork is filed and then give the family notice to travel quickly. Some schedule the travel in advance, while they work at preparing the above documents, giving a couple of weeks notice before travel.
I am looking forward to getting to this point! Thanks for reading!!
Shane and Misty
After we get a referral (get picked to be the adoptive parents by the birth parents) we then have to go through a lengthy court process in Taiwan. Here is a breakdown of it (thanks again Michelle!)
District Court Process-
a. The family court office reviews the case/petition and a Judge is assigned to the case.
b. Judge reviews and considers the case and schedules a "hearing". Hearings are handled differently depending on the birth family's situation, the judge's schedule, persons representing the birth family and those representing the adoptive family. The time involved in getting a hearing scheduled depends on the judge's calendar/schedule and that of everyone else required to attend.
What happens during the hearing?
Most often, the hearing just provides a judge with more information about the case and allows him/her to rule on the adoption with confidence. The responsibility of the District Court is to make sure that every issue related to the best interest of the child has been considered. Though lengthy &frustrating at times, the District Court process protects the child,the birth parent, the organization caring for the child, AND in the end protects us as adoptive parents. When the District Court decisions have been made, adoptive families can be confident that the process was handled with consideration and in the best interest of the child.
Next comes the FIRST RULING (Part 1 of first decree)
Once the District Court hearing has been completed and the judge has had time to make a decision to finalize the adoption, he/she issues the first part of the Final Decree. This is a short statement signed by the judge that is forwarded to the parties involved (social services organization on behalf of the adoptive family and the birth family) notifying everyone of his/her decision to finalize the adoption. This first part of the Final Decree must go to each party and there is a waiting period of 10 days before any more can happen to ensure everyone has been notified of the judge's decision. The First Ruling generally comes about a month after the Hearing.
The Second and Final Ruling (Part II of Final Decree)
Once the 10 day waiting period is up (and the court staff finds time!), the second part of the Final Decree is forwarded to all parties. When the second part of the decree is received by your child's social service organization, the court process is DONE! The final ruling generally comes about one month after the First Ruling.
After the Final Ruling all of the steps below need to be taken care of. We will be told when the Final Ruling takes place and then it is about 3 weeks or so before we are given our travel dates.
Before adoptive family travels, a lot must be accomplished by the child's social service organization.
All court documents and background info on the child must be officially translated to English and submitted with certain paperwork to AIT (American Institute in Taiwan).
Also, the child must have his/her Visa medical exam which is forwarded directly (unopened) to AIT's immigrant visa office. At some point the child's guardian must file for a household registration change. The household registration is a file located at local government offices in Taiwan that contains certificates and information about each person in Taiwan. Your child's household registration is attached to his/her guardian's file until the adoption has been finalized by the Taiwan courts. Once the child has been legally adopted in Taiwan, the guardian files with the government office to remove the file from theirs and create a new file showing that the adoptive parent(s) are the new legal guardians. The household registration change takes a day or two or a week depending on the placing organization and the local government office.
Last and final step:
New family receives a travel date. Each organization in Taiwan is different in when and how they schedule a travel date. Some wait until all of the above paperwork is filed and then give the family notice to travel quickly. Some schedule the travel in advance, while they work at preparing the above documents, giving a couple of weeks notice before travel.
I am looking forward to getting to this point! Thanks for reading!!
Shane and Misty
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Nothing new to report
Unfortunately we don't have anything new to report right now. We have been on the waiting list for over 2 months now...only 22 more to go (at most)! : )
Our spring break was great! We bought a tent and went camping with some friends from church at a State Park. We had a blast! We are going to do some more camping at the end of March at another State Park. Our son has never been camping before and it was quite an experience for him. Luckily he enjoyed it...Shane and I love to spend time outdoors so this is something that we all enjoy and can do as a family.
Thanks for reading! I will try to update you all more often...
Misty and Shane
Our spring break was great! We bought a tent and went camping with some friends from church at a State Park. We had a blast! We are going to do some more camping at the end of March at another State Park. Our son has never been camping before and it was quite an experience for him. Luckily he enjoyed it...Shane and I love to spend time outdoors so this is something that we all enjoy and can do as a family.
Thanks for reading! I will try to update you all more often...
Misty and Shane
Monday, February 18, 2008
Way to help...
Hello everyone! Still no news to report as of yet...still waiting. Please keep us in your prayers, though!
We have created an Online Mall as a fund raiser to help pay for some of the adoption expenses. Any purchases that you make through this online mall will help us raise money. It is very important that you make the purchases THROUGH THIS WEBSITE. There are hundreds of vendors to choose from including Wal-mart, Gap, and Target just to name a few. We will receive a commission (1%-20%) from your purchases. We would greatly appreciate any help!! Thanks in advance! :)
Here is the link. You can also click on the link at the top of the page.
http://visitourmall.com/MistyandShaneAdoption
We have created an Online Mall as a fund raiser to help pay for some of the adoption expenses. Any purchases that you make through this online mall will help us raise money. It is very important that you make the purchases THROUGH THIS WEBSITE. There are hundreds of vendors to choose from including Wal-mart, Gap, and Target just to name a few. We will receive a commission (1%-20%) from your purchases. We would greatly appreciate any help!! Thanks in advance! :)
Here is the link. You can also click on the link at the top of the page.
http://visitourmall.com/MistyandShaneAdoption
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Update long overdue...
Sorry I have not updated our blog in a while. The holidays have kept us extremely busy. It seems that everyone in our family is moving at the time and we have been helping them out.
Well, we are officially on the waiting list. Now we just wait to hear from Cathwel in Taiwan to let us know when we have a referral. I did attempt to send in the paperwork to USCIS and apparently I misread what the fee will cost and sent them too much money. Instead of contacting us or sending us a refund of the amount we over paid they decided to send the whole packet back to us and to not start processing it. No big deal. I am just thankful we are over the first small hill.
I hope that every one's year is off to a great start!
Well, we are officially on the waiting list. Now we just wait to hear from Cathwel in Taiwan to let us know when we have a referral. I did attempt to send in the paperwork to USCIS and apparently I misread what the fee will cost and sent them too much money. Instead of contacting us or sending us a refund of the amount we over paid they decided to send the whole packet back to us and to not start processing it. No big deal. I am just thankful we are over the first small hill.
I hope that every one's year is off to a great start!
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