I received an update from Beth yesterday and our dossier will be presented to IHNFA within the next week!! They are not going to wait until our new eval is with the rest of our dossier like I was originally told. So exciting!!! It will take IHFNA 8-10 weeks to review our dossier and then we'll hear if we are approved (please yes!) or need to provide additional information, which is most likely to happen, given IHNFA's history with the other dossiers. It's at this point where the serious waiting begins. The wondering....could we pass through without needing anything else? If not, what else will they want? How long will this process really take? Will there be a new director by the time our dossier is approved? Will this new person streamline things and make it a quicker process than it is currently, which could lead to referrals on a regular basis? What number will we be on the list? How long for a referral, until travel? So many unknowns from this point forward. Up until now, we had some control over things and now? It's all up to a foreign country which is still very new to adoptions and there have been speed bumps along the way for those families ahead of us. It leaves me wondering what speed bumps will affect us.
Things do appear to have sped up a bit in regards to when dossiers are submitted to Honduras. I know of some families that submitted theirs in July and are just now getting word that they were presented, or will be presented to IHNFA soon. Our dossier arrived on September 23rd and we are being told the same thing. So this is good news for families behind us as well.
I have read some disheartening news on a woman's adoption blog that I follow. She is in Honduras right now and was supposed to sign her adoption decree yesterday to complete the adoption. The meeting for that never happened because the person who is authorized to sign such paperwork was away. I guess there is a holiday there on Monday, so her lawyer is saying that MAYBE on Tuesday they will sign, but there is no official appointment. She said that she is going to be there indefinitely now and at some point she may have to leave Honduras so her daughter's schooling isn't affected. I was so sad to read this, and I hope she can get that signature soon. Once that is done, she will need to have her son get vaccinations, a new birth certificate, apply for his visa so there is still a lot left to do. I hope that this all over soon and she can get her children home, where they belong!
Amanda, I'm following your blog and keeping my fingers crossed for everyone right now. We all need all the prayers and positive thoughts we can get. I too feel so badly for the lady you refer to. As Canadians we have an extra step beyond you neighbours to our south, we have to come home through Guatemala as there is no Canadian embassy in Tegu. Just another hurdle in the journey!
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard for me to imagine foreigners in a country with temporary custody of an Honduran child and noone authorized to sign...then we read of long Embassy waits...I tell you, I am so grateful for those forging ahead before us. Praying that the process becomes more streamlined ASAP...super costly for those staying in hotels (we will stay with my mother in law near San Pedro Sula...though several nights in Tegucigalpa seem inevitable).
ReplyDelete