Ready - Set - Go! . . . The LAST Dossier!

Yet another dossier pulled together in 1.5 weeks (I believe this is #5)! Hopefully, my LAST!

Whew . . . after today, I think I'm on the tail end of it all, finally. Why is it the people you need professional services from just don't have the same sense of urgency that you do?, LOL! THANK GOODNESS there are only 8 docs w/apostille needed for the Pakistan court dossier (yes, very light compared to a Russian dossier!) But all the major docs are there . . .

So, I thought I would give a brief update on the dossier document requirements for Pakistan. Basically, there are 2 dossiers, a Court Dossier & an Embassy Dossier. I've outlined the documents needed for each.

Court Dossier:
1. Home Study - updated & approved for country change
2. Medical Form – Adoptive parents only, Russian template used
3. Employment Verification - Russian template used
4. Passport Copy - Facing page
5. Marriage Cert/Birth Cert (single parent)
6. Bank Statements
7. Tax Returns (3 years)
8. Letter from Church - explained in further detail below.

Each doc notarized & apostilled. Only 1 original set of court documents needed.

I finalized the home study today! Yeah!!! It has been a few stressful days trying to get all the needed supporting docs pulled together (medicals, financials, employment, etc.), but it was notarized & delivered today. I should receive the last doc tomorrow, my apostilled birth certificate from the state of Colorado. I received the cert w/o an apostille so I had to fedex to CO SOS office yesterday. I won't go into detail about what I had to do to get this expedited. Let's just say . . . "I did what it took to get it done, quickly!!!" The best the CO SOS office could tell me was "at least 3-5 days" (that was yesterday). When I called today, they already had it done & in the fedex overnight mail back to me. Begging, pleading & yes, tears - does help :)

I'll apostille the court dossier on Friday morning. Yes, a drive to OKC to hand carry the documents.

Next, I'll create an electronic dossier - (Yes, this is what Pakistan requires) - You scan in all your final docs & send the electronic dossier to Pakistan. This is then printed in country & used for supporting docs to schedule the court hearing. No translation is required, since Pakistan is an English speaking country. This is the critical dossier since it is what determines when the court hearing can be scheduled, and when travel dates can be finalized. My plan is to have the electronic court dossier completed & sent by this weekend. I'll hand carry the originals court dossier docs & replace the electronic dossier with the originals for the actual court hearing.

Letter from Church (#8) - Document identifying that the PAP is a regular church attendee. Printed on letterhead & signed by church official. Basically, according to Pakistan's adoption requirements, a child must be placed with a christian family when the child is relinquished at a christian orphanage. This document satisfies this requirement.

US Embassy Dossier: (basic Russian document list was used)

1. Visa Fee per child ~$400 US dollars
2. Copies of last three years filed federal tax returns (Notary Statement not required)
3. Income confirmation (I'll be taking my employment verification & a recent pay stub)
Either
- A recent pay stub that shows pay rate, net amount, and year to date amounts
OR
- A recent letter from employer (within last three months, notarized)

OR
- A letter from accountant, attorney, or bookkeeper stating current status, notarized
4. Adoptive Family Assessment/Home study (Notarized)
5. Original or notarized copy of I-171H (in my case updated w/Country Change). I chuckle at my 7/5/09 post. Yes, I am doing a 4th I-171H update & using the 1x free country change, LOL!
- FBI Fingerprint checks must be valid at time of embassy interview
6. Photocopies of applicants’ passports
7. Drivers license or other identification in addition to passport (copy)
8. Photos of each child
- 3 passport size color photos

9. Form I-600
10. Medical information of each adopted child

I have all the embassy dossier docs copied & notarized (where needed) EXCEPT for the I-171H w/country change. Of course, I needed my updated home study w/country change before I could request this. So, the ink was barely dry on my home study, when I sent my written request for the country change via fedex. I contacted the USCIS (Homeland Security) office today to see how long it will take (you know, we basically only have 3 weeks!) to process. H... assured me there wouldn't be any problem with getting it processed. She is an angel!!! And a single adoptive parent herself & we have formed a good relationship with that common experience. She is just so surprised with the country change (there are just not that many Pakistan adoptions).

Of course, Baby B's docs will be added to the embassy dossier after the court hearing.

Only 1 original set of embassy documents needed.

I'll hand carry the embassy dossier too. it is kind of scary to think that I will have all my original dossier documents traveling along with me. I'll not let them out of my sight!!!

Visa
I finished processing both my cousin’s Visa & my Visa on-line this afternoon with the final housing information sent by GAS (Pakistan agency). THAT is when I found out about the additional document required (Swine Flu Clearance) in addition to the original passports & visa pictures. I'm telling you, it was not listed as a requirement yesterday when I filled out the basic accounts. Today, it was listed. I have been online deligently trying to figure out if this is really required or not & if so, what is actually required??? Are test results required? What is the form template the doctor needs to use? Do you notarize it? Do you pay the visa fee prior to the doctor exam? What if you have paid & then you have the SF? I haven't found out much information so far tonight & the service I used for my Visa processing doesn't have technical/doc support after 5:00 p.m. So, if anyone has any tidbit of info on this, pleeeaaassseee let me know. I have to have my Visa by 8/13-15.

Okee-Dokee - there you have the update. I KNOW, a lot to accomplish in just 1.5 weeks, but I have DONE it! Along with a huge project implementation (8/15/09). And, life with my sweet boy. Nicker starts a new school 8/10/09 & so now I need to turn my attention to getting him all lined out with new school uniforms, new backpack & lunch box & school supplies (waiting for the "no sales tax" weekend 8/8-9).

Seems I do some of my best work under stress . . . And, I love to "check" tasks off my "to do" list. But, I also know I'm running on a lot of adrenaline & excitement. The month of August (Nicky's new school, huge project completed . . . and, NEW BABY) it's just so EXCITING!

IA Dossier 101 . . .

I've had several questions asked lately about the "Dossier". So, I thought I would dedicate a post to this all important "THING"!

Due to the extreme wait times these days (infant girls), the dossier is split into 2 parts. Part 1 is called the Department of Education (DOE) Dossier (required to receive a referral & 1st trip). Part 2 is the Court Dossier (required for Court Hearing & Trips 2/3). I have recently completed DOE Dossiers to be registered in the regions of Kemerovo (completed in 2/2008) & Vladivostok (completed in 5/2008).

They say a picture is worth a thousand words & this picture definitely is such a picture. Now for those who have never completed an IA adoption dossier before, this may not seem like much of a big deal . . . "just a bunch of papers". Well, just let me tell you, it is a very "BIG DEAL"! To complete a dossier requires hours & hours of investment in time, $$$ & effort! Each document has its own requirements & includes several pre-document steps to get to just the 1 final document!

Add all that up for ALL of them . . . Ahhh, you're finally getting the picture . . .

The blue-n-white sheet is the state of Oklahoma's apostille. It is a very beautiful, embossed document. It is attached to the final document in the upper left-hand corner with a beautiful gold grommet. The apostille cannot be removed (hence the purpose of the grommet). The shorter document in between the 2 OK apostilled docs, is my birth certificate. Since I was born in Colorado, it is an apostilled document from that state. Notice the difference in apostilles? The state of OK definitely outshines CO!

Nicholas helping mama put it all together to FedEx.

He is such a good helper.

With a Kiss & Prayer, READY to GO to RUSSIA!

The Move Forward . . . with Adoption Ark

Whew - what a busy, stressful couple of weeks! I have pulled together a DOE Dossier in 1.5 weeks. 11 different documents, 23 total apostilles. The documents were completed in the wee hours of the morning Friday, 2/22/08, with 2 Catholic Charities (HS agency) docs having to be redone late Friday morning before I took off for the SOS office. I took a 1/2 day of vacation Friday afternoon & drove a 3-hour round trip to the Secretary of State's office (SOS) in Oklahoma City to get them all apostilled. Finished up on the 2 sets of copies late Friday evening. Then Nicky & I went to Fed Ex Saturday morning, 2/23/08, & overnighted them to Adoption Ark. AA received them bright & early Monday morning, 2/25/08.

Alina's (case manager) comments were "You did a good job!"

I have to say, once I made the decision to switch agencies, I hit the ground running preparing a new DOE Dossier. Back in 2006 when I completed the 1st dossier, CHI required a complete dossier (registration & court docs combined together & took 6 months to compile). Today, due to the extended delays, most agencies (Adoption Ark & CHI included) split the documents into 2 different dossiers. (1.) Department of Education, DOE (or Ministry of Ed, MOE) Dossier (2.) Court Dossier.

The DOE Dossier consists of regional docs necessary to receive a referral. There are around 10-15 docs, depending on single or married status. Step 1 to all of this is the Home Study & Homeland Security, USCIS approval (I-171H). Since I had a current home study & I-171H, I was able to immediately move into the Step 2 of preparing the DOE Dossier. It was a mad dash to get everything pulled together as quickly as possible. About 1/2 of the docs are PAP required & the other 1/2 are Catholic Charities (HS agency) docs. There was a minor change to the home study. But, CC did a great job of pulling all the HS agency docs together quickly. Thanks, MaryLee!

The Court Dossier consists of all the other required documents needed for court. For me it will be medicals, financials, employment verification, psych evaluations, legal residence affidavit, police reports, birth certificates, passport affidavits, etc, etc. I will begin working on these next. I need them completed & ready to hand carry with me to Russia on Trip #1.

The DOE Dossier is now ready to be translated & sent to the Kemerovo region to be registered for a referral (baby). I am hopeful for a region registration date in a couple of weeks.

AA still thinks Trip #1 can be within 6 months.

It has all happened very quickly & even though it has been a whirlwind of a couple of weeks (throw in having the flu along with everything else), the movement forward has lifted my spirits. It did take me a few days to process through the grief of "Did I make the right decision to change to another agency?" I laid awake 2-3 nights with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, "Am I crazy to do this?". But, I have finally moved past that feeling & I'm doing much better now. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive & encouraging. I have appreciated it so much!

Region Registration is next . . .

The BIG Update

I have finally reached the I-171H update requirement point. Monday, I sent in all the paperwork and officially applied for an extension to this very important document. Since the I-171H expires after 18 months, what this means is, I have been "paper pregnant" for 18 + months. This now throws me into the "update" mode of IA processing. With the "Big" doc expiring, this means all other docs are expired as well.

(Sigh!) IA paperwork is a "hurry up & wait" game. You hurry, hurry to get your dossier completed so it can be sent to Russia to sit in line with all the other dossiers & then "wait". Then after 12, 15 or 18 months (depending on doc) it all starts to expire. It is like a domino effect, one after the other. Then you hurry, hurry again to get everything updated so it can once again - sit in line with all other dossiers & "wait".

(All I can say is) It's a good thing I'm a detail oriented person (that 'ole programmer in me) and I enjoy the paperwork chase, because I could wallpaper my home with all the paper that has been produced from both my adoptions.

Someday, it will end - Just Not Today!