This is the hurry up part!
Important Update
Adoptions are definitely one of those "hurry up and wait" processes. Well folks we've made it through the first of several waiting periods, and now we are in a full sprint!
The good news is that our home study is complete! This means we can proceed with the next steps of our adoption process. The catch is that we have a very small window of time for those critical next few steps to be completed!
Our home study is now at DSS awaiting approval, which we have been told can take about 2 weeks.
Then our approved home study will be sent to USCIS (immigration services) and we will simultaneously submit our I-800A (preliminary immigration application) to them as well.
When our application is received we will then be instructed to go and be fingerprinted at the local USCIS office to receive FBI clearance.
We should receive our I-800a approval notice 45-60 days after they receive this FBI clearance.
In the meantime, we are finishing preparation of our other documents that will be included in our dossier. Most of these documents will need to be authenticated by the SC Secretary of State, the US Dept. of State and the Embassy of our daughter's home country; a process that also takes a little time.
Only after all these documents are authenticated, and we receive our I-800a approval, will we be able to send our dossier. Our dossier is due in our daughter's home country by August 31st! So, as you can see that cuts things pretty close.
Adoptions are definitely one of those "hurry up and wait" processes. Well folks we've made it through the first of several waiting periods, and now we are in a full sprint!
The good news is that our home study is complete! This means we can proceed with the next steps of our adoption process. The catch is that we have a very small window of time for those critical next few steps to be completed!
Our home study is now at DSS awaiting approval, which we have been told can take about 2 weeks.
Then our approved home study will be sent to USCIS (immigration services) and we will simultaneously submit our I-800A (preliminary immigration application) to them as well.
When our application is received we will then be instructed to go and be fingerprinted at the local USCIS office to receive FBI clearance.
We should receive our I-800a approval notice 45-60 days after they receive this FBI clearance.
In the meantime, we are finishing preparation of our other documents that will be included in our dossier. Most of these documents will need to be authenticated by the SC Secretary of State, the US Dept. of State and the Embassy of our daughter's home country; a process that also takes a little time.
Only after all these documents are authenticated, and we receive our I-800a approval, will we be able to send our dossier. Our dossier is due in our daughter's home country by August 31st! So, as you can see that cuts things pretty close.
Fundraising (in a time-crunch)
The other variable we have to factor in is fundraising. We must pay a $945 fee to submit our I-800a application (which we hope to do within the next 2 weeks). We don't quite have this yet, but are close. Our prayer is that our current Bonfire shirt fundraiser will be able to raise close to this amount. At this time we have raised $645 through Bonfire, and have until Thursday 5/31 to reach our goal.
The next fee we will encounter will be a $600 deposit for our agency to have our dossier documents authenticated by the DOS and Embassy.
Then before our agency can submit our dossier, we must pay a fee of $4,535. We hope to raise this by early to mid August so we are able to submit our dossier as soon as we have all the documents needed.
Because we have our completed home study, we can also now begin submitting the many applications for adoption grants we have found. We have at least 4 we hope to get out this week, and another 6 whose deadlines are a bit later. Still based on the deadlines of most of these grants, they will not be disbursed until after the time our dossier is due. So for our immediate funding needs we are going to be relying on fundraising and donations.
How You Can Help
Please PRAY for us! Pray for all these government entities to approve all of these applications and authenticate documents quickly. Pray that the Lord will continue to move and provide the funds we need to complete these steps. If you want to get really specific, pray for $945 within 2 weeks, then $600 ASAP, and $4,535 by early to mid August. We are faithful that the Lord will move these mountains and make a way!
If you feel led you may also participate in fundraiser or donate.
The deadline to purchase a shirt to bring us closer to our $945 goal is this Thursday. Click here to purchase: Branger's Family Adoption Bonfire Fundraiser.
We have one or two more fundraisers around the corner, so stay tuned for those.
Our YouCaring crowd fundraiser is still the most direct way to contribute toward our adoption if you are interested. Any amount no matter how small, and every single share on social media can help us get closer to bringing our girl home! Crowdfunding works well when many people make small donations. Link below!
Thank you so very much!
The deadline to purchase a shirt to bring us closer to our $945 goal is this Thursday. Click here to purchase: Branger's Family Adoption Bonfire Fundraiser.
We have one or two more fundraisers around the corner, so stay tuned for those.
Our YouCaring crowd fundraiser is still the most direct way to contribute toward our adoption if you are interested. Any amount no matter how small, and every single share on social media can help us get closer to bringing our girl home! Crowdfunding works well when many people make small donations. Link below!
Thank you so very much!
Comments
Post a Comment