How long have you been waiting?

Robin, Have you visited the Yahoo group ("PanamaAdopt"), yet? Many of us also post there. You can also do polls there and upload photos, files, etc. The only negative is that you can't see an entire thread the way you can here. I've never heard of the "sticky note" thing, but that's a great idea! Maybe the moderator knows how to do that... I'll start off your roll call: a) dossier sent to Panama (attorney) Jan, 2003... ....dossier eventually translated to Spanish and submitted to DNA by attorney on June 6, 2003 & approved within 2 weeks, therefore awaiting DNA referral since end of June (7 months ago) b) haven't gotten a referral from DNA, yet, but attorney & friend did find 2 siblings at an orphanage who were not yet declared "abandoned" in Aug., 2003 (5 months ago)...so still waiting on legal status (termination of parental rights) before word of travel. (Note: Our I-600A will expire June 23, 2004!) Rebecca, Adopting independently, but having to go through the same steps (dossier to DNA, referral from DNA, then travel) as everyone else. :)

Hi Robin My story is pretty well explained under my name. We are waiting to hear more from Panama about April, so we continue to pray. TanyaB

Our dossier got to Panama at the end of last week and I talked to our agency (CAI) at the beginning of this week and they are telling people 2 to 9 months for a referral and then another 4 months until travel. And it all depends on how far along the child is in the "abandonment" process. She did say she hopes it doesn't take this long but she wants us to be prepared. Julie

Hi, our dossier was sent to Panama the second week of November, we got DNA approval on December 3rd and are now waiting for a referral. Our agency said a couple of weeks ago that they thought they might get a few more referrals by the end of January, but that's only two days away and nothing's happened yet. Joan

Our paperwork was sent to Panama on January 20th. We are waiting for it to be translated and then approved. Our federal documents were not apostilled because our state wouldn't touch them. The US Government gave us a run around and so our agency said they would try to work with them down in Panama. Guess it doesn't matter what government you work with - they are all frustrating!! Soooooo, we are really praying that we get the approval from DNA and do not have to back step. jane

Paperwork hit Panama in October. It was approved by DNA November 28th, 2003. We are still waiting for a referral. Our agency, WP, is saying two to four months for referral. If that holds true I guess we should get a call in the next two months. Fingers crossed. I'm not getting any younger. Roger

Here is our wait time: Dossier sent to Panama June 2003 Translated and sent to DNA July 11, 2003 Referral received September, 2003 Accepted Child September 2003 Court Date set for March 8, 2004 Child was 6 weeks old at time of referral. We received the referral within about 6 weeks of DNA receiving dossier. Will be about 6 months after referral for travel and then another month before we bring him home. Good Luck with the process! It is a long one, so be patient. Lauri Dossier - June 2003 Referral - September 2003 Travel - March 2004 Court Date Set March 8th