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After recently talking to a family using the same agency, I realize I've been told something totally different about such things as how long our medical, local background check, etc is good for. Interesting!
I know rules change, but we started this stuff in January when a lot of you guys were submitting dossiers, so you'd think a lot of our rules and info would still match. And we've not been told anything different along the way.
My caseworker has never handled a Panamanian adoption, as I've mentioned before. She seems pretty nervous (almost reluctant) dealing with me. (My mom actually said she doesn't think my CW likes her job, period, let alone being thrown into the fire with Panama). Her expertise is Russia. I hate to call her incompetent in our case, but it is frustrating when she always has to call the main office or even down to Panama to ask questions for us. And I sometimes wonder if she's getting and giving us the right info all of the time. She's extremely nice and personable, but I have some nagging doubts when it comes to getting the facts and information (but I am a perfectionist and pretty uptight about stuff). I imagine I'm a hard customer to be someone's guinea pig because I have high expectations.
I know INS forms, fingerprints, and the homestudy expire in a year to 15 months or whatever.
But what have you been told about the "little things" like medical questionnaire and local police checks? We've been told by our agency they are good for only three months. Someone else from our agency said at first they were told 6 months, then it was changed to a year. Those are very big differences and I don't want to run around like a chicken with my head cut off getting stuff redone and renotarized if I don't absolutely have to.
I know any info we share here isn't written in stone and isn't official advice, but I'm just curious and would like to compare notes.
A few of you have shared info with me that actually has made a big difference in my process. For example, we are turning in our dossier without the 171-H. At first when I asked if we could do that, my CW said no. Then she called back the next day and said, actually, yes we could. Because I questioned something, I got my way and helped her learn more about Panamanian adoption procedures in the process. I guess part of me feels like it's my job to help my CW at times instead of the other way around.
So, if there's less waiting and legwork involved in getting our dossier done (finally), I'd love to have something to bring to the table when I talk to my CW on Monday.
Thanks for your input!
Robin
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"But what have you been told about the "little things" like medical questionnaire and local police checks? "
Your police checks should be good for as long as your state says your homestudy is valid. When we had our homestudy updated, they had to rerun the child abuse and criminal checks to be included with the homestudy update.
As for the medical letter (from your doctor claiming good physical and mental health), we had ours done in October 2002, and our first attorney didn't submit our dossier to the DNA until June 2003. So apparently they were still "good."
HOWEVER, we've also been warned by parents who already adopted in Panama that the judge CAN (and may) order us to have medical checks done in Panama (blood drawn to check for AIDS, TB, drug screen, etc. or even just a simple blood pressure and heart rate check). The judge CAN (and likely will) order the families to have a psychologist interview them (the dreaded "psych eval"), so they may also order the medical tests redone. Don't fret about this. Just send what you have. They won't turn away your dossier, they just may require you to visit with a Panamanian doctor while you're there on your first trip.
:rolleyes:
What fun, eh?!
Rebecca
P.S. If your agency REQUIRES that your docs be no older than, say, 3 months, then you just have to follow their rules. ;)
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Here is my two cents on the document dates (Rebecca knows alot more about this than I do):
INS (can never remember their new name) - Is very concerned with the dates - I-171H (18 months) Fingerprints (15 months) Homestudy (1 year needs an updated letter after 1 year for submission to Embassy in Panama.)
Panama - Does not seem to be concerned with the dates. From my understanding - all dates stop on your dossier once it is submitted to Panama.
State (Apostilled) - They need the notary to be current, so make sure the notary license does not run out prior to apostilling the documents.
State (Court Approval) - This varies from State to State on how long your court approval last. Our state is 18 months and then you need an update to your homestudy and it re-submitted to the courts, if you are planning to re-adopt in that State. (I think this is a personal choice.)
Your social work that did your home study should be able to help with the State requirements.
Good Luck with all of this.
As is typical with Panama, I can only attest to my OWN experience re: the expiration dates.
My attorney assured me that none of the documents in my dossier will "expire" from Panama's point of view. She said once the dossier is approved, it is approved, period.... No updates are required, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other documents that the judge may require before he/she approves the actual adoption (like the crazy psych evals Lauri and her husband had to endure).
But to play it safe, we're going to take current, notarized copies (maybe we'll even get them apostilled) of everything with us to Panama....just in case.
;) Rebecca