Immigration info needed!!!!!

Send a letter to the INS office where you originally submitted your I-600A and include a cashier's check/money order for $150 (the price went up back in April). In your letter state that you are pursuing an international adoption from the country of Panama and that your FBI fingerprints will expire on such-and-such date, so you need to have them redone and would appreciate an appointment at the Application Support office nearest to your home. (We had our original fingerprints done in the state capital, which is only 2.5 hours away. The reprints had to be done in a city that is more than 4 hours away! I think I also included preferred days/times of the week, which MAY be why we had to do them so far from home.) They will schedule an appointment for you and send you a letter. Take that letter with you (one for each of you) to the site. Do your fingerprints, go back home, and wait for the letter telling you that you "passed" and that your approval has been added to your file and forwarded to the US embassy in Panama. It's that "easy." ;) Rebecca: been there, done that...and that...and that...

Tanya, On your original letter there should have been a point of contact name and number. You just call the person, and they will send you out the documents to schedule your fingerprints. The person in Phoenix actually scheduled ours the day I talked to her and sent me the documents to mail in our money. We were scheduled that week and our fingerprint results were sent within 2 weeks to the Embassy. If you need the name and number for Phoenix, PM me and I will send it to you. Lauri

Lauri, Any news?! Julie

I ask for information yesterday on what is happening with our case. We were told that the judge is waiting for some additional documentation. I have ask for information on what the judge is waiting for. I don't know if the additional documentation is concerning the TPR or our dossier. (TPR was done on June 9th - Court documents were suppose to be ready by June 23rd, but we have not received information that the court documents were complete.) As soon as I hear more, I will post it. We are so anxious to get the court date set and then go get our son. Lauri Dossier - July 2003 Referral - August 2003 First TPR scheduled - March 2004 Actual TPR - June 2004 Waiting completion of court documents and final court date

Jeez, Lauri, how frustrating for you! Hopefully you'll get an answer soon (and a travel date, of course). :) We finally got a confirmation from our attorney yesterday that the interim DNA isn't doing anything to help her (re: our case). She said that they keep telling her that they are "working to get through the files," but that means they aren't really doing anything. :( She has also been contacted by other frustrated attornies who aren't getting anywhere, either. We took this to mean that we're just stuck in the waiting game at least until September (which is now less than 2 months away!). But here's some good news: We will finish our foster care training and should be licensed within 2 weeks. That means that we could take any "legal risk" or "adoptive placement" kids from the U.S. and could eventually complete the adoption (6 mo.-1 yr. later) ! Now that we're getting licensed, it's amazing how our options open up (options that weren't available to us without the foster care license)! It's good to finally feel that we have SOME control, even if that means ultimately giving up on Panama. Rebecca :D

Rebecca, how exciting for you. It appears that process will end up being much faster than the Panama process. Who would have guessed that it would be easier and faster to pursue an adoption in the US? Good Luck and May God Bless You! Lauri

We found out today that the documents the judge needs to review pertain to the TPR. So, the TPR is not complete. These final documents are suppose to be ready next week and sent to the judge. Then I am assuming that the TPR will be complete and sent to DNA. Then they match us and send back to get a court date for us. We are being told that we must go to court. Did any of the Faith families have to attend court? In March we were told that we would not need to go to court and the attorney could represent us. I should just be grateful that at least we have some information on our case, so I really should not complain. Sorry! Dossier July 2003 Referral August 2003 First trip March 2004 TPR (June - August 2004) Final court date ????

Lauri, As far as I know, none of the families working with Faith in the past have gone to court. They only travel when "everything" is complete and they're going to get the final court hearing to bring the child home. TPR has to be complete and everything finalized before they would recommend a family travel. Not sure if that will change with the new administration but the agency doesn't expect procedures to be different if anything, hopefully smoother.

Thanks! We hope to get some additional information soon on our court date. The final TPR paperwork was turned in last week and they are now waiting for the judge's ruling on the TPR. Hopefully, they can move the process. I certainly hope that things run smoother and faster when the new government takes over in September. However, I think it will take some to implement new processes. Hopefully, they will at least be able to communicate the status until they can make changes. I will keep everyone informed as to our status. Lauri

Thanks Lauri for keeping us updated. Our case is still in the TPR stage. We understand that the paperwork is almost complete and hopefully will be sent to the judge soon. We were told that once the judge gets the paperwork it would be 4 to 6 weeks until the TPR court date. He/she can make a ruling at that point or ask for additional information. After that it would be another month for our court date. So it looks like at least another 3 months wait for us.:( But like Lauri I was just so happy to get any info! Julie