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Hey all,
My question is this: my husband and I are ready to submit our I-600. We are adopting his sister from West Africa, the Gambia. I'm American, he is Gambian. We are going through the court system there to adopt her and finalize everything there.
Do I need to wait until our adoption is completed there to submit the I600?
Anyone who's been here or has information would be awesome, this has been such a long road already. Thanks.
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We submitted our I-600 before the adoption was final. Im not sure if it was a good idea, but thatҒs what we were told to do. We were also advised to submit it without the home-study - then the home-study was delayed by weeks-which delayed the adoption by weeks, because the court was waiting for the home-study. Im not sure that we got the best advice, but you know what they say-allҒs well that ends well (Im not quite convinced of that).
After we submitted the initial I-600 application, USCIS sent us a letter detailing what we needed to submit. They gave us a deadline of so many days to submit the ғevidence or the petition could be considered abandoned, so beware. It was a bit nerve-wracking because as I explained above the home-study was delayed which subsequently delayed the adoption.
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Hello-
I know my response is a little old, but we are also going through an adoption in The Gambia of my husband's nephew. I would be interested in hearing about your story. I hope all went well with your husband's sister.
I would be interested in hearing your experience with the Dakar embassy.
Thanks!
Hi There,
Oh, that is interesting....I wasn't able to find anyone from Gambia adopting while we were going through the process. Where are you at in the process? We were back in the Gambia most of the fall and just got back to the states in november with our little girl. It was an ordeal and we are just so glad that everything turned out okay.
My experience with the Dakar and Banjul embassy, argh! I really could go on and on, not a fan at all.
Tell me about your story...You're adopting your husband's nephew? How old is he? Where does he live now?
Thanks for your reply. It is really nice to have someone else to talk with that has gone through a similar process. We are in the very begining stages of our adoption. We have selected an agency here for the homestudy.
We also have a child attorney in Gambia to assist with the children's court process. I have no doubts that everything will go fine here, it's the immigration process that scares me a little.
Did you primarily have to go to Dakar for all immigration docs or did you also have to visit in Banjul?
What was your timeframe like from start to finish? How long were you in Gambia?
Also our nephew is 5 and lives in Serrekunda with family.
Thanks for ALL the help!!!