ARG USCIS Paperwork Returned

The USCIS returned our paperwork via certified mail because I sent a personal check for payment; however, I read back over the directions and it does not say that I have to send a certified check or money order. In fact, it says that personal checks will be turned into an electronic funds transfer. So the government spent $3.50 to return my paperwork when I had done nothing that conflicted with the directions. Also, because our mail lady always comes so late in the day it was too late to make it to the bank today. This is so frustrating. I hate dealing with the governement.

SW is Gone

Frig and I just met with our SW. She was very nice. Frig and her got along wonderfully and I am pretty sure her husband and Frig are long lost brothers. They talked about Star Trek and how her son loves Monty Python. In fact, she and I have a lot in common as well. One big thing we talked about was how the husbands have crazy mad knowledge of trivia while the wives to do not. Apparently her husband also can not understand how she doesn't know the director, year, complete plot and actors in ever movie ever made.

The home study was nothing to be worried about at all. She sat on our floor at the coffee table and made herself at home. None of the questions were difficult. She seemed to regard the walk through as a formality that had to be completed and when I asked if she wanted to see the garage she said she had to "although I have no idea why I have to." She mentioned more than once how our house was much larger than she had expected it to be.

While I was waiting for the social worker to arrive I completed some last minute house straightening and completed our USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) paperwork. It is called an I 600A and is an application for advanced processing of an orphan petition. The form is easy enough to fill out, but the check is going to be painful to write. Basically it is paying for our child's visa and approval for us to adopted internationally. The cost is $640 plus $80 per adult living in the house. Once the office gets the paperwork Chris and I will have to go and be finger printed. I am a little worried that the finger printing will have to happen during the work day. Apparently you don't get to pick when you go to the office, but our given an appointment date that you have to keep. I hope I can get some friends at school to cover for me if the timeing works out. Only time will tell on this aspect.

Homestudy Meeting Set

I spoke with the social worker (SW) today and we have set a date for the meeting. To be honest I am not sure if this will be the only meeting that we have to have or not. I was happy to hear that working for the home study (HS) agency is actually the SW second job so she conducts the meetings only at night and on the weekends which works great fro Chris and I.

Any way we will be meeting with the SW on Monday 11/24/2008. Yes, that is just a few days from today, and I am kind of freaking out about it.

Chris actually spoke with her for some time while I was at yoga and made a joke, big surprise, that she was ruining his weekend because he was going to have to clean the house. She asked if we had any dead rats lying around because apparently she had been watching wife swap and one of the houses had a major rat problem.

So Monday is the big day. The weekend will be very busy for sure. We will be cleaning and straightening up. I just finished putting our new computer desk together and that will help with some of organizing that needs to get done. I will of course update very soon after the meeting is over!

Making Good Headway

As of yesterday I have mailed off all of the documents that our local, as in state since they are actually in Austin, home study agency needs in order to have a social worker contact us. I guess that will happen any day now. This does not mean we have all of the necessary documents for the home study, but the bulk of them are in. We still need Chris's medical form (he has yet to find time to redo his TB test), the current pictures of us and our house, and the income verification letter for Chris. Considering the original list was 21 items long we have made amazing progress.

Our international agency received our legal agreement. They copied us on a letter to the local agency which verified that we were completing international adoption with them and formally requesting that the local agency complete our home study. The two agencies have worked together for over 20 years. We also received login information to access all of the international agencies Korean adoption information. We should receive a hard copy in the mail as well. I have heard the manual is the size of a phone book. I can't wait to get my hands on it!