Paper Pregnant-AGAIN!
February 5, 2008
Big day today. This is the day we send our finalized dossier to Adoption ARK! In the adoption world we are now known as "paper ready" or "paper pregnant". Since we are also still paper pregnant with China does this mean we are carrying twins???
The Fed Ex package we sent weighs a couple of pounds and contains every bit of personal information possible (short of a DNA sample). Hopefully somewhere on the receiving end of this paperwork is the daughter we have been wanting for so very long. For now our work is done. There are many steps still remaing before we travel to Kazakhstan but Dart and I can do little to affect the timeline. This is the part where we have very little control it is called, THE WAIT. And so it begins....
This is an e-mail post from a case worker from our agency about the next steps in the Kazakhstan process:
Dear Ark families, There are a few things I want to explain you about Kaz. adoption and timeframes.Timeframes are very flexible, that is why we provide only estimates and I want to explain you why.We work very efficiently, and when we receive the paperwork, we review it in one or twodays. We mail it to one of two translators (often even we FedEx it to the translators).We can not use just any translators, we use accredited by the Kaz. Embassy translators.Sometimes they have other dossiers on their tables and our dossier should wait a little for its turn to betranslated. However, the translation takes about 2-3 weeks approximately.After we receive the translation back, we have to arrange the full dossier with English documents and Russiantranslation in a way it is required by the Embassy. It also takes time and effort and if we all are very busy, it might also take a few days to arrange the file.The timeframe when we receive the documents in full till they are submitted to the Embassy might beabout a month, approximately. We had excellent relationships with the Kaz. Embassy and each dossier went through their office pretty quickly,on an expedite basis. When we have approached the end of 2007, we heard that there is going to be change of staff andwe were able to pass some documents in a record speed – in about a day or two each dossier went through the Kaz. Embassy and was sent to Astana.Now they have new people at the Embassy and we try to make the dossiers to go quickly through the Embassy but there is uncertainty if there will be some new requests or if there will be changes in timeframe. All those issues are of extreme delicacy so everything should be handled very delicately and with dyplomatic care. We can not argue with any one, we can not push on anyone, it is just no - no.We definitely will strive to establish our relationships the way for the paperwork to be approved by the Kaz. Embassy in an efficient manner.It might take some time to establish such relationships, but it is our target.When the paperwork is approved by the Embassy, it goes to the first Ministry – the ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are the most unreliable in terms of time but we also hope that we will find the way to pass the dossiers quickly or at least quicker than before. At the end of 2007 they were delaying things but when I called them at the beg. of 2008, they told that they process the dossiers as fast as they can and no any dossier is held there for more than 2 months. We also received info from other sources that some people were on vacations because of the New Year holidays and there were not much manpower to review the paperwork. There are always some issues that we might even not knowing about but they all affect on how quickly the paperwork goes through these official organizations. After the first ministry a dossier goes to the Second ministry – Ministry of Education.It is also in Astana. The second ministry is usually quick but it also depends on if the officials are in or out or busy or have conferences and so on.It is just not possible to put timeframe on the issues that are all flexible and adjustable. When the dossier is sent to a specific region by the Ministry of Education, it is all again flexible to what region it will end up to and how quickly the region will prepare the LOI. Some regions are quicker than others. There is one region where a panel of regional officials is called in order to review the dossier before they will issue the LOI. This region might take a month or even a month and a half only for the LOI. There is another region where they have established a line of families and invite only a few families at a time. There is a third region where they are pretty quick with the LOI but they are saying that the families should wait when the regional officials will indeed say that the families might arrive. Considering the fact that all families might have different requests, that there might be some regional specifics, that some children might be available or not available at a different time, that there might be other families, let's say from Europe, traveling to the same region, --- it is all very flexible.Changes occur and cases sometimes have flexibilities in their own terms. Please be patient and please know that mechanism of international adoption is a very complex mechanism, not all things work as they are designed to work or expected to work, there is a lot of extra effort needed, it is a lot of issues that might be even unknown to us that might play its role, there is no any guarantee in timeframes and even in outcomes, but we work very hard, extra hard and we keep all your interests not only in our minds but in our hearts as well.
The Fed Ex package we sent weighs a couple of pounds and contains every bit of personal information possible (short of a DNA sample). Hopefully somewhere on the receiving end of this paperwork is the daughter we have been wanting for so very long. For now our work is done. There are many steps still remaing before we travel to Kazakhstan but Dart and I can do little to affect the timeline. This is the part where we have very little control it is called, THE WAIT. And so it begins....
This is an e-mail post from a case worker from our agency about the next steps in the Kazakhstan process:
Dear Ark families, There are a few things I want to explain you about Kaz. adoption and timeframes.Timeframes are very flexible, that is why we provide only estimates and I want to explain you why.We work very efficiently, and when we receive the paperwork, we review it in one or twodays. We mail it to one of two translators (often even we FedEx it to the translators).We can not use just any translators, we use accredited by the Kaz. Embassy translators.Sometimes they have other dossiers on their tables and our dossier should wait a little for its turn to betranslated. However, the translation takes about 2-3 weeks approximately.After we receive the translation back, we have to arrange the full dossier with English documents and Russiantranslation in a way it is required by the Embassy. It also takes time and effort and if we all are very busy, it might also take a few days to arrange the file.The timeframe when we receive the documents in full till they are submitted to the Embassy might beabout a month, approximately. We had excellent relationships with the Kaz. Embassy and each dossier went through their office pretty quickly,on an expedite basis. When we have approached the end of 2007, we heard that there is going to be change of staff andwe were able to pass some documents in a record speed – in about a day or two each dossier went through the Kaz. Embassy and was sent to Astana.Now they have new people at the Embassy and we try to make the dossiers to go quickly through the Embassy but there is uncertainty if there will be some new requests or if there will be changes in timeframe. All those issues are of extreme delicacy so everything should be handled very delicately and with dyplomatic care. We can not argue with any one, we can not push on anyone, it is just no - no.We definitely will strive to establish our relationships the way for the paperwork to be approved by the Kaz. Embassy in an efficient manner.It might take some time to establish such relationships, but it is our target.When the paperwork is approved by the Embassy, it goes to the first Ministry – the ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are the most unreliable in terms of time but we also hope that we will find the way to pass the dossiers quickly or at least quicker than before. At the end of 2007 they were delaying things but when I called them at the beg. of 2008, they told that they process the dossiers as fast as they can and no any dossier is held there for more than 2 months. We also received info from other sources that some people were on vacations because of the New Year holidays and there were not much manpower to review the paperwork. There are always some issues that we might even not knowing about but they all affect on how quickly the paperwork goes through these official organizations. After the first ministry a dossier goes to the Second ministry – Ministry of Education.It is also in Astana. The second ministry is usually quick but it also depends on if the officials are in or out or busy or have conferences and so on.It is just not possible to put timeframe on the issues that are all flexible and adjustable. When the dossier is sent to a specific region by the Ministry of Education, it is all again flexible to what region it will end up to and how quickly the region will prepare the LOI. Some regions are quicker than others. There is one region where a panel of regional officials is called in order to review the dossier before they will issue the LOI. This region might take a month or even a month and a half only for the LOI. There is another region where they have established a line of families and invite only a few families at a time. There is a third region where they are pretty quick with the LOI but they are saying that the families should wait when the regional officials will indeed say that the families might arrive. Considering the fact that all families might have different requests, that there might be some regional specifics, that some children might be available or not available at a different time, that there might be other families, let's say from Europe, traveling to the same region, --- it is all very flexible.Changes occur and cases sometimes have flexibilities in their own terms. Please be patient and please know that mechanism of international adoption is a very complex mechanism, not all things work as they are designed to work or expected to work, there is a lot of extra effort needed, it is a lot of issues that might be even unknown to us that might play its role, there is no any guarantee in timeframes and even in outcomes, but we work very hard, extra hard and we keep all your interests not only in our minds but in our hearts as well.
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