This will be brief, and picture-free as we forgot the camera today.
For those with an adoption in process, please note that to the best of my knowledge, the following only applies to Kostonai, and may not occur in every case. Yesterday afternoon our facilitator told us she had good news & bad news. The good news - all 3 families were assigned the same judge, and we got a judge with a lot of experience in internatioal adoptions. The bad news - someone has decided there should be a 30-day waiting period between the end of our visitation, and our court date, instead of the usual 10-14 day wait. This would have put our final court date at Dec. 16th, but this is the beginning of a week-long national holiday, so our final court date has now been scheduled for December 24th. Our preliminary hearing, however, has to be scheduled within 10 days of the end of our visitation, so it will occur on Nov. 27th. Our facilitator announced that we should plan to go home on Nov 28th, then come back for the December 24th hearing (4.5 days of travel time & $4000 in additional expense, for what is typically a 20-30 minute event). As you can tell from the previous sentence, I’m frustrated. We’re all frustrated, and scrambling to change our travel arrangements, while being told that flight availability is minimal so close to the Christmas holiday.
After the hearing on the 24th, we return back home, without Aliya. There is a15-day waiting period after the trial, in case the prosecutor wants to appeal (which has happened, but is apparently very rare). After the 15-day wait is up, our coordinator will apply for Aliya’s visa and passport, which takes 2-3 weeks. So, we will (I hope and pray) be returning a third time, end of January or early February, to bring her home.
That’s the update. A lot of details are currently up in the air, and morale is pretty low amongst the “troops.” I’ll keep everyone up to date as things get worked out. Love to all at home -t
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Guys - I'm so sorry to hear that it will be this difficult. Our prayers are with you. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call.
Bless you guys. That is so hard. My heart aches for you. I'm so sorry for this situation. Bless Aliya and may she come home swiftly!
love you
Mel
I just found your blog and remember all the ups and downs well. I am sitting here with Joshua throwing apples at me and soon Aliya will be doing the same to you. :-) She is beautiful and even though this part is very difficult the end result is such a blessing. When you look back on this time you will forget all the bad times.
Praying for your family and your court dates,
Kim
www.theprudhommesgotokaz.blogspot.com
Dad and I are keeping our fingers crossed. We love you and are eagerly awaiting you return to Philly next week.
I have been following along and am so sorry that the process is more complicated than originally thought. I hope all gos as planned so that your family can be together as soon as possible!
Post a Comment