So, it’s December 21, 2012 and what I had hoped would happen long before now still has yet to happen. Our boys are still in Haiti and we do not have a date yet for when we can bring them home.
Our file is still sitting in the US Customs and Immigration Service section of the US Embassy in Port au Prince. It’s been sitting there since November 14. There was some activity on it around December 6, a request for documents which we sent within 5 minutes of the receipt of the request and they confirmed their receipt the following Monday. Then on Friday, December 14 we got another request for the same documents. Disheartening, but we sent them again anyway.
We had hoped we would see greater efficiency and efficacy once our file moved the US side, but that is not the case.
Steps still to be completed:
- Waiting for approval of our I-600 – Petition to Classify an Orphan as an Immediate Relative.
- Medical exam at embassy-approved doctor (taking place today).
- Visa interview and issuance from the US Consular section of the embassy.
- Exit letter from IBESR (Haitian Social Services)
- Board the plane and fly to Miami
- Go through immigration in Miami and fly home.
You can see we are agonizingly close. I have no timeline for when we expect any of these steps to finish, unfortunately. Well, not quite true, I know of timelines, but am hesitant to apply one to our case as we seem to not meet any of them.
Please pray that we receive approval soon.
Natalie Ames 