I Drove To Massachusetts To Apostille Our Home Study (And Other Crazy Things)
Never would I have guessed that I would say "I drove to Massachusetts to apostille our home study" but adoption makes you do crazy things...
Our Rhode Island home study agency is based in Massachusetts, which means the home study was notarized in Massachusetts and needed to be apostilled in Massachusetts (I'll remind you about what an apostille is here.) That takes 2-3 weeks by mail in MA to be completed, but we live 30 minutes from the office so a-drivin' I went. It was easy, easy and the people in the office were super nice.
Now, we mail our apostilled home study and new immigration approval to AGCI and then on to Bulgaria so that our file will be updated.
Speaking of immigration...we had a slight hiccup. You may remember our previous experience with immigration... This too is nothing significant, but a bit of a frustration. The story is long and quite confusing and involves specific dates and timelines and our crazy Navy life, so let me just share the major takeaway...
We are going to have to update our Rhode Island home study this fall in order to extend our immigration approval.
We did not expect this. We thought we would receive an immigration extension with the home study that we just did this winter/spring and that we'd be set until the next place that we move. But, that's not what happened. Long story short, our Virginia home study and RI home study were done too close together so our approval date is staying the same.
This just means more money, doing a home study update while we are still here, and then doing a home study a couple of months later when we move to a new place.
As far as moving goes, Caleb is working right now to get his next set of orders. We should know sometime this summer what comes next for us, but we do know that he is here until the middle of November.
With as quickly as we moved from Virginia after starting this process and with only one year here, we really have not had any major issues. Paperwork and home studies have moved quickly for us and the whole thing has been pretty painless and easy. Thank you for praying us through this! As for now, I ask that you pray for
1) our babies in Bulgaria. We will do and redo and re-redo as many things as we need to bring them home. Pray that they come home as quickly as possible. Pray for timing and health and protection.
2) our babies in America. That they can continue to grow in their understanding of how long this could take and what it means for them to be getting a brother or sister or both or two of each. This is so abstract right now and J & E ask a lot of questions that we don't have answers to. Pray that they continue to be excited and loving and open.
3) home study and immigration timing. That it all works out easy-peasy without too much of a hassle.
4) orders. That Caleb moves on to a position that is fulfilling for him and in a location that suits our family well.
Thanks, friends.
xoxo
Our Rhode Island home study agency is based in Massachusetts, which means the home study was notarized in Massachusetts and needed to be apostilled in Massachusetts (I'll remind you about what an apostille is here.) That takes 2-3 weeks by mail in MA to be completed, but we live 30 minutes from the office so a-drivin' I went. It was easy, easy and the people in the office were super nice.
Now, we mail our apostilled home study and new immigration approval to AGCI and then on to Bulgaria so that our file will be updated.
Speaking of immigration...we had a slight hiccup. You may remember our previous experience with immigration... This too is nothing significant, but a bit of a frustration. The story is long and quite confusing and involves specific dates and timelines and our crazy Navy life, so let me just share the major takeaway...
We are going to have to update our Rhode Island home study this fall in order to extend our immigration approval.
We did not expect this. We thought we would receive an immigration extension with the home study that we just did this winter/spring and that we'd be set until the next place that we move. But, that's not what happened. Long story short, our Virginia home study and RI home study were done too close together so our approval date is staying the same.
This just means more money, doing a home study update while we are still here, and then doing a home study a couple of months later when we move to a new place.
As far as moving goes, Caleb is working right now to get his next set of orders. We should know sometime this summer what comes next for us, but we do know that he is here until the middle of November.
With as quickly as we moved from Virginia after starting this process and with only one year here, we really have not had any major issues. Paperwork and home studies have moved quickly for us and the whole thing has been pretty painless and easy. Thank you for praying us through this! As for now, I ask that you pray for
1) our babies in Bulgaria. We will do and redo and re-redo as many things as we need to bring them home. Pray that they come home as quickly as possible. Pray for timing and health and protection.
2) our babies in America. That they can continue to grow in their understanding of how long this could take and what it means for them to be getting a brother or sister or both or two of each. This is so abstract right now and J & E ask a lot of questions that we don't have answers to. Pray that they continue to be excited and loving and open.
3) home study and immigration timing. That it all works out easy-peasy without too much of a hassle.
4) orders. That Caleb moves on to a position that is fulfilling for him and in a location that suits our family well.
Thanks, friends.
xoxo
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