Read About My Latest Document Miracles!

Okay so there are two remaining documents we need to have authenticated for our dossier:
1. the i800a approval letter (which is this document that I've been writing about so much), and
2. the Homestudy Verification Letter from CAS.

The reason we are getting that Homestudy Verification Letter in so late (as opposed to the 28 others we had already authenticated and I have in my hands now) is because since my Homestudy was done in Kenya and notarized in Kenya, the US officials can't authenticate it because it bears no US seal. The Kenyan National Adoption Committee (NAC) will accept my Homestudy as it is. Why? Because the NAC only requires authentication of foreign documents, not their own country's.  However, there is a Homestudy Verification Letter done by my stateside agency that is attached to the back of the homestudy. Susan at Little Angels correctly suggested we have that specific letter notarized and authenticated at the state and federal levels, like all the others, since that is a foreign document.

So...I emailed the folks at CAS about 3 weeks ago and asked if they could notarize my Verification Letter and then send it on to North Carolina to be authenticated.  Then it would go to my courier in DC who would authenticate it on the US level then Kenyan level.

CAS did that; sent it to Raleigh for its state-level authentication stamp. CAS said they fedex'd my document to my courier in DC on Tuesday, May 15, which is the same day I sent my i800a approval letter from Kenya to my courier. (Again, remember that drama?).

Well by Friday my courier had not received anything from CAS. So Friday night I sat in bed (it was close to 11pm here in Kenya) and I placed phone calls to the CAS office, to Fedex, and to my specific program coordinator. The CAS office closes at noon on Fridays (it was 3pm in their time zone) so I was literally freaking out. The thing is, to get my dossier to the NAC by the June 5 deadline, I needed my last 2 documents to be at the courier THAT FRIDAY so he could authetnicate at the US State Department (which takes 1 day), then the Kenyan Embassy (which takes 5 days). Then if my courier fedex'd international priority to me on Friday afternoon, then I would get the documents by May 29ish and could turn in to Little Angels by May 30, and Little Angels would have time to prepare my dossier on May 31 and June 4 (since June 1 is a Kenyan holiday), and they could take to NAC on June 4.  CUTTING IT PRETTY CLOSE!!

I hope I didn't lose any of you on that last paragraph.

In other words, to make the NAC meeting for June (which is a huge long shot anyway!), my courier needed to have both my docs by Friday the 18th at the latest! But Friday night I was on the phone trying to find that one missing doc from CAS.  And hyperventilating a little.  Or rather a lot.

Miraculously, my Program Coordinator from CAS got in touch with me. We chatted by phone for the first time!  Listen to the story she told me. I think I had a few little heart attacks while listening to her:

So apparently when my Homestudy Verification document came back from North Carolina on May 14, it had been apostilled instead of authenticated.  Major Mistake!!  Susan Fox, the director at CAS, recognized the mistake, and sent it back out to the state capitol for the correct stamp. Somehow (INSERT: GOD), the document went back to Raleigh, was correctly authenticated, and sent back to CAS office headquarters in Greensboro by Friday the 18th. Then the folks at CAS (even though the office closes at noon!), fedex'd it Overnight to my courier in DC. Courier got the doc on Saturday.

Now my courier had both my documents!

Monday the 21st Courier took my CAS doc to US State Dept to be authenticated. He used their same-day service, which I thankfully found out about through a fellow-adopting friend. He drove my 2 docs to the Kenyan Embassy that afternoon. Somehow (INSERT GOD AGAIN) the Kenyan Embassy authenticated my 2 documents in 3 days instead of the usual 5 days. So Wednesday the 23rd, Courier Fedex'd my completely authenticated documents to me. At the time I write this, my docs are in the air and just left Paris! They should make it to me tomorrow or Sunday.

So Monday the 28th I will drive my COMPLETED DOSSIER down to Little Angels.

I just can't believe it.  For a girl who found out she messed up her documents to Immigration on May 2, and then now she'll have her completed dossier turned in to Little Angels by May 28.  Living overseas. Shipping everything internationally. FOLKS, THAT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE!!  Especially considering the other issues with the documents that I've had...There is no other explanation but one: God.

Father God, I am continually humbled by your grace and your mercy and your miracles. May everybody who reads this see how Amazing You Are, Father!!

Terminology

So exactly how complicated is this process? (Yes, I'm whining again.)
Here is an email I sent our Stateside agency. We are having a few issues with the standard authentication since I am already here in Kenya and some of my documents have Kenya notaries instead of US notaries.
The paperwork is so tedious and technical!  Here's the email.


Dear ---,
Okay I'm understanding the authentication process a little better...
My courier emailed me and asked if I was sending a notarized Affidavit of True and Accurate Document to include with our homestudy so the US can authenticate it.
Our agency here suggested having CAS notarize their original Homestudy Approval Letter, and attach that with the homestudy to present to the NAC with my dossier.
But technically, I should be able to take my homestudy to Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Nairobi and have it authenticated.  You guys' homestudy approval letter...is that supposed to be included in my dossier as well? Is that a requirement of the NAC? Have you guys ever notarized/authenticated those approval letters in the past? If not, then why would I need to have CAS notarize/authenticate them now? I realize since the approval letter originates in the States then the NAC might require it to be notarized, but if you guys have never notarized them before then why should we have to start all over again with that now?
About the i800a, am I right, below, in suggesting that I always keep the original with me? However, since the i800a approval letter is not notarized, then even though the document originates in the States, the States will not be able to do anything with my Affidavit because my affidavit will be notarized by a Kenyan notary, so the US can't do anything with it even if I sent it to the State Dept to be authenticated.
Wow these are such TEDIOUS questions!!  But valid ones as the NAC will kick out my dossier if I do something wrong!  And I just don't have the time left in my timeline to have it kicked out by the NAC. Because if they don't approve us then we'd have to call off the adoption because there would be no way we'd have time left in our timeline to redo paperwork at that point.
Okay I think I am hyperventilating at the thought of that.
Sincerely, Jessica

Medical Appointments and Finished Notarizing!

So our medical certificates from Taiwan are due to expire in May 2012.  We didn't think that would wind up being a problem, but because the homestudy took so long it really adjusted our timeline. So I made 6 doctor appointments for yesterday and today in order for the embassy doctor here to fill out new medical certificates for the 6 of us.  The doctor was nice enough to follow me down to the notary's office and have them notarized as well.  The same day!

That meant I could put all 27 of my notarized/authenticated documents in a Priority Mail box!  Tomorrow I will mail all these to a courier in DC so he can walk them into the State Department and the Kenyan embassy for the national level authentications.  It takes two business days at the US State Dept (because they only allow 15 documents per day) and five business days at the Kenyan embassy.  The total is $1944 for all the documents.  The Kenyan embassy charges $50 per document, hence the steep price!

These are the documents in my package:

1.       6 Notarized Medical Certificates (one for each member of the household)

2.       6 Birth Certificates (one for each member of the household)

3.       FBI Background Checks

4.       Guardian Birth Certificates (2) and Marriage License

5.       Guardian Letter of Consent

6.       Inquiry on Prospective Adopters Form

7.       Kenya Police Checks

8.     Marriage License

9.   Kevin and Jessica Passport Certified

10.   Pastoral Reference

11.   Personal Reference

12.   Report on Financial Means Form

13.   Report on Fixed Means Form

14.   Taiwan Background Checks

15.   Undertaking by Adopters Form

16.   The Homestudy/Homestudy Approval Letter from CAS

Again, just like with the i800a application, I pray all these documents are exactly correct and that nothing must be redone and resubmitted.  Lord bless this package as it quickly travels to DC and then travels back to me unharmed!