One of these days I'll get around to explaining my story of infertility but at the present time my adoption is in the fore front. I like many people attempting to adopt internationally wrote our local congress people attempting to get the time frame of the I 171H extended. For those of you not pursuing international adoption, the I 171H is the "Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition." Huh? you ask...I can't say I understand it completely but all I know is that I need before my dossier can be sent to China. And I need it to be able to bring my daughter back from China so that she can be considered my daughter and a citizen upon entry to US.
Right now the I 171H is valid for 18 months...which was all fine and dandy until the waits from China started getting much longer...which of course is all my fault because I decided to adopt from China and it seems God or the what ever supreme being up there has a terrible sense of humor. Our darling fingerprints...which we waited for at the Philadelphia USCIS (the new INS) for over 4 hrs...are now only good for only 15 months. The fee for this form is approximately $700.00 that along with an updated homestudy could end up costing me another $1500.00...this on an already strained budget. Then the thought of getting my husband back down to USCIS is almost more scary then the thought of spending $1500.00
Well..as I said above I wrote all the congress people in my area...and the only one that really seemed to do anything worth mentioning was Representative Jim Gerlach. They sent me a copy of a letter to Eduardo Aguirre who is the direction of USCIS...I was pretty impressed by his letter. I also received a call from a staff person explaining that this time frame was not legislated but a decision made by the agency but they would do what they could to get it extended to 24 months. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something may come of this...here's hoping!! And to all you folks adopting internationally or have friends or family adopting internationally...write to your congressman or women!!
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