Hello Brandie,
Your package arrived in pristine form, although I got feeling that I am undressing the mummy opening your package, but on end it's played well, everything looks just perfect!!!!
I will organize your paperwork and will forward it to Zoya.
It should be in Magadan by mid April and by the time we will get our accreditation ( don't know when , but hopefully not too long) it will be ready to filed the next day.
Best regards,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the e-mail I received today!!! I told everyone the mailman could have dropped my pkg in the ocean and it would have been fine. There were just two things that could have happened... one: they could have lost it / or two: set it on fire. But thankfully nothing happened and it is PERFECT like she said!! YEAHHHHH
And my paperwork might actually be there sooner----- there is a family heading over in the next week.... and they will see ZOYA!!! And to be honest... I do feel better about a fellow agency family delivering my paperwork after all the mail problems I have had. I trust it will be in safe hands.
Now what can we do about this accreditation issue?????
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Still Waiting
Yes, I am still waiting for my documents to arrive at the agency!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sent them out by Registered mail through the United States Post Office on March 15th. I was told the package should arrive in about a week. I was told this was the most secure way to send and a signature was required once delivered. Well it hasn't arrived. I called the phone number and asked why it hasn't -- she said "although we have anticipated time lines for things, this is registered mail, your package is under lock and key, so it could take up to 15 business days to reach the location!!!!" I asked if we could track it and see how far it is in the process, she said "no, not until the 15 business days are up and that won't be until next week or so. So call back then!" And HUNG UP!!!
I am pulling my hair out!! While the documents weren't easy to get,
My GOD THEY WERE EASIER THAN SENDING THEM!!!
I am not joking, if this package doesn't arrive or there is a problem -- I will be on the next flight to to hand them to our agency director personally!!!
I sent them out by Registered mail through the United States Post Office on March 15th. I was told the package should arrive in about a week. I was told this was the most secure way to send and a signature was required once delivered. Well it hasn't arrived. I called the phone number and asked why it hasn't -- she said "although we have anticipated time lines for things, this is registered mail, your package is under lock and key, so it could take up to 15 business days to reach the location!!!!" I asked if we could track it and see how far it is in the process, she said "no, not until the 15 business days are up and that won't be until next week or so. So call back then!" And HUNG UP!!!
I am pulling my hair out!! While the documents weren't easy to get,
My GOD THEY WERE EASIER THAN SENDING THEM!!!
I am not joking, if this package doesn't arrive or there is a problem -- I will be on the next flight to to hand them to our agency director personally!!!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Borris your DAD is in the HALL OF FAME!!!
While we wait for the Russian Gov. to decide what they want to do, lets see if Steve even reads this blog, shall we???
A few weeks ago I posted that Steve was being inducted into the PIAA Hall of Fame. It was a very nice ceremony held during the state competition. This is the picture that was posted in the program. It's Steve's State Champion photo.
(I told him I was going to post it, although I don't think he believed me!!)
And here is a photo with his two brothers and his dad. (Steve is wearing the red tie.. he said he had to wear the school colors!! ) Now when I say I married into a wrestling family, that is an understatement. Both brothers are state champs too and his father is in the Hall of Fame for coaching. He coached all three boys and the school teams to numerous championships. His dad was featured in Sports Illustrated for his accomplishments. So needless to say, Steve is excited and prays Boris is into sports of some sort. I keep reminding him Russia is known for ballet as well!! We could be adopting a dancer! Which I wouldn't mind, I took dance lessons as a child!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
A Longer Wait than Expected
On Monday I took the papers to the post office, showed them and filed a claim. They said a check should be in the mail within 4 weeks. Meanwhile, I am still waiting for my agency to receive the last shipment of documents. It should be there by today (I'm hoping).
Once our agency director gets everything, she will then send all of it to Russia. That is a two/three week process. It takes a while to reach Siberia. From what I understand our papers have already been scanned and translated. So by the time the original documents arrive everything will be ready to submit to the Russian Gov. for a referral.
However, there is now a HUGE glitch. All agencies except for three (and by the end of April-- they too will be in this situation from what I understand) are waiting for the Russian Gov. to give out the certificate of accreditation. All agency directors were expecting that to happen by the end of March. That is what the Gov. had everyone believing. But this is Russia, and self imposed deadlines move. So they will do it when they get to it. Meanwhile this basically means international adoptions are shut down until the certificate is issued.
It is pending, so it's not like a few years ago or even last year where the Gov. was trying to figure out a new process. Now the process is in place, and from what I understand (which is little) most agencies are waiting for two ministries to sign the documents. Once that happens the certificate of re-accreditation will be issued within 10 days. So word could come anytime now or some are guessing by June. We will just have to wait and see.
Once our agency director gets everything, she will then send all of it to Russia. That is a two/three week process. It takes a while to reach Siberia. From what I understand our papers have already been scanned and translated. So by the time the original documents arrive everything will be ready to submit to the Russian Gov. for a referral.
However, there is now a HUGE glitch. All agencies except for three (and by the end of April-- they too will be in this situation from what I understand) are waiting for the Russian Gov. to give out the certificate of accreditation. All agency directors were expecting that to happen by the end of March. That is what the Gov. had everyone believing. But this is Russia, and self imposed deadlines move. So they will do it when they get to it. Meanwhile this basically means international adoptions are shut down until the certificate is issued.
It is pending, so it's not like a few years ago or even last year where the Gov. was trying to figure out a new process. Now the process is in place, and from what I understand (which is little) most agencies are waiting for two ministries to sign the documents. Once that happens the certificate of re-accreditation will be issued within 10 days. So word could come anytime now or some are guessing by June. We will just have to wait and see.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
It all works out!!
Well, this is Take Two and the documents are once again on their way to the agency. I have to say things turned out much better than I anticipated. The county gave us 6 free marriage certificates ($20 each) after hearing what happened and the Apostille Office in Harrisburg redid all 25 forms($15 per page) free of charge. So if all goes as planned and the post office reimburses us the $100 for the package that was delivered damaged then we actually make money in the deal? Go figure. Actually the parking and gas and stuff all cost about 100-- so it ends up being a wash, but hey my husband is happy!
As far as the post office goes, well that was a fun time. I ended up in line with the same guy I had on Friday. I had filled out the form ahead of time and marked YES in the insurance box. He rang everything through and said the price. I looked at him and said "no, that was what it cost last time without insurance, it was delivered damaged-- I want insurance on this these documents they are worth over $400 dollars." He laughed at me and said that's impossible. Paper is never worth that much and you can't insure paper. The look on my face told him very clearly I wasn't nearly as amused. As nice as I could, I said "These are adoption documents that cost over $400 dollars to put together to give to the Russian Gov. Would you like me to show you the receipts your government charged me to obtain them!" He said no, and referred me to the manager. That manager laughed as well and told me the only documents that can be insured are stocks and bonds. Nothing else. I said -- "Look the insurance costs what like $5 -- just give it to me and I'll deal with that when the documents are delivered damaged again." He said "Nope, I can't insure something I can't cover, you have to go to the main post office. We are just a branch."
So I went to the Main Post Office. The people there were much more helpful. They informed me that "yes, non-negotiable documents (which mine are, each document has a set value assigned to it at each office) are covered up to the $100 basic insurance, but only up to $100 in express mail. The added insurance is for product. (Okay what-ever.)
Even had I paid for the extra insurance last time the replacement coverage would not have changed. If I want full coverage and replacement value on the documents I need to send it registered mail." I said thank you, lets do that. So if these documents end up in a fire... because, they are currently waterproof, then I am covered.
As far as the post office goes, well that was a fun time. I ended up in line with the same guy I had on Friday. I had filled out the form ahead of time and marked YES in the insurance box. He rang everything through and said the price. I looked at him and said "no, that was what it cost last time without insurance, it was delivered damaged-- I want insurance on this these documents they are worth over $400 dollars." He laughed at me and said that's impossible. Paper is never worth that much and you can't insure paper. The look on my face told him very clearly I wasn't nearly as amused. As nice as I could, I said "These are adoption documents that cost over $400 dollars to put together to give to the Russian Gov. Would you like me to show you the receipts your government charged me to obtain them!" He said no, and referred me to the manager. That manager laughed as well and told me the only documents that can be insured are stocks and bonds. Nothing else. I said -- "Look the insurance costs what like $5 -- just give it to me and I'll deal with that when the documents are delivered damaged again." He said "Nope, I can't insure something I can't cover, you have to go to the main post office. We are just a branch."
So I went to the Main Post Office. The people there were much more helpful. They informed me that "yes, non-negotiable documents (which mine are, each document has a set value assigned to it at each office) are covered up to the $100 basic insurance, but only up to $100 in express mail. The added insurance is for product. (Okay what-ever.)
Even had I paid for the extra insurance last time the replacement coverage would not have changed. If I want full coverage and replacement value on the documents I need to send it registered mail." I said thank you, lets do that. So if these documents end up in a fire... because, they are currently waterproof, then I am covered.
Take Two
I'm off to Harrisburg today. I have all the paperwork.
- 3 notarized home studies with original pictures attached
- 3 notarized licences of both the social worker and her agency
- 3 notarized letters of post adoption reports
- 2 original marriage certificates (actually they gave me 6 )
- 2 agreements to register child with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- 4 notarized copies of our passports
- 2 notarized copies of Power of Attorney
- 2 notarized post-placement verification
This list is shorter than the original packet and I only have to get 15 of the above apostilled. So this list isn't that bad.
I am sealing everything in plastic!!!
Wish me luck and pray all goes well.
- 3 notarized home studies with original pictures attached
- 3 notarized licences of both the social worker and her agency
- 3 notarized letters of post adoption reports
- 2 original marriage certificates (actually they gave me 6 )
- 2 agreements to register child with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- 4 notarized copies of our passports
- 2 notarized copies of Power of Attorney
- 2 notarized post-placement verification
This list is shorter than the original packet and I only have to get 15 of the above apostilled. So this list isn't that bad.
I am sealing everything in plastic!!!
Wish me luck and pray all goes well.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Did I do something BAD in a former life?
Please read the warning before reading this post!!
WARNING
If you have any idea what a Russian Dossier is, then please know that the following post can cause shock or extreme laughter which COULD result in a trip to the E.R.
You have been warned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(for those who don't know what a Dossier is: it's a pile of all the documents needed to send to the Russian Gov. to get a child. Included are dozens of notarized and original papers (marriage certificates, home study) and the all the apostilled forms that can only come from the state capital (in my case Harrisburg) that tells the Russian Gov. every notary mark is a real notarization. There are about 25 documents that needed to be apostilled and each one costs $15. yep... that's $375 just to say the notary is real!! )
Well, all weekend I waited for the e-mail telling me my agency received all the documents. The e-mail (s) came! This is where it starts to get blurry. All I remember is opening the latest of the first two sent and seeing something along the lines of "only 20% is readable" and then the word "DESTROYED" popped into sight. I immediately picked up the phone and called the agency director! "Olga, I got the e-mails, my hands are shaking, please explain what happened?"
She agreed her hands were shaking too. She couldn't believe her eyes. It seems that somehow during shipping another package leaked perfume into the overnight envelope. Not only did the documents have a strong odor, many were wet and unreadable. I could not believe my ears.!!!
Immediately I called my mother, (I admit I had a meltdown!!) then I called the social worker to see if I could get all new copies of the home study and social worker packet. Meanwhile., Olga, the agency director told me that she was scanning as much as she could to the contact in Russia so translation could begin. But she wasn't sure how many documents would even be able to be scanned. She would have to wait for them to dry!!! So I had to wait for another round of e-mails.
While I waited, I called my husband. Although I think he handled it pretty well, he did question why I didn't get insurance on the package. I told him the guy never asked me, HAD HE ASKED... I WOULD HAVE SAID YES.. but because he was sooooo excited about how they could overnight to Alaska, he forgot to ask. And while I'm usually good with details like that, I was emotional as I mailed the dossier. After all, I rushed around all day and then mailed it. I was thrilled, excited, in the moment, proud of myself!!! So like I said had he asked, I most definitely would have said yes to insurance. But he never asked and I walked away thinking everything was done. So Olga is mailing us the unusable stuff and the post office WILL-- I say WILL reimburse us the standard $100.
Meanwhile, the third batch of e-mails came. Olga says that I only have to get one dossier packet and a page or two apostilled.( so the number went from 25 to 15. -- and at $15 a page that's a savings of $150). According to the contact in Russia the Dept. of Education (the folks who have custody of all orphans) will accept "SEMI-DAMAGED" pages. However the courts won't. SO I have to redo all the court papers, but she can submit some of what she has to the MOE/DOE with the translation. (I hope the perfume was a nice one!!)
So it's another wait zone for me. I will start recollecting everything tomorrow. I will be able to pick up the social worker's packet on Wed. and I pray by Thurs. I will be able to head to Harrisburg. Olga said she'd like to have all the new documents by next Monday (give or take a day). And yes they will be insured and sealed in plastic and whatever else I think of between now and then to make sure they are safe.
So as the saying goes... where there's a will there's a way. I just seem destined to take the long way!!
Warning is over, but please take a deep breath and check your pulse.
WARNING
If you have any idea what a Russian Dossier is, then please know that the following post can cause shock or extreme laughter which COULD result in a trip to the E.R.
You have been warned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(for those who don't know what a Dossier is: it's a pile of all the documents needed to send to the Russian Gov. to get a child. Included are dozens of notarized and original papers (marriage certificates, home study) and the all the apostilled forms that can only come from the state capital (in my case Harrisburg) that tells the Russian Gov. every notary mark is a real notarization. There are about 25 documents that needed to be apostilled and each one costs $15. yep... that's $375 just to say the notary is real!! )
Well, all weekend I waited for the e-mail telling me my agency received all the documents. The e-mail (s) came! This is where it starts to get blurry. All I remember is opening the latest of the first two sent and seeing something along the lines of "only 20% is readable" and then the word "DESTROYED" popped into sight. I immediately picked up the phone and called the agency director! "Olga, I got the e-mails, my hands are shaking, please explain what happened?"
She agreed her hands were shaking too. She couldn't believe her eyes. It seems that somehow during shipping another package leaked perfume into the overnight envelope. Not only did the documents have a strong odor, many were wet and unreadable. I could not believe my ears.!!!
Immediately I called my mother, (I admit I had a meltdown!!) then I called the social worker to see if I could get all new copies of the home study and social worker packet. Meanwhile., Olga, the agency director told me that she was scanning as much as she could to the contact in Russia so translation could begin. But she wasn't sure how many documents would even be able to be scanned. She would have to wait for them to dry!!! So I had to wait for another round of e-mails.
While I waited, I called my husband. Although I think he handled it pretty well, he did question why I didn't get insurance on the package. I told him the guy never asked me, HAD HE ASKED... I WOULD HAVE SAID YES.. but because he was sooooo excited about how they could overnight to Alaska, he forgot to ask. And while I'm usually good with details like that, I was emotional as I mailed the dossier. After all, I rushed around all day and then mailed it. I was thrilled, excited, in the moment, proud of myself!!! So like I said had he asked, I most definitely would have said yes to insurance. But he never asked and I walked away thinking everything was done. So Olga is mailing us the unusable stuff and the post office WILL-- I say WILL reimburse us the standard $100.
Meanwhile, the third batch of e-mails came. Olga says that I only have to get one dossier packet and a page or two apostilled.( so the number went from 25 to 15. -- and at $15 a page that's a savings of $150). According to the contact in Russia the Dept. of Education (the folks who have custody of all orphans) will accept "SEMI-DAMAGED" pages. However the courts won't. SO I have to redo all the court papers, but she can submit some of what she has to the MOE/DOE with the translation. (I hope the perfume was a nice one!!)
So it's another wait zone for me. I will start recollecting everything tomorrow. I will be able to pick up the social worker's packet on Wed. and I pray by Thurs. I will be able to head to Harrisburg. Olga said she'd like to have all the new documents by next Monday (give or take a day). And yes they will be insured and sealed in plastic and whatever else I think of between now and then to make sure they are safe.
So as the saying goes... where there's a will there's a way. I just seem destined to take the long way!!
Warning is over, but please take a deep breath and check your pulse.
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