For the first year and a half of our adoption process, we were the only people we knew that were adopting from India. Last summer, I did find an online community of TONS of other families from all over the world who were adopting or had adopted from India and it has been a game changer for our process. One of the most valuable aspects of this community, for me, is seeing that the kids eventually do come home. In fact, that is an oft quoted phrase, usually accompanied by an adorable picture of an adorable kiddo. "They do come home." It's so good to see and remember.
Comparing timelines is also a helpful benefit to knowing other people going through the process. At first I was scouring the internet for any other blog posts that might give us any idea as to how long our process might take. So, for that reason, I thought I'd share our timeline for information, encouragement, and posterity. I hope it will also help those who would like to to know how to pray and to rejoice with us when we finally bring Moses home! There is a much less detailed graphic first and a much more detailed list underneath, depending on how interested you are. ;)
Smith India Adoption Timeline:
02/2017 - First meeting with agency
03/2017 - Applied to agency for India program
03/2017 - Began assembling home study material
07/07/2017 - Home study visits
08/03/2017 - Home study finalized
08/28/2017 - Submitted i800a to USCIS (immigration)
09/25/2017 - Biometrics (fingerprint) appointment USCIS
11/04/2017 - Request for Evidence for i800a from USCIS :(
12/2017 - India adds psychological evaluation to home study requirement :(
12/27/2017 - Psychological evaluation done
01/15/2018 - Home study amendment finalized
01/20/2018 - Request for evidence/HS update sent to USCIS
02/01/2018 - i800a approval
02/15/2018 - Registered with Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in India
03/03/2018 - CARA approval
03/27/2018 - Prematched with Moses (to ask orphanage for more information)
04/03/2018 - More information on Moses from orphanage
04/25/2018 - Officially matched with Moses
05/02/2018 - Videos of Moses received from orphanage
05/15/2018 - Dossier arrive at orphanage / Originals arrived from orphanage
05/30/2018 - i800 application to USCIS (sent by agency)
06/18/2018 - i800 rejection because agency sent to wrong address :(
06/21/2018 - i800 application to USCIS again (sent by us)
07/05/2018 - i800 approval
07/12/2018 - DS-260 Visa application submitted
07/27/2018 - Article 5 received / applied NOC (supposed to take 10 days...)
11/26/2018 - NOC issued (4 months later) :(
12/10/2018 - Orphanage registers case in district court
01/09/2019 - POA appears at court. Lawyers not there.
01/17/2019 - POA appears at court again. Hearing scheduled.
02/02/2018 - HEARING!
And that's where we are at right now! Our last court date was basically just a redo of our first court date, since the lawyers weren't there, even though all that had to happen was our power of attorney basically signed in. So, now they were able to schedule the hearing. If the judge is there, our power of attorney and advocate will submit all of our dossier documents into evidence and they will be inspected. It also seems like someone from the orphanage (it might even be our power of attorney?) will be "examined". If the judge is satisfied, they will schedule another date, about a week later, for the "order" where the case will pass. If the judge is not there or not satisfied with the paperwork and needs to see updates to anything or any additional documents, they will schedule the next court date as another hearing and we will be told what we need to supply or pray that the judge will be there the next time.
I feel like the biggest prayer request is still that the judge will be there, because if he isn't, we make no headway at all. We could have another date scheduled only to find out that he wants to see more paperwork. And then the next biggest request is that he (or she) would be moved by the Spirit to just pass this case. Our documents are pretty old at this point because of some major unexpected delays. I've calculated it: about 3 additional i800a months, 3.5 additional NOC months, and 1 additional i800 month. That's almost 8 months of unexpected delays. That has made our documents 8 months older than they should have been. So we just need prayer that the judge will be fine with it. There are no regulations about that, only what the judge feels is acceptable.
We know this is in God's hands, because there is literally nothing we can do to make this go better or faster. Thanks for reading this all the way to the end! If you are a waiting India adoptive family, I hope this helps you know you are not alone in your waiting. I'm trusting right along with you that they do come home!
Comparing timelines is also a helpful benefit to knowing other people going through the process. At first I was scouring the internet for any other blog posts that might give us any idea as to how long our process might take. So, for that reason, I thought I'd share our timeline for information, encouragement, and posterity. I hope it will also help those who would like to to know how to pray and to rejoice with us when we finally bring Moses home! There is a much less detailed graphic first and a much more detailed list underneath, depending on how interested you are. ;)
Smith India Adoption Timeline:
02/2017 - First meeting with agency
03/2017 - Applied to agency for India program
03/2017 - Began assembling home study material
07/07/2017 - Home study visits
08/03/2017 - Home study finalized
08/28/2017 - Submitted i800a to USCIS (immigration)
09/25/2017 - Biometrics (fingerprint) appointment USCIS
11/04/2017 - Request for Evidence for i800a from USCIS :(
12/2017 - India adds psychological evaluation to home study requirement :(
12/27/2017 - Psychological evaluation done
01/15/2018 - Home study amendment finalized
01/20/2018 - Request for evidence/HS update sent to USCIS
02/01/2018 - i800a approval
02/15/2018 - Registered with Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) in India
03/03/2018 - CARA approval
03/27/2018 - Prematched with Moses (to ask orphanage for more information)
04/03/2018 - More information on Moses from orphanage
04/25/2018 - Officially matched with Moses
05/02/2018 - Videos of Moses received from orphanage
05/15/2018 - Dossier arrive at orphanage / Originals arrived from orphanage
05/30/2018 - i800 application to USCIS (sent by agency)
06/18/2018 - i800 rejection because agency sent to wrong address :(
06/21/2018 - i800 application to USCIS again (sent by us)
07/05/2018 - i800 approval
07/12/2018 - DS-260 Visa application submitted
07/27/2018 - Article 5 received / applied NOC (supposed to take 10 days...)
11/26/2018 - NOC issued (4 months later) :(
12/10/2018 - Orphanage registers case in district court
01/09/2019 - POA appears at court. Lawyers not there.
01/17/2019 - POA appears at court again. Hearing scheduled.
02/02/2018 - HEARING!
And that's where we are at right now! Our last court date was basically just a redo of our first court date, since the lawyers weren't there, even though all that had to happen was our power of attorney basically signed in. So, now they were able to schedule the hearing. If the judge is there, our power of attorney and advocate will submit all of our dossier documents into evidence and they will be inspected. It also seems like someone from the orphanage (it might even be our power of attorney?) will be "examined". If the judge is satisfied, they will schedule another date, about a week later, for the "order" where the case will pass. If the judge is not there or not satisfied with the paperwork and needs to see updates to anything or any additional documents, they will schedule the next court date as another hearing and we will be told what we need to supply or pray that the judge will be there the next time.
I feel like the biggest prayer request is still that the judge will be there, because if he isn't, we make no headway at all. We could have another date scheduled only to find out that he wants to see more paperwork. And then the next biggest request is that he (or she) would be moved by the Spirit to just pass this case. Our documents are pretty old at this point because of some major unexpected delays. I've calculated it: about 3 additional i800a months, 3.5 additional NOC months, and 1 additional i800 month. That's almost 8 months of unexpected delays. That has made our documents 8 months older than they should have been. So we just need prayer that the judge will be fine with it. There are no regulations about that, only what the judge feels is acceptable.
We know this is in God's hands, because there is literally nothing we can do to make this go better or faster. Thanks for reading this all the way to the end! If you are a waiting India adoptive family, I hope this helps you know you are not alone in your waiting. I'm trusting right along with you that they do come home!
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