Dear friends and family:
Welcome to Little Kazman. It'll chronicle the days, weeks and months ahead as we embark on our journey halfway around the world to adopt our little boy from Uralsk, Kazakhstan.
Uralsk, Kazakhstan? So, where’s that? If you go to a world map, it's located in the upper northeast corner of that country, bordering on Russia. The Ural River, which runs through Uralsk, acts as the line between Europe and Asia. But more on that later...
So, where are we today in the adoption process? Well, our home study is completed. (Hoorah) We're halfway through the dossier (we've learned how to pronounce "apostille" correctly, after only 62 tries) and our USCIS fingerprinting is scheduled for Aug. 23. Hopefully by early September (fingers crossed), we'll have all 36 documents notarized and apostilled—and ready to be sent to our placement agency in Portland, OR.
From there, it goes to an "accredited" translator who translates everything and fed ex's it to the Kazakhstan Consulate in Washington DC. That takes 30 days. The Consulate verifies all documents as "True Originals" and sends it to Kazakhstan. This takes 68 days (or 7 days if we pay an "expediting" fee). Next they process it and contact our in-country coordinators. The documents are then sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Uralsk by "special" courier. Think "special" courier is code for pigeon carrier? After another 60-80 days, the ministry releases the dossiers—and that's when you get the long awaited invitation letters. (Are you still with us?) Then, according to plan, we receive the Kazak visas. But not until the coordinators receive the necessary approvals from those entities can any travel plans be made. Then it's a mad scramble to pack and get our house in order.
We expect a lot of fits and starts along the way. But it'll be well worth it. To have a little boy to love and see grow up healthy and happy is a blessing beyond measure. And so is your friendship. Please share your thoughts with us; it'll really help us get through this arduous process.
Please check back frequently as we'll have new posts every week. Until then...
Big hugs,
Karen and Bob
5 comments:
James and I are soooooo happy for you guys! Can't wait to follow along here, and share the excitement :)
-Suzanne and James
Karen, (and Bob - we met once!)
It's been AGES!!! I'm so excited for you, and thrilled that you included me in this e-mail! It's fabulous!
Amy
Let's catch up!
651-285-2872
Every word. We'll be hanging onto every word. Unless you start writing in Russian or Kazakh. Then you better include photos.
-John, Michelle, Ethan "Erdos" and Jack
PS Prepare for the midnight howlings of wild dogs and the mornings after of skunky beer and nuclear kabobs—a small price to pay for a son.
I am SO Excited and happy for the both of you! We will keep you in our thoughts and prayers as your journey continues! We will have to set up some playdates! Thank you for sharing your story with us and we can not wait to share the ride!
Molly McCabe-Dorn & Family
Good luck on your journey! I survived the dossier process earlier this year, and hope to travel to Karaganda in the next few months.. My blog is www.niamhordaniel.blogspot.com if you want to check it out.
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