Because we’re in a holding pattern—we decided as a precautionary step—to mail copies of our dossier to the adoption agency for review. As I wrote in an earlier post, all our documents (except the I-171H) have been apostilled. But you never know, even though it passed the scrunity of the Minnesota Secretary of State, the Consulate of Kazakhstan could throw it out for any number of reasons. For example, our handwriting could be "deemed" too sloppy. The instructions on our dossier clearly spelled it out: “Please be careful to fill out each of the forms legibly in blue ink or using a typewriter. It is preferably to use blue ink for all “True and Accurate Copy” forms. Your dossier documents will be translated into Russian, and it will be much easier to translate the dossier when all of the forms are carefully printed using block letters, or typed. Officials in Kazakhstan are very picky about documents. Messy documents may be considered a sign of disrespect.”
Who knew poor penmanship could get me into so much trouble. (Maybe I should've paid more attention to my third grade teacher.)
Well, our agency contact reviewed everything and determined our dossier was darn near “perfect.” The only thing he suggested was removing the page with the photos of our pets. Apparently, they're not as highly regarded in Kazakhstan as they are here.
So, as to not forget our furry kids, here they are: the gray cat is is our sweetie Jammers and the Australian Shephard is our handsome Cody. Jammers has a brother who goes by the name of Jellie, but he's rather camera shy these days.
4 comments:
I made sure i left off picutues of our dog, Miles too. I had heard that the Kaz judges don't like big dogs-and he is a 90 lb labradoodle.
and my printing is HORRIBLE, but i guess it passed as my agency has had the entire thing translated. Now, when i get my apostilled I-171h tomorrow from the Fed ex man, I will take that over too.
I just read on the yahoo boards that they were trying to pass a bill that 50 is the age limit to adopt in Kaz. My hubby is 51. That freaked me out. So, I guess our dossier better get over there quick before this bill passes.
That is sooo funny, they asked at the social worker interview about our dog. We told them he was really old with arthritis. They asked what we would do if our dog bit Sophia...would we kill him?/!!! Wow, talk about being put on the spot. It is a great idea to have your docs checked first, our agency translated all of our dossier while we were waiting for our 171. Will yours do that? It saved us a few days.
In Kokshetau, the pre-court judge actually loved seeing pics of their cats in one of our travel partners albums!! I guess you just never know, but of course it's better to be safe and leave the pictures of the fur babies at home! Hoping your i-171h comes today!!
Thanks for stopping by our blog! Hope things start moving faster for the I-171h approval! The wait is no fun! We submitted our dossier in Oct. '05 and had it returned in Dec. because they decided to change some laws. :) We re-submitted in Jan. and travelled in September - pretty long for Kaz but hey, it worked out and we have the perfect kids for us.
Anyway, all that to say I feel for you! Hang in there - it will totally be worth it! And it sounds like things are moving well after all the paperwork is in! Best to you as you continue your journey.
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