The bill

Our agency has finally heard back from their contacts in Uralsk about the parliametary bill. Here's what they know:

"They (the Kazak contacts) talked to the Department of Education in Uralsk. Indeed, there is a bill floating in Astana, but our coordinators feel that once your dossier passes the Ministry of Internal Affairs (which is in the first 30 days after the dossier is in Astana), you should be fine. Of course, nobody can predict for sure whether the bill will become law or not, but as of right now we are recommending gathering the dossiers and submitting them as usual, with the understanding that things may change. In international adoptions, things can change even without any notice. We have heard of many bills in the past that never became law, therefore, panicking over another one will not help anyone."

So all we can do is proceed as planned and pray that our dossier gets past the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Right now, we've got one more week at the Consulate in NY and then 30 days in Astana—which will put us at around the first of December—just days before the bill gets put to a vote. (Talk about getting in under the wire.)