Today we visited the Omaha office for the Department of Homeland Security (which houses the USCIS). This was in order to sort out our I-600A "issues". Rather than whining about how stupid the whole process is... and the USCIS... which I totally could right now, I'm going to list out things that we've learned in the last few days. I am doing this to try to help out anyone who is thinking about international adoption or is in the middle of it right now.
1. Filing your I-600A is one of the first things you should do. The procedure is a long one, therefore, it's a good idea to start it right away so that you can work on other documents during this long, drawn out process.
2. You don't need to have your homestudy completed to turn in your I-600A. You can turn in the homestudy report later.
3. It's always best to hand deliver the I-600A to your appropriate office.
4. You must make a appointment on-line to turn in your I-600A. The USCIS no longer accepts walk-ins. This was done in response to the hours of waiting that people used to have to endure. You can make an appointment at: www.infopass.uscis.gov In their defense, it's a pretty slick website. (Blogger's NOTE: It stinks that I drove 30 minutes each way to find this out)
5. They will take your application during this first appointment, but they will NOT do your fingerprints. (Yes, that's right... more fingerprints) After about 1 month, they will send you a letter stating your appointed time to get your fingerprints taken AT THEIR LOCATION. After about another month of who-knows-what you should then receive your approval. This approval arrives in the mailbox on a form known as the I-71H.
6. The fee for submitting a I-600A needs to be a certified check. Personal checks are not allowed. (Another mistake I've made)
6. There are some debates as to whether you need to submit two (2) I-600A's if your adopting 2 unrelated children. What I can tell you is that we are prepared to submit 2... but we'll probablly screw something up. Stay tuned to how this shakes out.
4 comments:
Why are there so many typos? For some reason when I type on this site the touch must be SLOW and very hard on the keyboard. It is irritating, but I catch many of the errors. Not all, as I type and read too fast. Just now, writing this note, I have had to correct at least a dozen errors. Maybe it's my keyboard. Sorry! But I will keep writing :-)
I'm just giving you a bad time. Love you. Keep the comments coming. It's fun for me to read.
We only turned in one I-600A to adopt up to three children. From my understanding, you only need one I-600A for children if they are siblings. If your referrals turn out to be non-siblings, I think you pay the extra cash when you are finalizing your adoption at the embassy in Moscow. Rest assured, they figure this out and make you pay the money.
Indeed, Tricia.
They told me exactly as you thought. Pay for 1 now. Pay for the other 1 later.
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