Hanson Family: Can't catch a break

Friday, December 19, 2008

Can't catch a break

I called Guatemala again today - the office where birth certificates are provided. I've talked to this woman there twice every week since our file was submitted. Today she gave me the sad news that there was an error in our file - LONG boring explanation omitted here - and it will have to be fixed and resubmitted before receiving the birth certificate. I have NO idea how much time this could cost. Who knows when the attorney will pick up the file or how complicated it could be to fix the error and then we wait the 15 days AGAIN after I'm resubmitted.

My timeline

3/13/09: HOME
3/11/09 7:15am Embassy
2/26/09: 2nd DNA
2/5/09: Birth Certificate Complete
11/13/08: OUT of PGN
May 26, 2008: Resubmitted to PGN
April 18, 2008: Letter state sealed, apolstiled, and couriered to Guatemala City!
April 9, 22008: Kicked out
March 7, 2008: Enter PGN
March 5, 2008: Exit family court!! Major delay (of several months compared to other cases) was due to the social worker's broken computer.
February 29, 2008: First email from Sandra. Best part of the process since Willow's referral to me!
January 19, 2008: Pre-Approval Granted (day 47).
December 4, 2007: 99.9999% results received at the U.S. Embassy. My wait begins for Pre-Approval for Willow's Visa from the U.S. They allowed themselves up to 60 days to grant this Pre-Approval. My case can't move forward 'til I get it.
November 30, 2007: DNA sample collected from both Willow and her birth mother and interview completed with the birth mother. Again, this took much longer than it should have, due in part to the birth mother missing at least one appointment.
October 8, 2007: DNA authorization (permission to complete the DNA test). The sample is collected in Guatemala, and sent to an approved lab in the U.S. It is done to prevent corruption. Most families get this approval at the very beginning of the process. We'll never know why mine took so very long.
June 19th, 2007: Willow referred to me (I got her pics and medical information).
June 4th, 2007: Willow born as Amanda del Pilar Zabala.
March, 2007: Vietnam closed with that agency. Happily switched to Bethany in pursuit of a baby from Guatemala. Began the paperwork saga.
February, 2007: Began pursuit of baby from Vietnam with Children's and Family Serivces