so what's the adoption timetable?
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On Facebook, I mentioned that all our adoption paperwork went to TECO a couple days ago. (TECO = Taipei Economic and Cultural Office; you could think of it as the Taiwanese consulate or embassy.)
They should approve the paperwork and send it to Taiwan by the middle of next week.
For those of you who are wondering, paperwork for this adoption included: two copies of our home study in English (both notarized and then authenticated by the Secretary of State), three copies of power of attorney for our adoption coordinators to represent us in court (notarized & authenticated), three copies of our adoption contract (with a certified English translation; then notarized & authenticated), three copies of our adoption agreement (with a certified English translation; notarized & authenticated), one copy of our waiver for the adoption coordinator, and one copy of our photo pages which represent who we are and where we live to the judge in Taiwan.
Then what?
Well, according to the timelines provided by our adoption coordinator:
Based on the actual experiences of several families who have gone through this process in the past year, it is unlikely that we would have to wait until August and more likely to be mid-June. The range in my little sample from paperwork arriving in Taiwan until travel dates to bring their child home was 5 months (the longest by far, and everyone said theirs was an odd case), 3.5 months, 3.5 months, 2.75 months, and 3.5 months. If ours lines up with the shortest in that sample, we will be traveling near the end of May; if it matches with the median value of 3.5 months, then we're looking at mid-June; and if we end up with an odd longer case, it'll be August.
We will have more paperwork to process for Zoe Amanda's visa and citizenship around the time we travel, but now we can focus our efforts on fundraising, preparing for her arrival, and selling our home. Oh, and preparing for a special needs ministry conference I'll be speaking at in April and coordinating volunteers for Joy Prom on April 27.
As I told one friend yesterday, "now that our paperwork is off, our life is semi-calm-ish. With an emphasis on semi- and -ish." :)
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| thanks to Robbin, who is adopting from the same place on a similar timeline, for the picture! |
For those of you who are wondering, paperwork for this adoption included: two copies of our home study in English (both notarized and then authenticated by the Secretary of State), three copies of power of attorney for our adoption coordinators to represent us in court (notarized & authenticated), three copies of our adoption contract (with a certified English translation; then notarized & authenticated), three copies of our adoption agreement (with a certified English translation; notarized & authenticated), one copy of our waiver for the adoption coordinator, and one copy of our photo pages which represent who we are and where we live to the judge in Taiwan.
Then what?
Well, according to the timelines provided by our adoption coordinator:
- 7-10 days for notification of a court date
- 4-6 weeks til court from notification of date
- 4-8 weeks for first court decree
- 10-25 days til final decree
- 7 days for translation of all material and sent to AIT (think of it as the US Embassy-like entity in Taiwan) for review
- ~3 weeks later: travel to Taiwan!
Based on the actual experiences of several families who have gone through this process in the past year, it is unlikely that we would have to wait until August and more likely to be mid-June. The range in my little sample from paperwork arriving in Taiwan until travel dates to bring their child home was 5 months (the longest by far, and everyone said theirs was an odd case), 3.5 months, 3.5 months, 2.75 months, and 3.5 months. If ours lines up with the shortest in that sample, we will be traveling near the end of May; if it matches with the median value of 3.5 months, then we're looking at mid-June; and if we end up with an odd longer case, it'll be August.
We will have more paperwork to process for Zoe Amanda's visa and citizenship around the time we travel, but now we can focus our efforts on fundraising, preparing for her arrival, and selling our home. Oh, and preparing for a special needs ministry conference I'll be speaking at in April and coordinating volunteers for Joy Prom on April 27.
As I told one friend yesterday, "now that our paperwork is off, our life is semi-calm-ish. With an emphasis on semi- and -ish." :)