COURT
The first families started to appear in court on May 31 and others continue to have dates during June. Again these are roll over families from 2012 Exit Permits but still it's progress and movement in the right direction. Following court appearance there is still a 14 wait period and some final US Embassy stuff on the child's Visa. So families are thinking approx 4 week trip or 2 short trips. From what i've heard, court has been about 10 minutes per family and questions being asked vary by judge and by family. Here are a few samplings...
> Why have you chosen to adopt from Korea?
> Do you know anyone who has adopted from Korea?
> Have you met your child?
> After meeting him what is your experience and do you still want to proceed with the adoption?
> How long have you been waiting?
> What do your children think about having a sibling of another race?
> What do you do for a living?
> Will you be sure he becomes a US citizen?
Seems we'll have to brush up on our home study a bit so we're sure to answer similarly to anything that's contained in there for consistency sake. Instead of "Well um Korea and its quota system and um the new special law on adoption with the new family court and well the new judges such as yourself have slowed things down to a screeching halt for the last 7-8 months. Yeah that's why I've been waiting so long." Seriously do they really want to know the answer to this question because we're all just going to politely answer and be on our way. But such as it is, very nice to see they have an interest in our families and want to learn about where these children are being paced.
BATCH 1
May also brought about the first submission of Exit Permits for the 2013 quota. Now we're talking!!!!! Instead of a full batch of families being handed into the Ministry all at once it seems smaller bunches are being prepared and packets being submitted each week. (Still waiting to hear of submissions for this week...hoping maybe tomorrow). Those in this first batch being submitted over the last few weeks cover mid Dec 2011- Mar 3, 2012 families. Of this, Lifelink has had 2 of their 4 families submitted so far.
BATCH 2
There is still a handful of families yet to be submitted from batch 1, but just today we heard word from another family with a different US agency that she is being prepared as part of a batch 2...that is great news to hear!!! What?!? They're already thinking about the next batch of dates to cover?? I figured they'd wait until all batch 1 was complete take a break and then start up again as the next round of court dates were being set. So super excited to hear they are going to keep things rolling. Though we have no official word when a batch 2 would start to be submitted or what date range it will cover, I'm really hoping it will run March-May so we'll be part of it : ). Only time and continued patience will tell.
So when it is our turn this is what the process will look like:
Birth Mother contacted for confirmation of relinquishment (or may decide to parent) > Exit Permit and court packets prepared > Exit Permit submission to Ministry > Exit Permit approved > Paper work submitted to family court > Judge reviews paperwork and sets a court date > Travel to Korea and meet Benjamin a few days before court > Appear in court > 14 day wait period for court decision/approval to be finalized > Benjamin's Visa physical and interview > Visa given > Travel home
Well...a little movement is still progress and better than no movement at all (ask anyone who has been constipated for a week!:)
ReplyDeletePun intended South Korea