[Mandy4President]

We don't know what to do. We were having issues with our marriage certificate because we were married in the Bahamas and after some AWESOME people gave me some great information on this forum we have been fighting to get someone from our agency to call us back.

Here's the issue. I called our contact from our agency last week Thursday. She didn't know what to do with our certificate, she'd call right back. Never called. I called Friday, she said she hadn't gotton to it yet, she'd call back. Never called. Monday I emailed her the information that those awesome people gave me from the forum and asked her to send me my marriage certificate (it was sent back to them somehow from England)...no response. Called Monday afternoon, secretary said she was busy and would call back. Never called. Tuesday never called. Now we are to Wednesday and I emailed her and said that we would like to get the ball rolling on this and to please email or call me. Neither. I feel like this is ridiculous because we are going to have our dossier totally complete by the end of the month except this, I have given her the information that she needs and SHE WILL NOT CALL ME. I paid them thousands and they have been good up til they hit a bump in the road, I've given them more information than they've given me. We are thinking about switching agencies but truely do not have the money to pay another agency fee. I'm so sad, I'm not sure how to get her to contact me and give me the information that I need. So far they have done nothing for us. Can someone give me some advice? Thanks in advance.

[Mommy2twins]

It's really quite horrible to hear stories like yours. Why some agencies are good up to the point that they get thier money is disturbing to say the least. I didn't see your agencies name listed on the agency feedback list. It would be good to let others know that may be looking at your agency to represent them.

I'm assuming that you do not yet have a referral... which is good news given the state of things. If the situation is just so bad that you are not comfortable moving forward with them I would strongly recommend that you try to get your money returned. If you are already having problems with communication they are very likely to get (or least feel) much worse once a child is involved.

If your agency is a member of JCICS and they simply will not cooperate with you, then you can lodge a complaint with them. As I understand it, JCICS can revoke membership of unscrupulous agencies... you can also file a complaint with the BBB of the state the agency resides in.

Good luck.

[ej-momtobe]

With most agency fees around $4k-$6K it is not an easy thing to change agencies. Most of us feel pain to loose that amount of money. Have you researched your agency? If everyone gives really good reports about the ethics and procedures and communication of your agency, I would probably stay with them and just understand that your communication is not going to be great.(Could your contact be on vaction for Holy Week?) Maybe have a conversation with them about your communication expectations and see if they will agree to returning your calls within 24 hours, or maybe you can see if there is another person that can be your primary contact. Maybe escallate the communication issue to the agency director.


If feedback from others incdicates systematic problems with the agency, and you can afford to switch now may be the time. It wouldn't hurt to try to negotiate a partial refund, but I wouldn't count on it.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Mandy4President]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I finally got someone to call me back yesterday when I told them that we were switching agencies. All of a sudden someone was available to call me back within ten minutes and remarkably they had an answer for me about my marriage certificate. I'm still not happy with them, and I plan on writing to the director. I'd switch if I could, but like another post said, we simply cannot afford it, which makes me really sad. I just pray that things begin to go smoother. Thanks for your posts.

[delaware1]

I hope yoru agency has straightened up, and will start flying right from this point on. Sorry to hear about your aggravation.
-Kathleen

[apetry26]

I'm sorry to hear about your communication problems- That is also my main complaint about my agency...It makes this process much more difficult to deal with when you have to "fight" for any inkling of info...Hope you get some resolve.