[louisianalady]

Has anyone dealt with this issue?

We originally said our preference was to adopt a male child under 18 months. So, our home study says this. We ended up with a referral of a girl. Just got a court date and we leave to return to Russia in a few days. I was pulling together all my documents, and when I looked at the I-171H approval again, I realized that it says we're approved for the adoption of a MALE child under 18 months. It just copied the language from the home study. AHHHHHHHHH! Is this going to be a problem?

I have a panicky call into my agency, but I hoped someone here might know in the meantime.

[LouLouBelle]

We had to increase our age requirement for our I-171H from 18 to 24 months. We had to submit a homestudy addendum (and another fee). Since there was no number for us to contact at USCIS...or difficult to do, we had our homestudy SW call and push this through for us. We had more time than you (three weeks I think). We were told that it would be done by the time we were in Moscow, but never could get confirmation before we left that it had been done. It wasn't until we were at the window in the US Embassy and received our daughter's visa that I breathed a sigh of relief.

So, I recommend getting help from your SW or agency. They will likely have contacts or more pull getting this updated than trying to navigate an automated phone system. I hope this all works out quickly for you!

[Pinkie]

I have no clue but good luck . What did your agency say?

[votemom]

i thot it only specified number of orphans you are approved to adopt...?

[Jim_in_PA]

Strange...our I797C just says two children between the ages of...

No gender listed.

[Provost21]

We had this too- but ours said female and we got a boy but our agency just said they'd take care of it and they got me a new copy of the 171 form (It took them 1 day!). No additional fees or anything, it was easy for us. Hopefully yours goes that smoothly! Keep us posted...

[cathvash]

Wow! If it's any consolation, something like this ALWAYS happens at the last minute!

You are going to Vlad, correct? It is unlikely the 10 days will be waived there (which is normally a bad thing), but this will buy you/your agency more time to get the correction since you only need the form prior to exiting the country. However, if you are using a courier option, I don't know what the ramifications would be...

If you have not yet done this, call your agency right away! They have probably seen this before (at least once) and will know what to do. My guess is you'll have to submit an addendum with a fee. Perhaps there is a way to arrange an expedited turnaround , and that it is sent directly to your agency. Once they have it, they can get it over to Moscow very quickly.

It will work out...It's just one more of those last minute details you don't want or need to deal with!

Good luck, and let us know how your trip goes!!

[crispex]

HEY CONGRATS Lousianalady! (I must have missed your "I'm travelling" post). I don't have any advice for you, but to let you know that your 10 days will NOT be waived unless the child has medical issues that need serious attention (which she doesn't if I recall properly).

This will give you the additional time that may be necessary.

FYI, the courrier total costs equalled about $1300 ($1000 airplane fare, plus $300 in fees) because there was nobody to split the costs with.

Good luck, I hope everything gets fixed. And bring that Nahodka baby home safely!

[louisianalady]

Thanks everyone! I'm breathing a bit easier these days, as we got the problem solved in the nick of time. I got an addendum to the home study from my social worker and fired off a frantic email to USCIS using their new email system. Shockingly, someone reading apparently took pity on me and they called within an hour of my email! I drove the addendum in to USCIS on Wednesday (just before they closed for the holidays) and they issued me a new I-171H immediately. I was so shocked. Everything seems to be falling into place now . . . we leave in 2 days!

[LouLouBelle]

Glad it all worked out. Have a wonderful trip!

[crispex]

YEAH!!!

These things seem to just work out for some reason. I am really glad this is no exception!

Enjoy your trip, take lots of photos and videos!


Oh, in case nobody tells you, you have to get the obligatory photo of you and your husband next to the statue inside the courthouse in Vladivostok. It is a tradition.

[Annabell]

Hoo-wee! Was on pins and needles for you!

We had a similar INS issue (DH "borrowed" a phone number off an INS desk when the woman was out of the room and called the number after we'd spent almost 2 weeks trying to get things going, me travelling to downtown Atlanta daily, at all hours, only to be told by the (huge and hostile) guard at the door: "We're closed!" DH finally sneaked in past the guard and got in to see a human. Turns out, the number was for the head of the INS's secretary in Washington, who asked, "Which Senator's office are you calling from?" BUSTED! We got our paperwork.

AND the travel agency had me and DH travelling on one day and DD (then 2) travelling the next day! TG I poured over the tickets.... But thanks to all this, our final days before travel had us both like hamsters on one of those little circle things!

Congrats! Let us know how it goes!