[praisehim]

Heads up out there. Here is the latest from our facilitator on changes at NAC. We were informed today that the director who looks at the dossier for approval 2 - 3 hrs on her work days, then passes it to the physchologist to review and register it, is still employed, and moving at what ever pace she pleases!
To take effect soon NAC will only allow a proxy to bring in one dossier a month!! You heard that right. To get around this you will mail your translated dossier directly to NAC. Many of you may have been doing this already, but a few of you like us have our facilitator walk the dossier in. Not sure when they will implement
this but check with facilitator before sending dossier!

That's all for now. Thank you God that you are bigger than NAC!!

[v_kats]

Dear praisehim,

may I ask you who is your facilitator (you can PM or e-mail me). Some of the information I receive from the facilitators I work with, matches -- about dossiers being reviewed by the director - and some doesn't -- about only one dossier per month rule.

Thanks in advance,
Victoria

[drjeanne]

Victoria,
Thank you! Without you, I'd always be scared half to death in this forum! I appreciate all your help and information and I always look forward to reading your posts and replies!

Thank you so much!
J

[praisehim]

Victory

You may want to check with your facilitator on these new rules that are being implemented at the NAC concerning the number of dossier's that can be delivered to the NAC by one proxy...
your facilitator should be keeping you abreast of changes.

As always just trying to help those adoptive parents that are going through the process. But the best help anyone can give is to check with who-ever is doing you adoption! And prayer!

[hjdeth]

Like Victoria, the facilitators I work with know that the current director is likely to remain the current director for a while yet and that she is directly contributing to the slowdown of adoptions, whether intentionally, through super diligence, or simply due to workload.

However, the "one dossier per month" information is not something that has been released to any of the facilitators I work with. The language is not even correct since the person who turns in the dossier (and subsequently checks the status) is not called a proxy, but a POA.

I would suspect that possibly your facilitator is using this "new information" as a possible excuse for a slowdown in your adoption process since he seems to be the only facilitator to have this new information and that just doesn't fly.

Despite best intentions, rumors are often started on this and other boards that alarm and concern PAPs unnecessarily and add to the stress of adoptions.

My best advice to other PAPs is to NEVER take anything you learn on an internet board as gospel, always check with your facilitator or agency for first-hand information before getting worked up about things.

[drjeanne]

Thanks Hannah! I, too, believe there are always all sorts of untruths being passed on this forum. It scares and bewilders those of us who haven't even completed our homestudies yet! We don't want to be waiting for a child this time next year! I'm NOT SAYING I think this thread is not true....I'm sure praisehim is just passing along what he's heard.

I'd like to ask a question.....I figure Hannah or Victoria will know the answer! If the workload is so great and the lady at NAC only works 2-3 hours at her own pace per day, WHY on earth don't they get someone else to help? I mean really......someone's making money on these adoptions and I'd think they surely wouldn't want to discourage us by slowing it down too much! Any thoughts?

Thanks

[v_kats]

Dear drjeanne,

unfortunately, your logic is somewhat flaky here. NAC director is not making money from adoptions -- she is on a salary. But she carries all the responsibility if something goes wrong. We don't know what caused all the new changes, it definitely doesn't make it any easier to adopt from Ukraine. But the kids make it all worth it, right?

At the moment, director is in the hospital wth what reported as a heart attack, so while appointments and referrals still go on, dossier submission, registration, and appointment scheduling are all stalled

Sorry for the unpleasant news,
Victoria

[oldbear]

v-kats

What is the source of your statement about the director being in hospital? Without this your comments are just worthless hearsay which is what a lot of posts on the forums are.

There are way too many people that think they help by passing on someone else's opinions which causes unnecessary panic. Understandably people want to help but one swallow doesn't a summer make.

Besides which there are so many "backhanders" given to people everyone has a different experience anyway..... viz the reason why "expediting" fees exist....

[drjeanne]

It's so hard to get your point across to someone on the internet who can't see your face or hear your voice! I didn't MEAN to imply I thought the lady at the NAC was making money off the adoptions at all! (and I certainly didn't think I was being flaky in my logic....logically, if one woman only works 2-3 hours a day which is what has been said over and over on this very forum, then you either have her work more hours or you hire someone else to help...that's not flaky!) I'm sure if we could make a list of ALL the folks who have their bread buttered by adoption from the Ukraine, that lady would be last on the list! All I meant was...adoption from the Ukraine lines the pockets of several people, which is fine. The Ukraine doesn't want to see the adoption process stop because #1 they care about their children and want to see them in good homes and #2 people in the Ukraine benefit from us coming over there to adopt....everyone from the taxi driver who takes you to and fro to the internet cafe' owner who charges you to email your family while you're there to the guy who owns the pharmacy where you buy Pampers for the children! So, that being said, my entire point was why you thought they wouldn't WANT to get someone in to help the lady at the NAC and add MORE working hours to the situation so that it wouldn't be so backed up!

[v_kats]

Dear drjeane,

I apologize that my comments have offended you. Although you are right, economy in general benefits from foreign adoptions, it's questionable how much vested interest NAC director personally has in it.

Remember, NAC is a government organization, and as such it has few "hard" deadlines or little incentive to meet those deadlines. Think of the local USCIS offices -- some are backlogged by several months and some people are waiting for their I-171H forever because there is only one person who comes once a week to process I-600As. Why wouldn't they hire more people or pay that person for more hours? Probably the budget issue, but I doubt the only person working stays late to process more dossiers. And I wouldn't be surprised if the management of the INS office that processed terrorists' student visas from now on reviewes student applications personally 1-2 hours a week just to be safe.

Sorry again,
Victoria

[v_kats]

Dear oldbear,

I get all the information from two facilitators I work with, Oleg and Alex Z. from Ukrainian Stork. They or someone from their team visits the NAC daily, and I speak/e-mail with them daily as well. I tend not to post anything until I get confirmation from other sources as well, typically a couple of days later after I receive the news.

I do not want to comment on the "backhanding" here as it is a public forum and as such information may be read, misinterpreted, and delivered to the NAC with mixed intentions.

However, I grew up in Kiev; though I didn't live there for a while, I don't think societal relationships changed that much. Having the right connections does not necessarily mean hand-greasing. People in Ukraine tend to trust "their own" and do small and large favors for "their own" without money ever being involved.

But then again, this is only my opinion, and I am slightly hesitant to discuss coruption on an open forum.

Sincerely,
Victoria

[oldbear]

Victoria

Thank you for your reply. The only reason I questioned your sources is that there are so many conflicting statements at times which makes it hard to work out who is presenting the most accurate picture. So when someone like yourself quotes sources that appear reliable at least it keeps us from wondering what is actually going on.

I realise that it is not always, "money talks" as personality, likeability, connections etc etc come into play but it just seems to me that some people in America have little exposure to how business is done in other parts of the world. Even in my rural corner of the USA though it is possible to get driving violations - speeding for example - "taken care of" if you know the right people and no money changes hands!

But anyway thanks again for your remarks. We have to deal not only with the NAC but also our facilitators and in the case of the latter it is hard to know whether they're telling outright lies to get more "expediting" fees or are telling the truth. I think the wide variation in peoples' experiences is what makes it so hard for us. Thankfully there are good facilitators out there!

Mishka

[v_kats]

Dear Mishka,

do you by chance have a Russian/Eastern European heritage?

I wish there was a way in California to clean up the DMV record the expedited way other than traffic school- jk

I wasn't aware there are facilitators who ask for expedition fees before the family ever arrives to Ukraine -- the ones I read about (and not the ones I work with) asked for it once it got to court/passport office, etc. Interesting... oh, well.

Take care,
Victoria

[oldbear]

Victoria

I guess I should have expected you to spot the link between my name and username. Yes I have a foreign background but not the language sadly. Parents wanted assimilation too much! Pet name came from parents thinking bear's were cute. Russian too maybe. I wish I could remember the Russian/Georgian lullabies though!

I probably did not explain the facilitator's expediting fees too clearly. In fact, I did mean at the court/passport office etc stage not prior to travel.

I've lurked here for a while and your insights are always much appreciated.

ðÏËÁ
Mishka

[adoptionway]

Thank for info!