So today marks the 4th, yes the 4TH time we have sent in the same info into stupid Homeland Security/Immigration Services. Mind you, we have not materially changed what we have been submitting, we have to keep sending it in until we get a person with more than one brain cell to realize that we have submitted literally EVERYTHING that we needed to.
The good news is that a woman who had responded back to an e-mail Brandon sent to their customer service told us that it was rejected in error, and that it was overlooked because she was out of town on vacation. This time we at least got a specific named individual to send it to rather than the generic "Special Orphan Officer" that we had been sending it to in the past.
So keep your fingers crossed and pray that they finally figure things out on their end.
On another note, I went to a Ranger game tonight and it made me realize how excited I am to be a Dad. One of the things my father and I shared was a love for the game of baseball. It's such a great game and I can't wait to instill that same love for the game into my child (boy OR girl).
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Your Tax Dollars Hard at Work
So today marks the THIRD time we have mailed in the exact same information to Homeland Security to get the government's paperwork started for our adoption. Between my wife and I, we have 3 college degrees, so it's not like we don't understand basic instructions. We were asked to send in the following:
1) completed I-600A application form (a page and a half long government form with basic info: name, birthdate, marriage date, etc.)
2) copies of birth certificates or passport (we sent both), marriage license, etc.
3) form giving our permission for a background check
4) money order or cashier's check for payment of fees for the application fee and fingerprinting fee (our adoption agency suggested we send in 2 separate payments, one for each fee)
We got it back the first time with a standardized checklist form that appeared to suggest we didn't include the fingerprinting fee, even though nothing was checked stating what we had missed. I guess I made the mistake of clipping them both together, and not separate and the disgruntled federal government employee didn't take note of that.
The second time we got the info back, it had a three page document attached to it. The first page had instructions for mailing for several other forms, but not the I-600A which is what we filled out. The second page was illegible (bad copy), and the third page was the same standardized checklist they had sent before and again, NOTHING WAS CHECKED!
Well during this time, we contacted their customer service 800 number and of course, the person there was less than helpful, and obviously had no clue why they returned it to us. We called again and this time, the women said that we would get something back if it was accepted and to watch my bank account, and if the check cleared, then that was another indication it was accepted. She interrupted me several times and said that I must not be understanding her. Finally, I had to talk loud enough to interrupt her and state that she must not be understanding me. First of all, we had gotten EVERYTHING back TWICE with no reason as to why they didn't accept it. And secondly, since I couldn't make the payment with a personal check, how would I know when the payment cleared even if it HAD been accepted?
So basically, we have now mailed the info back in with an even more descriptive cover letter than the first time around, but this time we mailed it to the Oklahoma City office (because apparently, that's where the Dallas office forwards it anyway). In the meantime, we are out nearly $30 in additional FedEx fees, and have had two weeks of very frustrating delays.
By the way, these are the same folks that handle all immigration paperwork, so if you ever wondered why the US has such a bad immigration problem, we might have uncovered part of the answer. Sad thing is, all the people involved in this process probably feel like they are underpaid for the great service they are providing!
1) completed I-600A application form (a page and a half long government form with basic info: name, birthdate, marriage date, etc.)
2) copies of birth certificates or passport (we sent both), marriage license, etc.
3) form giving our permission for a background check
4) money order or cashier's check for payment of fees for the application fee and fingerprinting fee (our adoption agency suggested we send in 2 separate payments, one for each fee)
We got it back the first time with a standardized checklist form that appeared to suggest we didn't include the fingerprinting fee, even though nothing was checked stating what we had missed. I guess I made the mistake of clipping them both together, and not separate and the disgruntled federal government employee didn't take note of that.
The second time we got the info back, it had a three page document attached to it. The first page had instructions for mailing for several other forms, but not the I-600A which is what we filled out. The second page was illegible (bad copy), and the third page was the same standardized checklist they had sent before and again, NOTHING WAS CHECKED!
Well during this time, we contacted their customer service 800 number and of course, the person there was less than helpful, and obviously had no clue why they returned it to us. We called again and this time, the women said that we would get something back if it was accepted and to watch my bank account, and if the check cleared, then that was another indication it was accepted. She interrupted me several times and said that I must not be understanding her. Finally, I had to talk loud enough to interrupt her and state that she must not be understanding me. First of all, we had gotten EVERYTHING back TWICE with no reason as to why they didn't accept it. And secondly, since I couldn't make the payment with a personal check, how would I know when the payment cleared even if it HAD been accepted?
So basically, we have now mailed the info back in with an even more descriptive cover letter than the first time around, but this time we mailed it to the Oklahoma City office (because apparently, that's where the Dallas office forwards it anyway). In the meantime, we are out nearly $30 in additional FedEx fees, and have had two weeks of very frustrating delays.
By the way, these are the same folks that handle all immigration paperwork, so if you ever wondered why the US has such a bad immigration problem, we might have uncovered part of the answer. Sad thing is, all the people involved in this process probably feel like they are underpaid for the great service they are providing!
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