Traveling update (Long)

We received information today from our agency regarding the new rules for traveling. If our court date does not come before the second week of May we will have to travel twice. Matt and I understand that there is nothing we can do about this new rule so we are just going to roll with the punches and do whatever we have to do to bring our little ones home. The money is the only thing that we are worried about and we are only a little worried about that because we know that we can do it. We have faith in each other that we can get through this as painlessly as possible because we are a team and we will do whatever it takes to bring the rest of our team home. On the brighter side we would be able to see our "chipmunk" and "bumble bee" sooner than we were expecting to. Plus we would get to do a lot more touristy things while in country than we would if we only traveled once. The reason being is that our first trip the children will not be legally ours so we will not be able to check them out of the orphanage so we will only visit with them when there schedule allows it. So that means while we are not visiting our children we can shop, go to the museums, etc. The second trip we will get custody of them and that is also a shorter trip from what I have heard. Only one of us has to go on the second trip, and if Matt is on a good job we will probably be looking for someone to go with me to pick up the kiddos so that he can stay here and make that much needed money. So who wants to go to Ethiopia with me to pick up our babies? Just leave a note in the comments and I will be drawing the lucky person's name later. LOL.

We will be taking donations for our garage sale also so if you have anything you would like to donate to us please either call me at 217-714-7932 or email me at jennifer_barbee@yahoo.com and we will come and pick the stuff up.

Thanks for all the prayers they are much appreciated!!


The following is the email from our agency:

Dear Families,

The conference of attorneys ended today and Abebe called Radu to inform him of the decisions and changes to the Ethiopia Program. Here are the findings.

Beginning the second week of May (the exact date is yet to be determined) families WILL BE required to travel to Ethiopia for the court date. The families (both parents, one parent, or an escort) will also have to travel back for the visa appointment. These two dates will be about 7-8 weeks apart.

In an effort to ensure that the court process will only require one appearance, it was decided that if MOWA does not have the required letter (often the reason for court dates to be rescheduled) , the proceedings will still occur, a determination will be made (regardless of the lack of letter), and MOWA will send the letter post-completion to the courts. The justices have said they will NOT be postponing court dates for this at all!

Additionally, it will be possible in some situations (Radu expects to have more details about this situations in the weeks to come.) for only one parent to travel for the court appearance if they have a notarized power-of-attorney from the absent parent. This does NOT affect the possibility of using an escort for the Embassy appointment. (But, at least one parent WILL have to be present for the court date.)

Finally, it was decided that the orphanages will have to obtain and produce a birth certificate for every child prior to the court appearance. In the past, sometimes attorneys had it and sometimes they didn’t (in the case of abandonment, for instance.) This birth certificate will state that this child “exists,” include basic data, and will be accompanied with a picture. (There is no expected additional wait time associated with this change.) Then, upon a successful court date, a second birth certificate will be issued by the Minister of Justice and will have the child’s family name. (The last name of the adoptive parents.)
Currently, there are two types of Visas issued by the US Embassy in Ethiopia for adopted children.
IR-3: Which generally means that the child is adopted abroad.
IR-4: The child is brought back to the US for adoption here.
With an IR-3, the adoption is processed in the country of the orphan. IR-3s Visa recipients are automatically considered citizens as they "immigrate" to the US (meaning when they cross to the US for the first time as part of a new family). This recognition only applies to the US federal government and does not carry over into state recognition (though, many states recognize the adoption based on the Visa type). To qualify for an IR-3 visa, BOTH parents (if married) or sole adopting parent MUST visit the child PRIOR to the Court.

This will mean that you might no longer need to “re-adopt” the child/children in the United States as they will have come home on an IR3 Visa. (However, each state has its own regulations, so check with your state immigration office.)

These changes, at the root, are to ensure authenticity of the status of “orphan” for these children. Yes, this may make it more complicated for some. Yes, there are some aspects of this change that may be questionable. But, at the end of the day, this will provide more assurance for the government of Ethiopia, for the citizens of Ethiopia, for adoptive parents, and for the adopted children that the adoption is ethical.