Pretre's Adoption Blog: Submitted!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Submitted!

I am happy to report that Oleg submitted our dossier today. We received the email ½ hr. ago. Oleg thinks we will have an SDA appointment in December.

We did have a false alarm, though. Oleg sent us an email at 11:13 AM Kiev time to tell us that he was not able to submit our dossier because of a new requirement for the Letter of Obligation. Those of you working on your dossier, or waiting to submit be warned: You should contact your facilitator immediately to find out the new document you need and get it over there.

We do have concerns about a Dec. appointment, though. Around the middle of Dec. through early Jan., the Ukrainian government kind of shuts down for the holiday season. That could cause huge delays if we're in-country when that happens. It wouldn't be so bad before we have possession of the kids. We could just come home and go back in Jan. But what if the kids are ours and the whole country shuts down and we're unable to get the paperwork we need to bring them home? I'm not going to worry about that right now.

UPDATE: I had emailed Oleg right away to ask him if we'll be getting a letter from the SDA to inform us of our appointment or if he'll be telling us when it is. He said it would be him. "Be ready for December."

10 comments:

Kevin and Pam said...: YEA!!!! That is so exciting and very fast. The time flies once you know so start your packing. We may still be there when you come. :); October 23, 2008 at 9:08 AM
Conethia and Jim Bob said...: I am so jealous! We have hit trouble trying to submit our dossier as well. We have been pushed back and are waiting a November 3rd submission. Perhaps your appointment will be in January, after the chaos of the holiday is over. Best of Luck.; October 23, 2008 at 9:32 AM
Debora Hoffmann said...: Woohoo! Congratulations! This is very exciting!; October 23, 2008 at 11:53 AM
ArtworkByRuth said...: Congratulations! Praying we have the same "Birthday" for adoption submission! We don't expect to hear until tommorrow through the many layers of our agency...sigh!; October 23, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Patty said...: Congratulations! Have been following your blog through this summer and we too, submitted today! Our facilitator didn't mention the Ltr of Obligation but did cite changes to the Medical Conclusion and Deed information. Still trying to get clarification though. What is the change to the LOO?

Hope to see you in Kyiv!; October 23, 2008 at 10:39 PM
Alan said...: Patty... Thanks for delurking. It's nice to meet you. Yes let's keep track maybe indeed we can connect over there. Blessings to you!; October 23, 2008 at 11:01 PM
adopting2fromUkraine said...: Congratulations on submission!! I was thinking you were waiting for Monday like others.

We were in Ukraine last December -January. It does depend on your region as to when everything shuts down. We were in the Lugansk region. We had our SDA appointment on Wednesday, Dec. 12. We were in the region on Friday. Everything was still open all the next week, but there was like a 5 or 7 day wait before the judge would issue us a court date and the days were full. From the Friday before Christmas everything was closed until January 6th or 7th. I was expecting the government offices to be closed on the Orthodox Christmas, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Our first court date was January 8th and our second court appearance was January 10. Christmas and New Year are both celebrated on January 1st.

Except for those two weeks around Christmas and New Year, things are pretty much open. If your date is early enough in December, you could easily go to court before Christmas. A family that had their SDA appointment a day before ours had court and was home for Christmas. They were in a different region, though. The region your child/children are in makes a big difference.

One thing that was indispensable for us was bungie cords. We used them for our 'Ukrainian dryer' lol Much better than the Lewis and Clark thin elastic line with suction cups (that don't work)

Best wishes on knowing your date quickly,

June; October 24, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Anonymous said...: Congrats! I've been following your blog and using it to read other blogs too (a family member is considering adoption of 'older' child)- so very happy for you, and thank you (I feel weird saying that to a stranger but it does make a huge difference for these kids and for others considering older child adoption) for adopting older children. What an amazing example you are setting on how to take care of others in this world less fortunate than others. Best best wishes for things going well on the road ahead.; October 24, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Alan said...: June, thanks for the reassurance on Dec. travel. My biggest concern is having completed court but not completing the emigration paperwork before stuff shuts down.

Everyone else, thanks for the kind words... it is appreciated.; October 24, 2008 at 6:01 PM
adopting2fromUkraine said...: PS - Kiev is pretty with snow. You can see that in some scenes in our videos.

The trains still run in the winter Nothing seems to really shut down like it might here in TX where we live should it snow. Also from what I've read and we experienced in being there in March and April, at least there is not as much mud when the ground is hard with snow. Our clothes and shoes got dirtier when there wasn't snow and ice. I can't believe I found some good things to say about traveling in winter;)

June; October 25, 2008 at 10:58 AM