The Light at the End of the Tunnel

As of this morning, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The tunnel of the adoption process, that is…not the adoption journey itself of course, that will only begin when Rose comes to live with us. Then the job of waiting turns to parenting which is much much harder, make no mistake.

Since we came home from Haiti everyone has been asking how soon till Rose joins our family. Because there are a whole bunch of steps in the “legalization and courts” process, steps I really couldn’t identify clearly and understand, I didn’t have a good answer. We were told maybe four months by our lawyer and creche director (creche = orphanage) but our agency coordinator said that was unrealistic and to expect longer.

This morning I got an email that we are through all those “courts” steps and on our way to the MOI, the Ministry of the Interior in Haiti! That means that our adoption decree has been issued and legalized and now Rose has our last name and is legally part of our family!

You might think that means we can go get her now…ooooh good heavens, no. The MOI can take anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months to review the file and give permission for immigration to print her a passport. We hope and expect 3 weeks. Then it takes 1-4 weeks to actually print the passport. Friends received their’s recently in just a week, so we hope for that. At that point, everything is done on the Haitian side of the process.

Then things flip back to the US government side of things to grant her permission to enter the US. The Department of Homeland Security has to do an investigation into the adoption to make sure it is ethical and there is no child-trafficking involved before they will grant Rose a visa. This is a super important part of the process, which we have actually already begun. But they can’t start reviewing the file in earnest until they get her passport and the full dossier. This last part can take anywhere from 3 weeks to months. Sometimes USCIS decides to request a DNA test to prove a family member who dropped her at the orphanage is really a family member. That adds considerable time. Sometimes they request extra official documents from judges who signed off on the file. We believe everything is in order so I’m not expecting any of that, but it certainly can happen.

After the US grants approval for a visa, they give a visa appointment and Rose has to actually go to that. Then it is printed and we can go get her and bring her home!!

So the quickest timeline I could see would be 8-10 weeks. I’m not really expecting that though, 12 to 14 weeks is more likely. But oh my gosh, we are talking about weeks now. I’m thinking about June-ish.

Suddenly I’m freaking out a little. There’s still so much to do to get ready for this little princess to join our family. I wanna learn more Creole!! She talks a lot, in babyish Creole, and the few phrases I was able to pick up in Haiti were so helpful. She responds so well when I speak to her in her language! I know she will switch to English soon after she’s home, all toddlers do, but I understand the importance of connecting with her quickly on her level.

Y’all, she is a joy. Her smile lights up the room. Her chatter is adorable. She’s a cuddle bug, loves nothing more than being held in my lap. She sleeps hard and eats a ton. I gotta learn to cook Haitian rice and beans!

So today I’m praising Jesus for the incredible, amazing, perfect timing of this roller coaster journey he has brought us through. I know He goes before us, every step of the way.

Author: Sarah

Mom of three. Triathlete. View all posts by Sarah