Where we are in the process

I just realized that I have not really done what I had intended to do with this blog and give you an idea of where we are at in the process and how much further we need to go.

So as of 6:53 PM, July 21, our dossier, as far as I know is in the hands of B. I am hoping that maybe he has sent it on for final translation, but seeing as B and D are top notch communicators, I cannot seem to get an answer as to whether or not it is at the translators yet or not. So I will go with the worst case scenario and say it is still in B's hands.

After it is translated it will be sent to either the Kaz Embassy in DC or the Kaz Consulate in NYC - again because of communication skills I have been unable to successfully get an answer as to where my dossier will go. This process, assuming things go smoothly, should take 4 - 6 weeks.

Once it clears the embassy it is sent to Kazakhstan where must first clear the Ministry of Foreign affairs (MOF) then clear the Ministry of Education (MOE). Once it clears this process (approx 6 - 8 weeks) a letter of invitation is sent to us - our "Golden Ticket"

Once we receive the LOI - it takes about 2 weeks to get things in line to travel to meet our son.

Now this timeline assumes no bumps in the road! Yeah, like that is going to happen for us! At this point I am just hoping we can have our son home by Christmas.

On the up side though, we found out today we may qualify for a grant. The agency sent us the paperwork today so we are going to fill it out and send it back. That would make the financial piece of this process a bit easier for us to handle. I am crossing my finger and toes that this will work for us!
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Update: I was just told our dossier is ready to be sent to the embassy but they need the balance of our dossier fee (we had paid a reduced fee when we were going with Russia because of the child's age, so now we have to pay the rest).