USCIS Woes

Things are not going well on the I-600 front. I contacted my Senator Durbin's office today and they had me fax a letter requesting help. Here's what the letter said:

I am currently in the process of adopting a child from Haiti. Our son has his passport and is ready to come home, but I have been experiencing issues with getting the I-600 approval needed so that he can get a visa. I am hoping that perhaps Senator Durbin’s office can speak to USCIS in Chicago on my behalf so that the I-600 approval can be expedited.

I applied for the I-600 on May 1st, 2007. At that time, I asked to be included in the AOF (adjudicate orphan first) program. In July, I received a letter stating that my son, Louines, had his I-600 approval. However, I noticed that the visa classification was incorrect (IR-4 rather than IR-3). When I emailed USCIS to inquire about this, I was told that Louines had received his I-600 approval in error and that it would be revoked. I was told that, since I had opted into the AOF program, I could not get my I-600 approval until the Chicago office received form I-604 from Haiti.

Meanwhile, I spoke with someone at the USCIS office in Haiti who informed me that I should not have participated in the AOF program because my son already had an adoption decree. I immediately called the Chicago office and asked them if I could opt out of the AOF program and asked what documentation I would need to submit in order to get my I-600 approval from the Chicago office. The officer informed me that I would need to submit a copy of my son’s adoption decree and a letter asking to opt out of the AOF program.

On Sept. 6th, I faxed these documents to the Chicago office. The fax was apparently not received and I faxed them again on Sept 13th. An officer emailed me and informed me that I also needed to submit Louines’ IBESR authorization of adoption in order to get I-600 approval. This document had never been mentioned to me in past conversations and I did not have a copy. Because I had opted out of the AOF program, I now needed this document in order to get approval.

I was not able to get a copy of the document until my son’s passport was printed and the file was returned to my orphanage. As you can imagine, I was now incredibly anxious to submit the document to USCIS and receive the I-600 approval. I emailed and called the USCIS office several times both before and after submitting the document in order to find out if anything further was necessary in order to receive my son’s approval. I never received a reply.

Today, I received word from the consulate in Haiti (via my son’s orphanage) that my son’s birth parent interview cannot be scheduled until the I-600 approval is received. I called the USCIS office once again and this time was able to speak to the officer. She was very confused about the state of my file. First she said that it had been approved in July. When I explained that the approval had been revoked, she then said that they were waiting for the orphan investigation results to come back from Haiti. I reminded her that I had opted out of the AOF program and told her that the consulate’s office had informed us that they would not begin the orphan investigation until we received the I-600 approval. She then said that she needed a letter from the consulate saying that she could give the I-600 approval without the orphan investigation. She indicated that she had requested this letter, but I honestly don’t believe that this could be true, since, at the start of my call, she seemed to think that I had already received approval. Overall, she just seemed confused about what needed to be done. I asked if there was someone at the consulate that I could call to make sure that this letter gets sent. She said that she would call me back with a name. That was this morning. I, unfortunately do not have much confidence that this matter will be settled anytime soon.

I am sorry for this long explanation, but I wanted you to understand what has happened so far - what I have already done to try to rectify the situation myself. I am hoping that someone in the Senator’s office can help me with this matter. I am hoping that the I-600 approval and the scheduling of the birth parent interview can be expedited so that we can get our son home. Noah (as we will name Louines) has been in hearts since we first visited him in October 2005 and has legally (in Haiti) been our son since February 2007 – I’m sure you can understand that we are heart-sick with waiting and just want him home soon.

Thank you so much for your help!
Nicole Hewitt

Documentation

Okay, so I got the document that I needed for my I-600 approval from COTP today. I sent it to our translator and she was able to turn it right around and get it back to me tonight - thank you, Deb Blaz! Tomorrow, I will fax the document to USCIS in Chicago and hopefully they will get working on my I-600 approval!

I'm a bit frustrated because USCIS hasn't returned my recent emails or phone calls. I've been trying to get verification from them that this document is the ONLY thing that is still needed for my approval. The last time I spoke to someone there, she made it sound like I would just need the adoption decree and then I could be approved. I submitted that and thought I was all set. So I was very surprised (and upset) to hear later that they needed the IBESR approval as well. Needless to say, I don't want any surprises this time.

That's about all the update I can give right now. We still have the birth parent interview and the medical exam and then the visa appointment to go. But, we're moving forward and that's what counts.

As far as the birth parent interview goes, Robin told me today that for some reason it's being done a little differently and will be done at the consulate. They're not sure why USCIS requested it this way, but please pray that this is a positive thing and not negative. I should be hearing soon when the appointment is scheduled.

It's real - He's coming home!!!!

Noah has a passport!

Wow! We're getting closer!! I just got a call from Robin saying that Daryl at COTP has Noah's passport. I'm still waiting to hear for sure that they have a copy of the document that I need for USCIS, but it's looking good. Hopefully I can get that faxed to them in the next day or two and we can keep moving along!

Please be praying that these final details move along smoothly. There's a lot that has to happen still, not the least of which is getting Noah's I-600 approval. Please pray that that happens quickly because I'm not sure that anything else can happen until we get that approval.

I'm just so happy to report that things are moving!! We may have our boy home for Christmas yet!!