October referrals, when?
Last month I figured this based on the past six months. This month I’m going to use the last 12 months because that way we can include more holiday months into the math.
The average number of days between referrals in the last 12 months is 30 days. The least is 23 and the most is 38.
Referrals started arriving last month on September 25th. That means they could begin arriving this month between October 18th and November 2nd with the most likely day being October 25th. I do not believe we will see referrals the week of the 18th. My best guess is that we see them somewhere between October 25th and 31st.
And yes, I’m leaning towards the end of the spectrum because of the holiday.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:20 am
Wow – you read my mind – I was just coming to post a question when the next referrals are expected to come :)
Thanks!!!!
misformom lid 8/19/05 – next??
October 10th, 2006 at 10:37 am
please please please, rumors about any cut off please !
a stressed belgian chocolate
LID 8/23
October 10th, 2006 at 10:42 am
lol obviously we have a great interest in this…
I’ve been leaning towards thinking the referrals might arrive about the 25th/26th…not sure if the holiday makes toooooo much of a difference.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:48 am
RQ- Hopefully your feeling a little better today. Your last blog about some possible October’s in Dec. has definately made me feel a little better! Thanks for the sunshine this morning!
October 10th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Any word on TA??
LID 7/26/05
October 10th, 2006 at 11:45 am
Gosh, I’m starting to get TOOOO excited!!! I used to think that our referral was SOOOOOOOOOOOO far off in the future that it pretty much didn’t seem real. Now I’m seeing some light at the end of the tunnel!! This is a FUN ride!!
His,
Mrs. U
LID 9-12-05
http://www.makingahouseahome.blogspot.com
October 10th, 2006 at 11:49 am
Just wondering, if it only takes a few days for matching then the referrals are sent, why would the holiday the first week in Oct. affect when referrals come out? I wouldn’t think it should change anything.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:58 am
Because the actual matching is a very small part of what needs to be done.
See this post for more information about what we know about how the matching room operates:
October 10th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
Is it possible that this lovely ride is just about two weeks from being over? This is going to be the longest two weeks of my life!!
Hope your feeling better RQ. We’ve had it too.
LID 8/10/05
October 10th, 2006 at 12:29 pm
RQ Get well soon!
If I don’t get a referral soon, I’m going to be in trouble! I’ve been so distracted at work, I can hardly concentrate!!!
I don’t know what I’ll do if I’m not in the next batch. we bought a Guniea Pig last weekend as a distraction. What next, a snake? Help! I need a referral!!
8/22
October 10th, 2006 at 12:38 pm
I have no clue how true this is (so classify it as a rumor) but someone posted on one of the groups that they found out CCAA has to work 14 days straight to make up for being out that whole week for the holiday. Would that have any bearing on dates for referrals and TA notices coming any earlier?
Chilly,
LID 08/09/06
Day 63 for SN TA
October 10th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
happyhour…
in accordance to the family/guinea pig relations act of 1980, it is advised that a snake should not be the next pet after said guinea pig. that might make for a bad situation. lol
now if you really want something to occupy your time and attention…I hear ferrets are the most absolutely wonderful perfect pets for that situation. LOL
and yes coartney…I’ve been thinking the same thing…a longgggggg two (and a half?) weeks. is the excitement of it all building already??? definitely is around our house and with family. :)
October 10th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
I found the post to cut and paste. It wasn’t 14 days, it was 10-12. But still…..that could make a difference, couldn’t it? Couldn’t it???
> Hi all
> We have a Chinese exchange student with us for the
> year and we do talk lots and I am finding out many
> things about China. And she is too, as some
> things, like books, they cannot read in China!
> Anyway, we were talking about vacations and I
> mentioned how they had a lot of them. Well, turns
> out that for this week holiday they just had,
> after it they must work 10 or 12 days IN A ROW to
> make up for it!
> So, this must mean the CCAA will be doing lots of
> work in the next two weeks!!
> Pat
> Mama to Keira b 9-30-2002 a 8-3-2005
> LOI for Jenna 9-18-2006
October 10th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
We’ve talked about this before, that when they get a whole week off they often must work a weekend before or after in order to make up for it a little bit. So, the net effect is three days off instead of five days off. Which is why I pushed my “window” out three business days farther than I would have if there were no holiday.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:43 pm
The agency we use (large China-only) just advised the following for recent DTC dates:
8/25/06 DTD – went LID 9/18/06
9/1/06 DTD – went LID 9/26/06
Hope that helps for some of you out there who are waiting on LID dates…
October 10th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
I had a dream they arrived on the 13th, but I guess that’s wishful thinking;)
I’m guessing they come between 10/23-10/27.
When did they come last October?
October 10th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
ohhh that was a dark day…
10/3/05 according to RQ’s chart. and that was when they started the downward spiral.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:23 pm
i like your dream of the 13th though e-t-c….
October 10th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
So close but ever so far. I hate all this waiting.
October 10th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
RQ, I hope you’re feeling better now, here’s to some cyber hot soup for you !! mmm
For anyone getting ready to apply for your ‘new’ I-171H, start early, we keep running into snag after snag that takes time to clear up. We may not need the new one but for us, it’s not worth the risk.
tg, thanks for your kind words on the site. Looking forward to seeing your referral pic very soooon.
DOR-09-25-06
TA- waiting
October 10th, 2006 at 4:08 pm
TG – we actually looked at ferrets and birds! I bought a book on cockatiels. Came to the conclusion I’d need 2 of them and the cats are already stalking the Guinea Pig. Actually, they just watch him and are interested. We already live in a zoo….(2 dogs, 2 cats, 5 fish, 1 guinea pig) What’s your LID again, TG? 8/22 here and totally worthless at the job as late…..
October 10th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
jfk0f3, what sort of snags are you running into? makes me a bit nervous to hear that. we weren’t going to start anything until the first of Dec. with ours expiring on 2/3/07. maybe we should start mid-Nov? does it make a difference what state you are in? we are in N.C. and it took all of 81 days for us to get our original 171. we are getting re-fingerprinted next Fri. maybe i should go ahead and get the dr. stuff taken care of and copies of the other things set aside for the just incase scenario…. if we don’t get the Nov. referral we’re hoping for. LID 9/29
-jmlance
October 10th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
jmlance – If you haven’t been to the doctor inside of a year, I don’t think your doctor will give you a repeat “all clear” without another check up. My DH was due and it held us up, then I left without a tax return copy this morning, so I’m mailing tomorrow…. I expire 12/28, LID 8/22, thinking I could make it all the way, but don’t want to miss travelling w/ my group or having to wait longer for my daughter.
Good luck!
Darn it, I’m going to have to go to the pet store again!!!!
October 10th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
jmlance, to my knowledge, every state is different and some more timely than others. I received a letter from the USCIS stating my fingerprints are not readable and I have to go back again (round trip 4 hours). They no longer do the ink fingerprints. This time I have to sign an affidavit so they can verify that it is indeed me. I don’t understand cuz everytime we go to this immigration ofc they ask for our i.d. This will make the 4th time for fingerprints. If we receive our TA/CA soon, I won’t have to worry, our original I-171H expires, 12-10-06. I hope I’ve helped and not confused you, I’m still confused…ha.
dor-09-25-06
October 10th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
Oh dear, Happy Hour. Now I think you will have to add an addendum to your home study so they know you have a guinea pig! (just kidding)…
We love our guinea pig.(Howie). He is my favorite pet!
October 10th, 2006 at 5:32 pm
happyhour-
sounds like a fun group of animals…eek! we just have 2 dogs…the DW and I are thinking of getting another puppy for our daughter to grow with (my border collie is 12 and hopefully still has a couple/few more years in her, but…)
our LID is 8.10.05….which surprisingly was the day after the cut-off this last group. LOL
October 10th, 2006 at 5:39 pm
jmlance-
probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get things like Dr. exam forms, police/FBI background forms, etc…basically things that your agency says you’ll need that doesn’t require meeting with anyone (i.e. homestudy update) and get those ‘set aside’ as you said.
we did all that and had some forms/questionaires to fill out for our agency which was stacked and ready to mail off as soon as we knew we weren’t going to make it w/o re-doing our I-171H. So basically we’re meeting with our SW tomorrow afternoon and our agency said we should probably get our new I-171H by the end of Nov. which works out just fine since I don’t think we’ll travel until sometime in Dec.
but yeah…short story long…anything you can do to have things ready beforehand sure cuts down on the time. and fingerprints are the biggest deal of all. good that you’re doing those already!
good luck!
October 10th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Happy Hour-
Question- Why 2 Tiels??? They are better by themselves actually. Especially if you want to handle it. They are fabulous pets. I used to breed birds many years ago. They will do all sorts of tricks as well as talk and sing. These birds are also wonderful with children.
Guinea Pigs are sooooo fun!! Be very sure that you clean the cage a lot.. They will really stink otherwise.( just a tip)
Snakes are cool.. They only eat once a week at the most and you only have to clean up after them every 3-4 weeks!! :-)
Can you tell I work in a pet store??!?! ;-)
Enjoy your new squeaky friend!!
Claire LID 10/10/05 (crap, I have to put the yr now!!)
October 10th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
Doctor’s report? As far as I understand it the only thing you need to renew is your fingerprints and the 171-H.
Maybe agencies are different re: homestudies but mine does not need a medical if a homestudy update is needed.
Am I wrong here?
October 10th, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Some agencies require more. I have heard that some agencies require a new medical and financial statement to renew a hone study. Ours just asked if everything’s the same and if so they renew it.
October 10th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
janey1245 – check with you SW to be sure. In florida we have to do all medicals, references, net worth etc all over again for the homestudy. Each state is different. Imagine that…
October 10th, 2006 at 7:49 pm
janey1245 – check with your SW to be sure. In florida we have to do all medicals, references, net worth etc all over again for the homestudy. Each state is different. Imagine that…
October 10th, 2006 at 7:50 pm
Whoops…don’t know how that double post happened. sorry!
October 10th, 2006 at 8:28 pm
In California, our HS agency just asked if anything had changed…which luckily nothing has. But, we were required to get another child abuse clearance from the state and then our agency will update our HS.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Janey, every state is different. We only have to have a revisit from our social worker (maybe just a call?) and basically state nothing has changed. If anything has changed, like medical conditions or finances, we would have to update those too. We already redid our fingerprints and criminal history check. That’s for Oregon.
Thanks TG for reminding me when referrals came last year. It’s hard to remember last week, let alone last year! I knew it went downhill from there, but I try to block it out:)
LID 8/24
October 10th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
ooooooooo—– I am hopeful for the 25th! All I want for my birthday (october 29th) is a pic of my daughter! Of course, my son was a birthday present (10-30) so maybe she will “arrive” that day as well!
Can you tell I am hopeful we will be included this month???
:0 wfp 8/24/05
October 10th, 2006 at 9:27 pm
Happy Hour,
How funny, we got bunnies last week….it was a fun distraction. We researched breeds and went with Jersey woolies and Holland lops.Our daughter and her friends put together the hutches, and got them all cozy.I am an expert now and two weeks ago I didn’t know anything about rabbits. It was good to focus on something lighthearted. Bunnies so far, are proving to be fun pets. (The girls love walking them)
October 10th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
I too am very hopeful that we are included this month (with an Aug 17 LID)…but now we are wondering if we will be able to travel before Christmas or if we will need to wait until January. Does anyone know if Oct referrals typically travel in Dec or Jan?
I would love to be home with our little one before the holidays.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
TG-Actually things are pretty calm for us now. I think the anxiety of not knowing when, was the worst. It’s nice to know that when it happens, we’re in!!!! I’m so happy for you and your DW too!
In our state to update our homestudy we had to re-do almost everything; references, medical for kids, background checks, financial info, tax returns, guardian letter. Actually we did have to re-do everything. What a pain in the *#@*!
October 10th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
I think HS updates are agency specific, not state specific. We are in FL & had updates without new medicals (in the past). I have not checked the state law, however, just passing along an anecdote. If an agency said it was “FL LAW” to have new medicals done, I would scurry out & look up the law (but I’m cynical about agencies & social workers). I had a SW “require” that my 63 year old mother have an HIV test (oy vey) — this is NOWHERE in any statute ANYWHERE — trust me, I even asked the orphan officer at BCIS *personally* — but the SW passed it off as a BCIS “requirement” but she made it up out of whole cloth. Sheesh.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:41 pm
My SW in Fl did not require all new medicals etc.. but I did have my fingerprints redone in May, and now with my I 600 A renewal, the USCIS wants my fingers again. The third trip, 3 hours each way.
Just want to get it all taken care of and hope, hope, hope for a referral in November. 8/26/05 LID
October 10th, 2006 at 10:58 pm
waitingforM- we too are hoping for a referral. We’ve been talking with our facilitator and she was saying that the consulate closes the week of Christmas. Then she thinks they are closed 3 days after New Years, she needs to varify that. She was saying that the last appt for the year would be Dec 21st. Our I171H expires the 6th of Jan, so we really need to travel in Dec. We will probably be traveling alone this time so it shouldn’t be too hard to squeeze us in, at least that’s my opionion. We need to hope that this last batch gets their TA’s soon so they can get their Appts. out of the way before we come along:)
October 10th, 2006 at 11:08 pm
Crickety,
Agencies may make different requests to satisfy their own requirements but states have very clear rules about what they want in the homestudy. The rules in each state vary.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:10 pm
The problem is that in FL the HS expires after 12 months, and because of that we need to re-do (not only update) the HS. That is why the medicals, clearances, etc. are required in FL (as per my large china only agency explanation).
LID 09/29/05
October 11th, 2006 at 12:13 am
We were in the last batch of referrals. Our agency said there may be a holdup for CA next month due to some agencies not traveling during the trade fair, and scheduling their appts for November instead, and then the consulate is probably closed some over Thanksgiving. So this may slow down for December a bit, too. Anyone know how long the consulate takes off for Thanksgiving?
October 11th, 2006 at 12:50 am
The US consulate is closed for the Thursday of Thanksgiving, the Friday after, and of course, the weekend.
On their site http://guangzhou.usconsulate.gov/adoption.html
you can even see what days still have appointments left. It does not cover the Christmas and New Year’s timeframes, though.
LID 10/10/05
October 11th, 2006 at 2:17 am
Thanks for the link kjdh, it was a great help!
October 11th, 2006 at 4:43 am
donandtamara-I would LOVE to get my TA and Appt so I could move along and make room for y’all. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you if you keep ‘em crossed for me?
Best of luck to those of you eagerly awaiting this batch of referrals. It is amazing to look on your child’s face. Hang in there!
M
LID 7/26/05 referral 9/25/06
October 11th, 2006 at 7:31 am
Chinamom,
I am with large china only agency, but have CHS of Florida as SW. I was told, only update needed. The SW contacted USCIS and this is what they were told. Should know more soon if USCIS sends the I 600 A back. Hope not. I don’t have a lot of confidence in my SW though so we shall see.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:31 am
I’m glad your feeling better RQ. I’ve been away from the computer. All this talk about the 171-H renewal got me moving early this morning. We are hoping for our referral this month (LID Aug. 16). Our 171-H expires Dec. 6.
My dh and I are waiting in anticipation for the October referrals. Both our Birthdays are in November. What a way to celebrate turning 46 for both of us. We started this process back in October 2004, when we both 43. So excited to meet our new daughter.
Have an awesome day!!
October 11th, 2006 at 7:58 am
hi,
RQ, nice to hear that you’re feeling better !
Aren’t there any rumors at all about any cut off?
Waitingforpink, me too, I’m still hoping that I’m in this batch.
LID 8/23
October 11th, 2006 at 8:02 am
ADE,
I would love if you’re correct, and we just need an update. However, the information I got from my agency/sw comes directly from the MIami USCIS officer in charge of the orphan visas.
LID 09/29/05
October 11th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Per the Tampa USCIS office I was told we need to send a HS Update which included updated dates for our background check and child abuse registry check. Our fingerprints which were taken again in August are fine. Our agency received the same information from them. So.. that is what we are doing. The scary part is that it is taking at least 4 weeks for the updated checks and then possibly two or more for USCIS. We are hoping for a referral this month… though while checking out the poll numbers for our date, 8/24… it is starting to not look very promising. :-(
October 11th, 2006 at 9:22 am
ADE-
For what it’s worth…Ditto for Chinamom2006 comments. I am also in FL. A new law passed that the homestudies CANNOT be updated but must be redone. In the past, an update was okay. Many people in my local FCC group had theirs updated in the past ( compare $75 to $1300). I am waiting to see the October referrals with the slim to nothing chance I will be included (with an 8/30/05 LID). Yeah, right!!!
I just had my fingerprints redone last week in Jax. The homestudy has to be completely redone: employment verification, taxes, child clearance, police report, etc. My large Chine-only agency is also doing my homestudy. I would definitely check on this. If your social worker is not all that up to date on international adoptions, she may think that an update is okay, since it is in many other states. I would hate for you to be delayed unecessarily.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Another Floridian here. We weren’t required to do new medical labs but did need a letter from our doctor saying we had and updated physical. That was all it needed to say and our SW said it was up to the doctor to decide what needed to be done. So my doctor asked me how I was feeling and wrote the letter with no new labs needed. We had to redo most everything else.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:57 am
momndadtoaladybug- I certainly don’t want to cause you any concern, but we are expecting a referral this month 8/10, and our I-171 expires on 12/23, and we are in the final stages of our homestudy update. Maybe it doesn’t take long for your state to issue a I-171, but it takes at least two months in our state. Hopefully you will be in this next referral group, but I doubt that we will travel by the beginning of Dec. I just don’t want you to run into any problems. Probably the best thing is to discuss this with your agency. I can’t wait to see your daughter and mine!!!
October 11th, 2006 at 10:03 am
thanks don & tamara…we need the canadian embassy but i think it is also closed over xmas & boxing day. I would love to get in for Dec 21st appt or even between 27-31st. I can’t imagine what it is going to feel like knowing our baby is over there while we sit through the holidays. You are right though about the last batch…so i will try and “will” those TAs along too!
October 11th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Thanks for the answers. I can’t believe that Fla has to redo EVERYTHING. It is like having to do another adoption almost. Talk about adding to the aggravation of an already intolerable wait!
I am in CA so it is a bit easier here.
It makes me wonder more and more about this country. Why should someone in Fla. have through all this?
Uuuughhh…
October 11th, 2006 at 11:16 am
Here’s my question on HS expiring in a particular state — who knows that a HS has expired and who gets in trouble if an international adoption goes through with an expired HS? I’m not suggesting that anyone violate the law, but this is somewhat of a mystery to me since China doesn’t get the updated or new HS; USCIS would only get it if you need to re-do; its not filed with any state agency; so isn’t the update or new HS just for your SW to have on file or your agency to have on file in case the HS police come looking for your update? Sorry for the sarcasm, but the added costs and paperwork is really annoying me. I’d like to read the statute that states the penalty for not updating. I’m guessing that it subjects the SW or agency to having their license revoked, which of course is not good and we certainly don’t want that to happen and we certainly want people to do their jobs. But sometimes statutes are subject to different interpretations or people expand on requirements for whatever reasons. If I was in a state that required a complete re-do, I’d find the statute or regulation that supposedly requires it and make sure someone isn’t unnecessarily requiring things to be re-done.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:20 am
I live in Michigan. Nowhere on my home study is there an “expiration date,” and I’m proceeding based on the assumption that my original home study is valid (also assuming no major change in status) until the I-171H expires. I have no intention of updating my home study unless I have to redo the I-171H.
I’m on a Michigan-specific list and have seen a number of members post re an “expiration date” on their home study, I think this is an agency-specific requirement, not a state requirement.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:27 am
In Illinois, HS are good for 1 year. IL also has a requirement that we don’t get our final 171H until after we get our referral. Upon receipt of referral, a state DCFS person reviews our HS against our referral and then notified USCIS to proceed, so we pretty much have to update our HS, even if 171H hasn’t expired because this is one of the things the state employee is checking for. I know this is something specific to good ol’ Illinois.
In other states, if your HS is expired but your 171Hh is not, then I don’t think it will be an issue.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:34 am
In Kentucky HS are also good for 1 year. This is a state regulation, I checked. This meant for us, that we had to update our home study after a year, July, and then a bigger update was required when we had to re-file for our I-171, September. It was a very frustrating process. It is strange that every state is different.
October 11th, 2006 at 11:56 am
Also in MI – as CWS mentioned… HS does not expired… we do have to resubmit all of the documents: employment letter, updated HS (police clearances), physicals, etc… along with the original 171H and original HS to “renew” our 171H. The I600A is treated as a brand new request. Just sent our last week – exp 12-15. If any of those documents are missing the request can sit for months. I was told that China only cares about the 171H expiration date and it has to be after the CA. I will also be carrying a updated homestudy with me to China so that when they ask if anything in the household has changed… moving next week…. I will hand them the updated homestudy… that will automatically change the information with USCIS back here in MI.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
I hate to ask a stupid question (obviously not enough to not do it), but I pulled out my I-171h…in my state, Georgia, it is called a I-797 and I don’t see an expiration date on it??? It tells me when my fingerprints expire, but I don’t see any other expiration date.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:45 pm
aicram1966,
According to my agency, the I-171H/I-797C expires in 18 months in ALL states. The clock starts ticking on the “approval date” which you should be able to find on the I-797C.
Nancy
October 11th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
CWS,
My agency tells us that the expiration of home studies depends on the state (not the agency). I live in MA, where it is one year. There is no expiration date on my home study either, but my agency advises that one year from the date the SW signed the agreement is when it expires.
October 11th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
thanks Nancy.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
can we start a list of homestudy update fees? I suspect my agency hasn’t done many and want to communicate what I think is a FAIR fee to them, and try to negotiate. I got an “alumni” adoption rate which was half of the regular price since I did not need four visits only two this time.
They initially told me $500, but I think that is high for one hour of SW time, half an hour of typing (MAX) to change the date and my age from 39 to 40.
I am in California.
LID 10/26
October 11th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
jadynsmom – I’m in MI, too and had to have a HS update to send in w/ my renewal I-600A for a new I-171H.. I’m sending it all tomorrow…. Maybe my HS wasn’t good for as long? Confused, but thought you might want to dig a bit deeper.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:58 pm
When you get another home study done, do they come to your house again? We are actually planning on doing some remodeling next spring which might take some time to get complete. My LID is only 7/03/06, but I’m not sure if the work would be done by the time I would have to start thinking about renewing everything. I just wouldn’t want them to visit in the middle of a remodel…don’t know how that would go over.
October 11th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Hi Happy Hour! You’re sending to Detroit – right? Make sure you have your original HS and 171H to send in. I’ve heard with Detroit that’s the big delay. Then they don’t call you and tell you it’s missing… they just sit on it. I did have SW come out to the house 2 weeks ago and update the HS. I sent to USCIS last Friday. Because we’re moving and didn’t want to wait until we were in the new house (LID 8-15) we decided to do another update in 2 weeks (after we are in the house) – luckily she charged us $350 for the update 2 weeks ago and only $100 in 2 weeks to update again. Love the distraction of building the new house, but it’s really starting to hit me that I’m going to be seeing her little face in just a few weeks!!! :-) Life doesn’t get much better than this!!
October 11th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Wouldn’t be nice if the federal offices all had the same rules, and gave the same info out to the social workers, and to the families that want to do what is correct.
Oh well.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
Happy Hour… clarification… copy of the original HomeStudy and copy of the original 171H… you probably already knew that though….
ADE — absolutely!