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New Consulate ruleThe consulate is now requiring that agencies note the I-171H expiration date as well as the fingerprint expiration date of their families when they request a consulate appointment. An appointment will not be scheduled if either will expire before the appointment. 
Note from RQ: The section below is for comments from ChinaAdoptTalk.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with any particular comment just because I let it stand. Posts are generally only removed if they don't follow the rules of the site. Anyone who fails to comply with the rules of the site may lose his or her posting privilege. 42 Responses to “New Consulate rule”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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January 6th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
I guess we are starting to see the beginning of the group that will expire if not renewed. We all knew this would happen, it is interesting that they are requiring it now. Guess we are not going back to a shorter waiting period anytime soon :-( Not like I expected it…..
January 6th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
I’m still going to believe there is hope that things might speed up. I just hope the CNN thing doesn’t hurt the adoption process.
January 6th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
When my agency called last Wednesday the first thing that was said was concerning our expired 171-h and fingerprints. My 171-h expires Jan. 21st. I was reprinted in Aug. and filed for renewal of 171-h at the end of October. Still haven’t heard from New Orleans. I wasn’t worried until I read this. No wonder my agency was more concerned about this than our referral. I hope it won’t put us in a bind - we’re already delayed because of CNY.
January 6th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
This whole thing makes me crazy… I know we will have to update.
Do you need a new homestudy if it hasn’t expired yet? Say my I-171H expires in May and my homestudy expires in July would I have to redo the homestudy?
What is the fee now? I was one of the last few that got in under the old fee of $665 including fingerprinting.
Why do you have to have your fingerprints done again, I never understood this, and why do they expire before the I-171h?
January 6th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
This whole thing makes me crazy… I know we will have to update.
Do you need a new homestudy if it hasn’t expired yet? Say my I-171H expires in May and my homestudy expires in July would I have to redo the homestudy?
What is the fee now? I was one of the last few that got in under the old fee of $665 including fingerprinting.
Why do you have to have your fingerprints done again, I never understood this, and why do they expire before the I-171h?
January 6th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
oops!
January 6th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
My I-171H expires May 3rd. Just last night our social worker came over for an update. We moved in August so our update is more extensive than it would normally be. We need to have our doctors confirm that we are still healthy and do not have any communicable diseases but they don’t have to be notarized.
We had to pay $1000 for that update but I believe it would have only been $250 had we not moved from out of state.
Once we get the update we can then send it in along with the $140 ($70 each) fingerprint fee plus $545 for the I-171H.
Unless things really speed up I don’t see how anyone will avoid having their I-171H expire. It expires 18 months from the date that is on your I-171H and you need to complete all of your travel before that expiration.
My LID is 11/22/05 so I could still wait another month to start working on this (they say to start 90 days before the expiration) but I don’t want to have to worry about it.
Not sure why the fingerprints expire sooner.
Hope that helps~
January 6th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
thank you for sending in the link to the CNN cite so that we can read it. - I am in shock as to what has been said.
January 6th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
Yep… we got that email from our agency about 20 min. after the cut-off was announced… so we whined for 20 min and then realized how blessed we were that we still have about 4 or so more weeks to wait for that piece of paper to come in the mail!!! that was the silver lining to our cloud that day!! we did find out that we can ask for it to be expedited though, too if the referral does arrive and we still don’t have the 171 back. check with your homestudy provider about this if you haven’t heard about it…. just one more thing to worry about, huh?
January 6th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
We also started the renewal process this week (BIG WHINE). We moved to AZ last year and they have different requirements for adopting. Our new homestudy ($950) must be filed through family court for approval PRIOR to bringing baby home. We waited to start the homestudy update process for the state until we needed to refile our 171-H which expires 4/07. Our LID is 11/05/05. This renewal process is suppose to take 3-4 months (or so THEY say). What a pain in my wallet!
On the + side our physicals and financials our good for 3 yrs. & AZ includes re-adoption expenses in the update fees. We’ll probably send in the 171-H along with the homestudy to save time and allow us to hold on to a few $$ for a little while longer. I’m still waiting to hear from my agency telling me to start with the update! CHEEZ!
January 6th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
correction: Our LID is 12/5/05. Wishful thinking I guess.
January 6th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This sucks wind!! We are currently waiting on our new I-171H.. Unfortunately, GA now takes up to 15 weeks to process this. We are a month into the wait as of tomorrow, so we have another 11 weeks of waiting and a referral that may come in 3-4 weeks… This is a nightmare! I will be shooting my coordinator an email first thing Monday morning asking her what to do at this point. Thanks for the heads up RQ.
Claire (next??)
LID 10/10/05
January 6th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Since we’re discussing this again, I want to caution everyone about the order of the refingerprinting / refiling the I-600a. This was discussed once before, and I read it the very afternoon we returned from being refingerprinted. Now I’m worried we’ll have to re-refingerprint. Apparently some CIS offices require the fingerprints to be no older than 30 days at the time of the I-600a, and I think some require them to be done AFTER filing (not sure about that.) We were fingerprinted on 11/16, the I-600a was received in the office 12/28, and we just got a notice to come in for fingerprints on Friday. I’m going to try to reach someone in the CIS office (hahahaha) to see if we really have to do them again or if it was an oversight. I’m especially worried since I stated in the cover letter than we had been refingerprinted, put a sticky note on the check that we had been refingerprinted (so they wouldn’t think the check amount was wrong), and included our refingerprinting receipts in with the application. They would have to overlook quite a lot to miss this, but I’m still holding on to hope they’ll say “Oops! Never mind!”
January 7th, 2007 at 1:45 am
We are log-in date 1/23/06 and soon after the meeting in China our agency informed us that we will have to a home-study update along with fingerprints and etc. They state that our presumed referral date may be around end of 8/07 and that everything will have expired by 5/07 and that everything must be valid for 4 months after you return home from china. With all of the above being said we already started the update, extra fees, and etc.
January 7th, 2007 at 7:33 am
We had our renewal done early due to my husband’s work schedule. Our social worker told us we might as well go ahead and do everything over (fingerprints and I-600A) as even if we had our fingerprints done now, if our I-171H expired later, we’d have to have our fingerprints done again when the I-171H expires. I asked the fingerprint-er lady why fingerprints have to be redone, as certainly my print has not changed. She said they do not keep the “good” fingerprints (i.e. generally non-criminals!) in their system. So that’s why we have to keep getting refingerpinted each time they need to check our “file”. and, sounds like each state is different, but for us, we had to get many documents done again for the homestudy update- certified letters from our doctors, blood tests again, updated tax returns, etc.
LID 11-5-05
January 7th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Can someone answer a question regarding fingerprints and I171H please? I have asked BOTH of our agencies and they both have said to ask the other agency. I have -with no answer from either one.
My question - Our fingerprints expire here in January but our I171H does not expire for a few months. We are SEVERAL months (if not a year) from travelling yet. So I am not in a huge hurry to re-do everything, but do our fingerprints need to stay current throughout the entire process of just be current when we travel? I have heard that the I171H can expire and then be renewed, as long as it is current in time of your consolate appointment. Does that apply to fingerprints then too? Or am I completely being misled here? I am little unsure of this.
I am WI if that makes a difference at all.
I always thought it was silly to have to re-do fingerprints since criminals’ prints always seem to be “on-file”.
Why don’t they just keep them on record then - especially with wait time growing? Could we request that from the fingerprinting offices (expecially if we are looking at #2?)
I guess I’m thinking too much about all this and almost know what answer I am going to get on that one! Too many CSI and NCIS shows watched!!
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
January 7th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Most agencies are telling their people to let their paperwork expire and then get started on renewing everything several months before referral is expected.
A few agencies are telling their people to not let their paperwork expire.
As of a couple months ago the CCAA was not interested in the state of our I-171H. However, I’m now being told some conflicting information:
** That it has to be current whenever they look at our file, meaning it would need to be current when you are in review and when they finally start matching.
** I’m also still hearing that agencies are being told to not bother the CCAA with updates on the I-171H
So I’m not really sure what to believe.
I’m sure that we will get some kind of clarification on this at some point. As of now though, I’d have to say you should do whatever your agency tells you to do. If they say you’ll need to keep it renewed and not let it expire then don’t let it expire. If they say it’s okay to let it expire, then let it expire and stay on top of when you need to start the renewal process.
January 7th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Just spoke with DH who works for a local sheriff’s department and said that they HAVE to keep fingerprints on file for missing persons reports, death ID, etc. So, what’s the deal with not keeping them on record and having to pay for them again? Any other ideas out there?
January 7th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Thanks RQ for the quick response - so I guess I’m back to asking the agencies and hoping they know. I really get the feeling that they don’t right now since they both said to ask each other.
Thanks again!
January 7th, 2007 at 10:52 am
kangr- My understanding is that the government (through Homeland Security) just does not have enough computer space to keep everyone’s fingerprints on file forever. Sounds odd- but that is what I was told.
January 7th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Claire waiting for 171H from GA.
I am also from GA. We got our approval on Dec 22nd. That was 79 days of processing. Hopefully you won’t have to wait 11 more weeks! I don’t know if a renewal is a different process but just wanted to give update on how long we waited. Hope this helps.
January 7th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
We were told by INS that fingerprints can change or we can lose digits. Maybe they should read this article about fingerprints. If we lose a finger don’t we have 9 others to identify us by…and finger prints changing? I think they’re watching too much CSI. http://www.onin.com/fp/fphistory.html
Sounds like our government’s inability to make change. And we all think CCAA wont give straight answers.
January 7th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
We had our fingerprints redone in the beginning of the month - they were due to expire on Jan. 20th anyway. When I emailed our USCIS they said we could let them expire but encouraged us to have them redone, as did our agency and SW, so we did. It took a week to get our updated paperwork back. We are very lucky as our USCIS is very expeditious. Our agency has advised us to redo our I-171H when we are 90 days out from it expiring.
At this point I have no problem redoing things but it would be nice to have the fees lowered a bit the second time around.
Jo-Anne
2/28
January 7th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
well I am totally lost here~ this is nothing new~
My prints expire this month…my DH in Feb. Our I71H in Sept of 07….I was told by my agency that we did not need to get re-printed before they expire but I would need to re-do my I71H before it expired…which they said they would contact me when we needed to start on that….and at that time we would also re-do our prints. I am thinking they will have us start all of this around early summer.
I have not had too much faith in my agency…but I guess I don’t have a reason to believe they are wrong about this either.
Is this in line with what others are being told….?
~Linda
January 7th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
We have a question about the refingerprinting process:
If you travel before 18-months with a valid I171H in your hand, but after the fingerprints expire, your I171H will have the old date on it still. We were re-fingerprinted on 12/16/2006.
So the question: After fingerprinting, what is the document we use to prove to the US consul that our fingerprints are valid? Do they have that information at the US Consul? We have the forms from the service center showing that we were refingerprinted on 12/16/2006. Do we get something else?
January 7th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
For mom222b:
What was the paperwork you received after the re-fingerprinting? We re-fingerprinted 12/16/2006. If the original I171H has the original fingerprint date, what is our proof that we have been updated?
January 7th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Has anyone from MN done a redo of the I171H? Just wondering how long you waited? We were told it would be only two weeks, but that has not been the case.
Sue
LID 10/10/05
January 7th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
I was already stressed about 171H but now I’m BIG TIME stressed!!!! Ours expires 2/2/07 and we are expecting our new one anyday now, but my agency tries to make an appointment before we have our new one, what’ll happen??? OH DEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
His,
Mrs. U
LID 9-12-05
Referral 1-04-07 for Elizabeth!!!!!!
http://www.makingahouseahome.blogspot.com
and
http://www.youbelong.net/upchurchfamily
January 7th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Interesting article on trends of international adoption by US residents. Has some hard data about the total numbers of all children adopted in China in 2005 and the number of those that are international and the number specifically to the US. The US accounts for about 12.7%, or 6,493 adoptions, of all the China adoptions which total about 51,000 according to the Chinese government.
I still trust the AP as a source unlike CNN, although not as much as I once did. Regardless it’s worth a read.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070106/ap_on_re_us/foreign_adoptions_2
Waiting for a TA, RhodyRed
http://www.threewillcomehome.com
January 7th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Our prints expired in Nov but our 171 is good until next month. We let our prints expire and did them over when we filed for our new I600A a few weeks ago. Now I hope we just get the new form back before we have to travel!
January 7th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
We have a ways to go before we should be concerned, but I was wondering if you have to have an updated HS no matter what? We had an update done when we moved, and then they sent our 171-H. Our fingerprints expire in October, and our 171-H was issued in October. I’m confused! Atleast I have plenty of time to stress about it! :)
January 7th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
The best resource for renewing your paperwork is your local SW and your local Orphan Officer at USCIS in your area. The rules are different at each office regardless of state or county. It takes some digging to get the phone number of the orphan officer, but once we spoke to ours, she was so helpful. They know the timeframe locally, and exactly what you need at your office for renewal. Even the agencies can’t keep up with all of the different local requirements, so go with the OA and the SW.
10/28/05 closer!
January 7th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Some offices require a new homestudy and others just require an update. Florida is my state and they just needed the update with the new I600A application. Your SW will know for certain.
January 7th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Kangr-
RE: WI USCIS: You may let your fingerprints expire and then re-file for your I-171H. Please be aware that Milw CIS is very slow right now. We re-filed in October, along with a note saying that we expected a referral soon. We were referred on Nov. 30, and we are due to travel soon. We still have no I-171H and are having to deal with Senator Kohl’s office to get this done. Skip the middle fingerprints, and re-file early!!!!
:)
January 7th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Mrs U…That’s what I’m stressing about now too. I’m afraid they won’t even try to get us a consolate appointment with our documents expiring on the 21st. Question…after you send in your acceptance of referral to Beiijing - when do they start trying to schedule consolate appointments? Is it right away? I’m thinking the USCIS will have my 171-h renewal done….ANYDAY NOW!!
January 7th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
You can’t get a consulate appointment until after you receive a travel approval — which lately has taken 3-5 weeks (or more) after your acceptance letter is returned to the CCAA.
–Pam C
DOR 1/3/07 for DD#2 (LID 9/9/05)
January 7th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
For what it’s worth, our China-only agency told us that once we re-do our fingerprints, THEN we should re-file the I-600A - that if we do this, we will not need to be re-fingerprinted a third time.
We just re-did our fingerprints 2 weeks ago, and are re-filing the I-600A this week.
LID 11-07-2005
January 7th, 2007 at 10:23 pm
Okay…we re-did our fingerpirints on 11/21/06, 1 year post LID by coincidence, and haven’t received anything back yet. We are updating our Home Study now. Do we have to send in our updated Home Study with the I-600A or can we send it in now??? I thought I had a grip on all of this paperwork, but now nerves are making me second guess myself…AHHHHHH!!
LID 11/21/05
January 7th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
bassets,
No, your SW should be responsible for sending in your updated homestudy… all you need to send to your CIS office is a copy of your old 171, a letter stating why you need a new one, the check for $545, and the new I-600A - your SW should send in the updated homestudy after you submit that I-600A! good luck!
LID 9/29/05 - NEXT!
January 8th, 2007 at 2:38 am
waitingtoolong-
When you get refingerprinted, USCIS will send you an updated 171-H with the new fingerprint expiration date. My fingerprints expired in October. I got the form back ~ 1 month later. My 171-H expiration was Feb 1, 2007. I waited until the November referrals in hopes that I might not have to redo the 171-H. Unfortunately, I missed the cutoff my 5 days. I leave in 10 days for China. I got my new 171-H about 6 weeks after I applied.
The local Jacksonville office was not too nice and my agency was about to pull out the big guns and call on the sate senators when it arrived. Turns out my CA is 1/30/07 and I will be leaving on 2/1/07 back to the States but it was cutting it too close.
One suggestion to those of you who decide to redo your prints before redoing the 171-H…DOCUMENT everything! Several people locally here in north Florida have had their fingerprints done and then, months later, when they reapplied for another 171-H, their application was returned because they did NOT enclose the fingerprint fee in the cashier check.
To avoid that scenario, I wrote a cover letter, explaining that my prints had been redone and attached copies of the appointment letter they had sent me, the cashier’s check and the updated 171-h with the new fingerprint expiration date. I had no problem. As a single, it saved me paying yet another $70. As a couple, it would save $140. Good luck!
Laureen
LID 8/30/05
DOR 12/1/06
Travel 1/18/07-2/1/07
http://www.babysites.com/sites/laureenmary
[Sorry for the length of this...just thought it was important info that might save others some money.]
January 8th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Hi everyone,
this is my first entry on this site. Following the CNN story I have to make a comment. Last year in Australia one of our federal politicians made a comment in one of the major newspapers in Sydney regarding her opinion of people adopting internationally and specifically from China, which was, and I am not quoting here, that international adoption was people in a first world country like Australia plundering the third world for their children. Now this comment illicited outrage from the adoption community, sadly only the adoption community, and hundreds of emails and letters were sent to the newspaper and this government minister and other ministers across Australia. Not one person received a response from her or her office. No retraction or apology has ever appeared in any form in the Australian media or from the current Australian government.
Just thought you all may be interested in the situation down under.
Best wishes,
cab
January 8th, 2007 at 7:21 am
Mom2Isabel–
Thank you. That really does cover it. So we should be getting an updated I171H before we have to update it again….