Less Issues this Month
So far I’ve seen:
- One group of people who have had their LID moved from 9/27 to 9/29.
- Reports of less than a half dozen people who were questioned in the review room room and who did not receive their referral this month. Whether this is because some agencies are preparing people for this so less people are surprised, or whether less are being made to wait, I don’t know.
- Ages are all over the spectrum this time, with some very very young babies as well as babies that are on the verge of aging out of the infant program.
All in all, there seem to be less “issues” this month than we’ve seen in the past couple of months. To my knowledge, everyone not receiving their referral who expected to was either questioned in the review room or has been told that their group’s LID has been changed. If there is someone out there who was skipped who doesn’t fall into either of these groups, please let me know.
As for NSN Travel Approvals for the previous batch of referrals, I believe that most agencies have received theirs, but it appears that some are still waiting. I’d be interested in knowing when the Acceptances went back to the CCAA for those who are still waiting.
January 8th, 2007 at 7:24 am
Did the families who were skipped last month receive their referrals with this latest batch?
January 8th, 2007 at 7:38 am
Good Morning! After adding up the referrals on your new poll I don’t see any huge jump in Oct…about 435 and Nov…374. What lead everyone to believe these months are so large?
Thanks
January 8th, 2007 at 7:52 am
We received our referral on 11/30 — we turned in our acceptance letter 12/4 and from what I understand it was there 12/8 — we still do not have our TA’s — we were NSN. Hope they are coming today!!!!
January 8th, 2007 at 8:20 am
RQ, can you add my blog to the list of those paperchasing?
Seventhdiamond.blogspot.com
paperchase since 5/06
January 8th, 2007 at 8:22 am
We are still waiting for TA. Our acceptances were returned in a single batch on 12/11.
January 8th, 2007 at 8:25 am
Kriss – The new poll is too early yet to be making any kind of assumptions from. Please see old polls.
redmaryjanes – I update the links page every week or two and do so from the comments to that thread, there is no way I will remember to come back and check this thread when I next change that page.
And now, to get back on the topic of this blog post – I’ve heard from many who were skipped last month who did receive their referral. At least one who was skipped due to a question in the review room did not receive one this time.
mnm2anne – thanks for the info. You are nearing the five week mark, that’s pretty disconcerting.
January 8th, 2007 at 8:26 am
For what it’s worth, the 17-month-old referrals I know of (for two different agencies in the U.S.) are for girls in Hengshan and Hengnan CWI/SWIs in Hunan — which were affected directly by the “shut-down” after the scandal in that area.
Some of the parents requested 12-24 or 12-36 months, but some requested 6-12 months and were as well under the age of 45 as other parents who got the 9-month-olds.
Pam C
DOR 1/3/07 for DD#2 (LID 9/9/05)
January 8th, 2007 at 8:43 am
That’s correct Pam.
When you apply for an infant with the CCAA you are applying for a child less than two years old. These babies and toddlers are still in the infant program, so they went to people applying for an infant.
Several months ago most of the babies that month seemed to be in the 14 to 18 month range. This time the ages are all over the place. I know a lot of people are interested in this, so I’m just letting people know.
January 8th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Any thoughts to why the age range is larger than that in the past several months? Or is this wider age range similar to the range prior to the delays?
Just wondering if the larger age range indicates anything?
thanks
January 8th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Ages have always varied, with them seeming a bit younger one month and a bit older another month. I think it’s just part of the randomness of the process.
I do not think it means anything at all. I’m just reporting on it because I know a lot of people like to keep up with it.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:04 am
Regarding the CNN segment – Question for everyone. I will write wherever I can, but I have a suspicion that emailing those directly involved won’t help much. I had two, probably over the top ideas, and need someone to put the fire out of them:-) 1. renting a space in New York Times and posting a statement as a community, 2. writing as a group to “My Turn” in Newsweek.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:06 am
thanks RQ
January 8th, 2007 at 9:26 am
I think the My Turn piece is a good idea. I wouldn’t mention the CNN piece or any other specific media outlet. Just tell your personal story from the heart. That’s what the editors look for.
Go for it!
Patti
http://redvelvetcake.typepad.com
3/21/06
January 8th, 2007 at 9:33 am
We received our referral on December 1st. Our agency sent our acceptances back to China on December 12th. We are patiently (very hard to do) waiting to hear something about our TA. There are 7 of us in our group. We wondered if being a smaller agency/group has anything to do with it??
http://www.crazyaboutcali.blog.com
January 8th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Our referral was received on 11/30, our acceptance letters were received at the CCAA on 12/8 and we are still waiting for TA’s. I believe there is around 30 families in our group. This is a hard wait especially considering that Chinese New Year is on the horizon.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Whats the Best-Guess on how far they are in the Review Room?
Also, RQ mentioned earlier that Boys were referred this month to families not requesting them. Any more details on that?
January 8th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Hi Biedronka,
Some May LIDers have been asked for questions (info from a yahoo-group I´m a member of). But, as we now know, the staff working with the reviews are working with various months, so that doesn´t mean that your application is being reviewed as for now.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:54 am
RQ
Are any og the children over the age of 2 ?
fridahope
January 8th, 2007 at 9:56 am
We are a 11/30 referral with a 12/5 turn-in of our accpetance letter. I’m think our agency mailed the referral group’s letters on the 8th but I’m not positive. The wait is beginning to drive us crazy plus it’s beginning to irritate my work because I can’t give them any idea of when I’ll be gone nor for how long. Makes planning difficult. Oh well it’s been par for the course.
-TA deprived in RI
http://www.threewillcomehome.com
January 8th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Question: Are we seeing TA’s with each batch of referrals for the previous set of referrals? As in referral one month TA the next?
I am still hoping we 9-29ers will get a Jan referral!!
granalgirl
*next*
January 8th, 2007 at 10:05 am
It’s funny to come back to the RQ site, with referral in hand. We put up the crib this weekend, and are still just beaming. Our small agency had three out of nine families NOT receive a referral this month due to questioning in the review room. From what I can tell, these were all minor questions that were resolved quickly.
Our daughter (gulp!) is quite young, born June 15th, 2006. This is much younger than we were expecting based on recent months’ referrals. Oh, well! I guess I have to go buy her some more clothes!
January 8th, 2007 at 10:16 am
Pam C,
Thanks for the info about baby ages and the Hunan SWIs. I always find that kind of info very interesting. And i’m not surprised that some of the older babies we are seeing are coming from Hunan…
January 8th, 2007 at 10:19 am
I called our agency leaving a testy voicemail and got a call back 20 minutes later saying we have a consulate appointment but no travel dates yet. Argghhhhh!
There seems to be little sense from our agency and the CCAA that the people who’ll qualify for adoption under their new rules probably have jobs where giving two weeks notice that you’ll be gone for at least a month is problematic.
The good news is we’ll have Lili in our arms at least before Feb 6th. Of course I need to book travel using miles the windows of opportunity are shrinking.
RQ, thanks for the post which gave me the oomph to call and say it seems like most other agencies have TAs, where’s ours? I didn’t mention you of course although you’ve been far more valuable to us than our social worker or agency. I wish there was a way to truly let you know how much you’ve helped my wife and I cope with our wait. Thank you so much.
-No TA but we have a consultate appointment?
http://www.threewillcomehome.com
January 8th, 2007 at 10:36 am
Most reports have seven orphanages within Hunan actually being closed to IA for a while. And yes, this month those orphanages have some older children being referred.
The older babies last month were not from orphanages that were closed for a while though.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Waitingagain:
Could you give me the name of the yahoo group you are referring too about MAY LID questions. We are LID 05/15/06 and I am only in the April DTC group. email is klaluzerne@new.rr.com Thank you,Laura.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:12 am
RQ, Isnt there a direct link between how fast the acceptance letter is mailed back and how fast you get your TA?
My agency is a tiny Southern California agency and the day the referral comes in is the day you meet at the agency and see your daughter for the first time. Some people choose to take the medical to their DR and some just sign the referral that day. Those who sign the referral that day get their acceptance letter mailed back either the same day or the next. Our agency has an AMAZINGLY fast turn around for TA because, I am assuming, they get the acceptance letters back to CCAA within a day or so. THey do not wait for others who received referrals to accept and mail them all back together– they mail the acceptance one by one. THe last few people to receive referrals for my agency got their TA’s back in a little over a week and traveled within 4 weeks of receiving their referrals. It seems to me that the faster your agency gets the acceptance letter in the mail, the faster you will get your TA.
Just my observation.
Christy
10-17-05
http://www.bock.redthreadkids.org
January 8th, 2007 at 11:17 am
fridahope:
A local family requested a healthy girl aged 3-7 and received a referral of a 5-year-old girl.
Pam C
DOR 1/3/07 (LID 9/9/05)
January 8th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Yes, the speed that your agency returns acceptance letters does determine in part how quickly a TA comes back.
I believe that an agency must send acceptances back grouped by orphanage, though. So they may be able to send part of a group back, but all families adopting from an orphanage would have to have their paperwork go back together.
In other words, if an agency has a travel group going to three orphanages, they can send the acceptances back in three groups, but they must send all acceptances for each orphanage back in a single group. So if one family takes their time getting it back it slows the entire group going to that orphanage down.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:24 am
We were one of the ones whose login was switched. It was very hard to hear that last week, but we are much better this week, and our agency said to look for our referral the 26th of jan or the 2nd of feb. I guess after waiting two years waiting another 4-5 weeks won’t be that long :)
January 8th, 2007 at 11:47 am
I know when we traveled in 2004, one family wanted to take their paperwork to a IA doctor. We signed our acceptance the same say as referral. We traveled in 27 days after referral they traveled 3 weeks later. They were from the same SWI, they did not travel with our group because the took one week to sign their paper. Our agency will not hold up travel for those who chose to take longer to sign. You have 48 hours and then they go back to China. If you wait, you will travel separately and you may pay more to have the coordinator to yourself. I know another family from our agency who wanted to bring 3 siblings as well as both sets of parents and some aunts and uncles to China. They had to travel separate and later because they had so many people in their group, but they were allowed to do it.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:57 am
Wow -thanks for the info. I did this back in what seems the dark ages last time, it does sound like the CCAA will let agencies send them back one at a time now.
Very cool.
January 8th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Our agency is a small one, and most of the families in our referral group of ten are located in 500 miles away, so when the referrals arrived at the agency, they had to be translated, then FedEx’d to the families. We received our info on Thursday, December 7 (DOR was 12/01), and all acceptances arrived back at the agency by Monday, December 11. They were sent, as a group, immediately to CCAA. All of the children in the group are in the same orphanage.
Another large agency sent all theirs to CCAA December 5 or 6, got their TAs back two weeks ago and are traveling (several travel groups) between Jan. 11 & 18. Based on that, we were hoping for last week, but it didn’t happen.
January 8th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
RQ- I’ve noticed than the majority of referrals I’ve seen are from Hunan province. Could just be a coincidence… But I’m hoping this may mean another batch will come soon. That in pure speculation CCAA had a large number of dossiers from Hunan come in and decided to match child dossiers and that soon they will match again with other child dossiers coming in from more provinces. Just a wild guess…one can hope. Have you notice a majority of Hunan referrals in this batch??? I’m wondering. Thanks
January 8th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Hey RQ,
Here in Oz our TAs went back to China on 12 December, and they still haven’t arrived (thats 12 families). But we’ve been told they’re on their way, so am anxiously waiting!
I noticed all the lovely Hunan girls – cause thats where my girl comes from as well. Our batch were pretty young 8 -13 months old at referral, all from Hunan, tiny SWI. Not sure if that assists in your stats? I noticed that some of the smaller ones are now a bit more active – I think it has to do with some rearranging of who does and submits the paperwork for the babies, as there are big differences from the past referrals from the same place.
And I am so pleased that y’all made that woman eat her words…
Regards Toto
January 8th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Our group’s 10 are in Jiangxi.
January 8th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
We had 19 babies from Jiangxi inour December batch. They had to split us up into two groups. We have a whole bunch from Hunan in the 18 -22 month range with this current referral batch.
Laureen
January 8th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
I think the faster your acceptances go out, the faster TA comes (makes sense it would anyway). I am with a small agency who returns acceptances the day following referrals, and in 2001 got my TA about 7-8 days after referral. I don’t think size matters although luck may!
PJM
LID 10/26 and harrassing my agency for my HS update so I can send to CIS ASAP. They say SF is about 5-6 weeks turnaround – anyone have experience with that?
January 8th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
PJM – yes, the turnaround for the SF office is about 5 weeks, really quick. We will refile our 171 at the end of April, since it expires May 30th.
January 8th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
pj mama-
SF turn around for us was 6 1/2 weeks, and we overnighted both ways.
January 8th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Hi RQ,
We’re with a medium, multi-country agency. We got our referral on Thursday, November 30. Our papers arrived by FedEx on Friday, December 1. We were required to have our acceptance letter back to the agency by Monday the 4th in the am. Letters left that afternoon and were accepted on the morning of the 8th in China. We felt good about a pretty quick turnaround, but much to my frustration (and that of our entire group of 34 families) we still have no TA.
Is it possible that each individual SWI or orphanage waits until all letters from all agencies adopting from that particular SWI in a given referral batch arrive before sending TA? I’m grasping at straws here, but each day we have no TA means another day someone else is raising my daughter…
I’m ready to swim!
~KM in CLT
January 8th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
We too are with an agency with a LARGE group (34-36). There have been many issues with I-171H’s being renewed.
We got referrals on 12/1 and the acceptances arrived back in china on 12/08. The wait is excruciating especially as we here of other agencies receiving TAs. Is the size of our group an issue? Would the 171H issue hold everyone up?
RQ, any of your expertise would be greatly appreciated.
D&R
LID 08-26-05
DOR 12-01-06
TA ???
CA ???