A few more items
1) Rumors are trickling in drip by drip about the next batch. The latest coming in are pointing to mid-November’ish for a cut off. I’m still at an R3 with the “could be a big batch” rumor.
2) It appears Australia will be putting out some sort of official announcement about their visit with the CCAA delegation. Meanwhile, I’m getting some more info that is still “heard from someone who heard from someone” information:
- Another person reports that a CCAA rep said “at least two years and possibly three” for the wait.
- It was made clear by the delegation that they intend to keep the program open. The rules were put in place to decrease demand, if the rules don’t work they will consider another quota.
- The delegation was very friendly and were sincerely interested in the children and how they were doing in their new homes.
- The CCAA wants to get through 2005 as quickly as possible and are making a concerted effort to do that. Once they reach 2006 the numbers drop. (thanks to our polls we already knew that last little bit, but nice to have confirmation)
3) In other news, I’m hearing some strange things in regards to various provinces now being able to make up their own rules about procedures. If anyone has any information on this please let me know, I’m still trying to make sense of what may or may not be going on.
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:39 am
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I needed something, even ever so small, to tell me about ANY news about the following batch. Woo-Hoo! Here’s to mid-November!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
Thanks RQ…I appreciate this…Great news for those with early November LID’s…I hope they do make it to mid month…I know it will take longer to get through the 18-24th…
RE: rules in the provinces…I am assuming you mean within China….I guess this may mean more paperwork…oh well..not looking forward to that, but you can bet that I will do whatever I need to when the time comes…
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:51 am
Thanks for that little tidbit. Us November folks are really looking for anything to give us hope. With less than 2 weeks likely before the next batch, shouldn’t we be hearing a little more? With the CCAA saying they want to get through 2005 as quickly as possible, I think that gives a little more weight to the mid-Nov cut-off. I sure hope so.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
It’s also nice to hear confirmation that 2006 is smaller than 2005! Thanks, RQ, for keeping us informed!
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
I am praying for a “Big Batch” as well. But as we all know, rumors like this seem to circulate before every batch …. I just hope this one is not a rumor.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:08 am
Thanks RQ, I appreciate the breakdown of info. It lends to a little calmness just before the train takes off. I still think it may take 3-4 months to get through Nov, but like everyone, am hoping for less. Time will tell.
LID 12/5/05
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:10 am
I also appreciate the new info. Especially the bit about wanting to get through 2005 as quickly as possible. (I even double checked to be sure I read that correctly! ha ha ha) It feels like I’ve been waiting forever, but then again, haven’t we all?!?
Here’s hoping they mean that!
Shannon
LID 12/8/05
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:15 am
Thanks RQ - you truly help make the wait more bearable.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:17 am
When they say mid-November’ish, is that looking more like the 16th or could it possibly include the 17th? I was just thinking maybe the numbers are too big on the 17th. I am LID 11/17/05 so of course am hoping for a really big batch.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:27 am
Maybe the new procedures/provinces is a way to encourage more SWIs to participate–let them set their own criteria for adopting out their kids. But, think of the bureaucratic tangle that would cause……….. Thanks RQ for some relatively good news. At least we are still going in the same direction on the little train and not getting de-railed for crazy rumors going both ways
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:41 am
Has there been any talk at all about flexibility on the new requirements that went into effect May 1st? We have already adopted our daughter from China in 2005 and are in the process of adopting our second from China (boy). Our dossier should be sent in June. We would like to switch in the fall to the S.N. program but we will have only been married 4 years (2nd marriage) and the new rules state 5 years.
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:43 am
RQ,
Have you heard any additional information about the Europe chatter indicating that the CCAA was oficially telling them the wait would be 18 months?
I only ask because I think it effects the credibility of their statement to Australia - if the CCAA is blatently so contradicting themselves in the same week then it’s hard to take anything they say too seriously.
Assuming that you are able to trace the Autstalia information directly back to CCAA from someone in the room and get a substantuated direct quote, how much weight will you give the information? In other words, does their word hold any credibility at this point (from your perspective)?
May 23rd, 2007 at 10:49 am
I wonder if the province stuff will be like the longer stay for Guangdong? No idea, just throwing that out there.
jjjsm07- someone else should be able to correct me, but I thought that parents couldn’t switch mid-stream anymore, or is that a “possible” change coming down the pike? I have not been totally paying attention to the special needs side of things.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:11 am
jjjsm07 - are you saying your agency is allowing you to submit a dossier when you don’t meet the new requirements of the new rules? If so, then your agency is the only one doing that to my knowledge, and that would be very big news.
sks - I haven’t given the Europe chatter any weight at all, I just let ya’ll know it’s being said since it’s out there. The wait is already over 18 months, so I can’t imagine that it is correct. And I wasn’t in on the particulars of exactly who heard it from the CCAA and how it made it out as a rumor, so I’m not even convinced of it’s authenticity at this point.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:15 am
How can we trust what the CCAA says? If they say things to “save face” as someone put it last night on the blog when they say the wait wont go past 18 months then in another statement they say the wait will be 3 years. How do we know anything they say is true or is it all to “save face” with whatever audience they are talking to?
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:18 am
Yes, we are submitting our dossier under non-preferred. They never told us we could not apply to adopt. They just said by the time they review our file, we will have been married 5 years. I am really starting to think about switching countries before our dossier goes in.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:26 am
jjjsm07,
this is the first i’ve heard of submitting under non-preferred. How does that work? do you receive a LID date once you meet the requirements or when you submit the dossier? Or are you only required to meet requirements once the dossier is in review????
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:30 am
I am led to believe from my agency that we will be logged in right after our dossier is submitted in the next month or so. Therefore, I would believe that you must meet the requirements when it is under review. Of course, our agency could be misleading us. I HOPE NOT.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:34 am
Thanks RQ!!!!
I’m glad for the reassurement that the CCAA is committed to keeping the program open. A 3+ wait is bad enough without uncertainty as to whether or not the program will continue for those logged in.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:36 am
jjjsm07…I would call around to some other agencies, because I think you must meet the requirements at time of LID; unless I guess they think you will have to do a homestudy update way before they review your file? This might be the case..in which case; I guess it might be fine because then you would have had your file updated and you would be meeting all the requirements…..its hard to say… but I would be calling around to a few other agencies to ask this very question…because I don’t think the CCAA will appreciate any surprises…
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:40 am
yikes jjsmo7- I would double check that. Our agency is super conservative and they are double triple checking that you meet the new requirements at APPLICATION-I have never heard that you can meet the new requirements when you go into review…if so, they would allow you to start a new dossier right after you get DD/DS #1 because by the time it got into review you would be home a year and I KNOW they don’t let you do that…I would be careful…that sounds really different than anything I have ever heard. If it is true-it would really change things for a lot of people that are waiting to be DTC.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:46 am
I just sent my agency an email for them to confirm that we will indeed be logged in shortly after submitting our dossier in a month or so even though we don’t meet that one requirement. Now I’m worried that we’ve just spent the last 3 months doing all the paperwork and money and then can’t be logged in.
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:47 am
Hang in there…maybe you can..its just better to be careful. And I would not just ask them…call a few other agencies and tell them that you have adopted before, but have only been married 4 years….
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am
Hi!
Thanks RQ for this confirmation that 2006 is smaller than 2005! That is a great news!!!
Silvia From Barcelona
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 am
jjsm, if you can be logged in now because you’ll meet the requirements once your dossier is in review, then I should be able to submit my dossier this summer at 29, since I’ll be 30 by the time my dossier is reviewed. For the record, I was told that my dossier could not even arrive at the CCAA office until I was 30 years old.
I would definitely call other agencies and ask, because it seems rather strange that CCAA would enact new requirements and then immediately log in people who don’t meet those requirements.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:03 pm
jjsm, Like txmama I’m also waiting to turn 30 and was told I couldn’t even apply to an agency until I was 29.5 years old. I could then start paperchasing, but that the agency wouldn’t send my dossier until my 30th birthday. I would call some other agencies too. Let us know what you hear! Good luck!
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:11 pm
It makes me wonder what they do at LID versus Review. If they check all the qualifications at LID, then what’s the purpose of the Review room.
I was under the impression that logging in was simply stating “we have a dossier from “x” and that person is using agency “y”. Not much more.
I think they would, however, check to make sure you met the qualifications when they review the dossier (whenever that actually takes place) when the dossier was logged in.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Honored2bDaddy,
I think they stamp a LID on the dossier. When the dossier comes up for review, they review it according to whatever rules are in effect for that LID.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Requirements are checked at log in - files have been returned for parents who were a week away from 30.
But the new rules are different than the rule to be 30, under the new rules you can still submit an application, you just can’t get a referral (that’s how they got around their inability to change the laws).
I would be very hesitant to submit an application if I didn’t meet the new requirements at the time of LID. Maybe this agency has it from the CCAA that it will work this way, but if so then this is the only agency, to my knowledge, doing it this way.
waitingforlibby - the rumor does not say that 2006 is smaller than 2005, it just says the numbers drop once they reach 2006. We know that’s true, that January and February are smaller, but it doesn’t mean that all of 2006 is smaller than all of 2005.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Hello All,
Hey RQ, just a quick snippet of info, regarding changes to provincial procedures…. Friends have just received their travel itinerary…they are going to Guizhou province. Our large Canadian agency has never dealt with this SWI before, apparently it is 4-6 hrs away from nearest town.
Instead of the usual $3000.00 in crisp US bills,for donation to the orphanage, they are now required to exchange that money to Yuan, as they will not accept USD.
This is outside of what we have heard as the norm.
Could be nothing, just wanted to throw it out there.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:40 pm
JJSM - how were you able to adopt in 2005, if you have only been married 4 years right now?
The math is not adding up. But then, my lunch hasn’t made it way to my head yet either.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:45 pm
The requirements were not in effect when we adopted the first time. We started the process in September 2004 and brought our daughter home in November 2005.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:53 pm
An interesting, if not more than slightly disturbing article on MSN, courtesy of the Washington Post….
“Birth control crackdown sparks riots in China
Officials enforce one-child policy with brutal drive to collect fines”….
was the headline
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Bringing in more swi’s would definitely be the most logical way of increasing the number of paper ready babies but, if there is some quota in place as to how many IA referrals they’ll allow annually, does it even matter that much?
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
jjjsm07,
Is it a SN child you are adopting?
I have NOTHING to base this on but I would not be surprised to see the SN program allow deviations from the rules in the future. In the past CCAA did some bending of the reported rules for that program. It will be interesting to see if that happens.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:10 pm
RQ, I know you are holding firm to R3 rating here, but do ya wanna take a stab at what “mid-Novemberish” means?, like, 13th-18th kinda guess? I know its all conjecture at this point, but given that there are soooooo many LID’s in November…………..
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Cindy, We wanted to be logged in under S.N. immediately but our agency said that we should be logged in under N.S.N. and they would inquire in the fall if we could switch to S.N.
May 23rd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Glad to hear any news RQ! This has been the longest month! I hope the roller coaster is ready to begin it’s ascent soon!!
Julie LID Nov 7, 2005
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:15 pm
jjjsm07,
I don’t understand your agency having you log in under NSN and then switch when supposedly they don’t want people switching anyway. Also, if you really want a SN boy why would you not wait a little, find your child (which it is fairly easy to find a boy with a good agency) and then submit your paperwork when you meet the new requirements or at least close to then. If you do get logged in with your agency (assuming you CAN be and ASSUMING you CAN switch) then you are limited to the boys only on their list. I don’t know how your agency does SN or how many children they receive but it would be worth thinking about. I would be glad to talk with you as I have been helping several people do this…e-mail me at holtzoieli@yahoo.com
Leslie in TN
Zoie’s mom since Aug -06
SN
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:24 pm
jjjsm07,
Also, I know an agency right now who has 2 precious boys who are cleft lip, cleft palate. One is 2 and the other is 10 months or so. I do not think they are placed yet. I emailed them to ask about your situation. They are from my daughter’s orphanage and are well taken care of and the agency gets great reviews.
Leslie in TN
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:24 pm
A family with our agency just left today to adopt their son from Yunnan Province. When they received their TA a few weeks ago, they were told that Kunming is now saying that instead of a 5 day stay in province, they could have to stay “up to 15 days.” Just prior to departure, BLAS was able to get the officials to promise they’d be done in 10 days, so they quickly changed their CA and their return flight. They will be there for three weeks, but at least it’s not four.
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Hi Leslie, I emailed you directly a couple of times.
May 23rd, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Guangdong is definitely following its own procedural rules. When we were there in March, we had to visit the notary an extra time and they are stretching out how long it takes to get the passport back, etc., hence the longer stay. And a group from our agency is in Jianxi right now and they were told to bring a few extra copies of things that we did not need for Guangdong!
You’d think “centralized” would mean “centralized”, huh!
:-)
Steph
May 23rd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Am I too negative? Is that why no one is responding to me? Screaming into the darkness as usual.
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:16 pm
adomom12,
I’ll respond….I’ve posted before not to get a response, either here or yahoo can’t remember. ..sometimes it does feel like your outside the “conversation” so to speak but I don’t think it is intentional….people just have their minds on certain things at the time. As for trusting the CCAA… for me I guess its not a matter of trust or don’t trust what they say…its government…its big…it involves alot of people and probably many who think they are in charge when in fact they are not…kinda like our own government..which I fully support…but I know better than to “trust or take to the bank” everything they say…its not that governments are always trying to decieve …sometimes I think they believe what they are saying and then something happens higher up that changes things…so I chose not to try to trust or not trust the CCAA….just keep believing that they are working the best they can.
tripleH
2/12/07
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:25 pm
That part about different procedures in different provinces is SCARY!!! Part of why we have liked China’s program is that we couldn’t do a trip of more than 2 or 3 weeks. For a province to suggest they might require 10-15 days, then to go to Guangzhou on top of it, that could become a monster trip!! I would hope people know ahead of time if their trip is going to be a lot longer than usual. adomom12, not sure why no one has responded. Maybe because no one knows? I think we all know that anything we hear is taken with a grain of salt, BUT sometimes things fall in line with the math we can figure out on our own and seem to make sense.
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:34 pm
“The CCAA wants to get through 2005 as quickly as possible and are making a concerted effort to do that. Once they reach 2006 the numbers drop. (thanks to our polls we already knew that last little bit, but nice to have confirmation)”
Well this is good news to me!! I was starting to think CCAA wanted to see how slow they could go finishing 2005!!!!
So…. hopefully (fingers crossed) the next batch will be a BIG one!!
His,
Mrs. U
LID 9-12-05
referral 1-4-07
“Gotcha” Day 2-25-07
http://www.makingahouseahome.blogspot.com
May 23rd, 2007 at 5:50 pm
I agree with tripleH on the answer to adomom12 -
It is very easy for people to say how they think things will be and then have the circumstances or higher authorities change that reality. It happens in my own life. “I’ll be there at 10:00″ turns into “We hit traffic, and I forgot we needed to stop at the post office, and we needed to swing by my mom’s for a second” and the next thing you know we are 2 hours late. I fully believe the directors and workers at the CCAA love these children, do everything they can to place them quickly, and want the wait to remain short. Then along comes (alleged) quotas, holidays, provincial SWI workers, office relocations, new regulations, differences in how the one-child policy is enforced, and the government’s need to save face. I wouldn’t want anything I said to be held against me in that situation.
So, we are wise to take it all with a grain of salt, as 3xwait said.
May 23rd, 2007 at 6:39 pm
DH and I work for a large health care company. we always are launching new products, dates are set, plans are made, and almost always, something causes delays. Once in awhile something goes early. Business is just that way, timelines don’t always work out. I try to remember that thru this long wait! (but it’s hard!)
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Hmmm, interesting points, and I find them ALL to be optimistic! Maybe we’re at the peak of the slowdown and the beginning of a speed up? Not that we’ll get back under 18 months, just that the rate at which it’s building will start to drop and the wait not get as bad as feared. “definitely 2, maybe 3″ is a lot less aweful than “will get to 3″ as I read it before…
Having a hopeful day.
N
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Yes, the Provinces do, and I believe they will in the future it will be common to set out their own rules. We experienced this in our ds’s province. Babies are only paper ready if the SWI’s Director want it so. The Director’s do have a say into placement of babies. There was a situation recently, where a Director of SWI refused to accept the approved adoptive mother for one of their
Waiting Children. I don’t know if the CCAA over ruled this
decision, but the lady received word that it was all sorted out. I was not aware that Directors had a say into whether children and babies can be adopted out, until the
Director of our ds’s CWI said, that she absolutely does.
Several people had enquired about a little girl in the CWI,
with wanting to adopt her, and she said that she is not available for adoption. It was her decision. ? I asked about her, as she is in my ds’s photos and she just said she will not be registered for adoption.
May 25th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
3xwait,
What if you receive a referral from Guangdong province that currently requires 5-10 business days in just Guangdong province? Would you not go to BeiJing? I know several families who are doing just that, partly because of the additional length of stay issue but also the cost of both the longer stay AND the more expensive room costs in Guangzhou vs other provincial capital cities.
I think agencies should really review their literature on their China programs and make a myriad of subnotes and addendums to advise PAP’s of the various fluctuations that can occur. Most PAP’s from other IA programs are prepared for that but not China program. It has been said that China is beginning to be like many of the other countries IA programs- unpredictable. I wouldnt go that far but I would agree, there are a LOT of disgruntled clients out there right now.
May 25th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Dear RQ,
I just read that a rep for the CCAA says that adoptions can now take up to 2-3 years? Well to whom does that apply? Does that apply to the new applicants? Or does that apply to the people who are already logged in? For instance, our LID was 4/7/06, does that apply to us? Its already been 13 months! Thanks for all your hard work. It helps me!