Jiangsu orphanage donation
I’m getting word that the donation in Jiangsu Province will be officially raised from $3,000 to $5,000 as of April 1st. So far three agencies have verified it is being raised but only one has given the date of April 1.
Several agencies have verified that Guangxi has raised theirs, while others are saying that Guangxi has not. I’ve heard of two travel groups who have been told they will have to pay $5,000 and many travel groups that have been told they will still only pay $3,000. I don’t know why there is a discrepancy at this point.
March 14th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Rumor Queen-
I received an update from my agency yesterday. It is official! As of March 1 2008, the Jiangsu province has raised their fee from $3000 to $5000. They strongly suspect that many other provinces will soon follow suit. This new fee does not apply to those in the Jiangsu province presently, only those who will travel in the future. Let me know if you need my agencies name for verification. LauraC
March 14th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
So, perhaps this is a silly question, but I’ve not gone through this process before. Do adoptive parents from countries other than the US pay the fee in dollars? Could the fees be going up because the dollar is so weak right now?
March 14th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
don’t mind the extra$$ but would love to see things move eevn a little Oct has been in the review box for 4 months! Any rumors on that RQ?
March 14th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
lizyrose - Chinese currency is closely based on the US$ so there tends to be little difference between the two.
March 14th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Does this increase apply to families who will be receiving their referrals after March 1, 2008?
Families who have recently received their referral but have not yet traveled to complete their adoption?
Our daughter is in Guangdong Province. We leave for China on Wednesday. If we are told NOW that we need to bring an $2000 in new $100 bills with us . . .
It’s not that I think $5,000 donation is unreasonable. But, how are folks suppose to come up with an extra $2,000 especially in NEW bills at the very last hour?
Can somebody clarify– especially for families with a referral from Jiangsu.
March 14th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
We received an email from our caseworker warning us of the possible increase and we should be prepared. I am glad our agency sent out a statement.
LID 2-24-06
March 14th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
lizyrose,
I am a Canadian. Until recently people travelling with my agency took new US bills. That has changed and we now take travellers cheques that we use to purchase Yuan in China to pay our orphanage fees. Not sure if this is happening with other Canadian agencies or not.
March 14th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I loved our agency. We pay them the money before we go, at the time of the referral acceptance, they forward it on to China. Our handlers/guides deal with the conversion and bring it to the office on adoption day.
The money we had to bring was the expenses that wasn’t covered in our hotel plans: lunches, dinners, laundry, phone, etc….
I was worried back in July that something would happen to increase the donation. I’m glad there is some warning for the folks it’s happening to.
March 14th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Did I read somewhere that there is an agency that takes the money in the US and then wires it to China? I think the facilitator then brings cash to the orphanage. Would love to see that become rule, Lot of greenbacks to be carring thru airports and such.
March 14th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Yes, Skittles. We can’t name agencies, but it was one of the things we asked about prior to picking an agency. I heard of 2 agencies that do this in our own factfinding. The money was given at adoption day in the adoption and marriage office of the major city in our province by our guide to the office clerk who then took it from there. All the kids came from various orphanage in the province, so there were multiple directors. I dislike the notion that we travel to an orphanage and hand over money to a director. It’s more proceedural than that.
I would encourage people to ask around before the commit to an agency. It was just one more thing that made us like the agency we settled on.
I really feel for Candians having to get a hold of USD to convert them into Chinese currency….. What a process!
March 14th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
I wish I was Canadian , what’s the exchange rate now? They could save some $ on the conversion.
March 14th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
The orphanage that has my daughter right now made noises about raising their fees, but our in-country facilitator talked them into keeping their fees down until after our trip.
I made it clear to my agency that it wasn’t a deal breaker for us. Does it hurt a bit? Yes. Do I think it is unreasonable? No. I was willing to suck it up, but we don’t have to.
March 14th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I am glad to know this now. I would rather be prepared, so we can save the extra $$. I talked to my agency today. She said to expect no referrals in August(Olympics). She also said that the U.S. officially becomes part of the new Hague April 1st. After this, the I-600 becomes the new I-800. The I-800 is more complicated and longer. She said there could be more “procedures” to go along with it, but they don’t know yet. She highly recommended to us that we submit our I-600 before April 1st. Luckily we did. We are “grandfathered” under the old Hague for another 18 months. We will have to re-do the paperwork again in late 2009 because the wait is so long. I hope the new system is not that bad.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I am with an agency that will wire the orphange fee (donation) for you however, I have recently received a message from them stating that at this time they are not able to wire the fee due to the fluctuations in the dollar. I sure hope that by the time I go, things will change. I hate to carry that much cash…especially if the fee goes up to 5k.
March 14th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
“at this time they are not able to wire the fee due to the fluctuations in the dollar”
RQ…do you know why that would make a difference?
March 14th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
That doesn’t make sense. Whether you show up with 5K on the 15 or it’s wired on the 11th shouldn’t make a difference. Why couldn’t the agency wire the money on the day that it’s needed. There would be no difference in exchange rate. Or ask for a slightly higher amount in case of a fluxuation. If everyone brought the money in your group and changed it on different days - you’d all get a slightly different exhange rate. Somewhere around 22,000+ Yuan. I don’t know the exact figure. How much do you bring exactly?
It didn’t occur to me now. But the CCAA, orphanage all get a different amount based on the value of the Yuan to the Dollar on the day they get the money.
March 14th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
KMS—I know, I thought it was a bit strange but thought maybe there was something I wasn’t “getting”. I will have to dig out their email to see exactly how they worded it.
March 14th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
KMS—I found it….it says “Because of the exchange rate” they can not wire the donations.
March 14th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
We are from the UK and also have to pay in US dollars. Luckily we have a very good exchange rate at the moment as it is still over $2 per pound.
March 14th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
…like we have a choice…$3,000 or $5,000..this is one time their is no negiotiation….
March 14th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Our agency also wires the China fees to China so we don’t have to carry all that $$ with us when we trave. It was nice the first time around and will be so this time around too!
Denise
March 14th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Anyone else had an issue that used to be able to get the money sent on ahead?
beatr1ce - do you now pay in USD or do you exchange yourself after you are in country? Does your agency have an office or offices in China to help fascilitate the travel end of thin
March 14th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Our agency, at the end of 2006, said that they could wire the funds ahead of time. They said that if you wanted to get it “out of the way” you could get them (the agency) the money even before you had a referral. Then, before the end of 2007, they sent an e-mail saying that they could no longer offer that service. No explanation as to why it was ending. Never thought it would be because of the value of USD… I just shrugged it off as another “change” in the process.
March 14th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
skittles, I received an email from my agency today saying that November was out of review. The way it was worded would lead one to believe that all of November is out of review, not just our agency’s November folks. Hope that helps…
March 14th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
beatr1ce~ Sounds like we are with the same agency. And we also hope this changes before we travel.
March 15th, 2008 at 12:14 am
I tried to pay the placement fee which includes the orphanage donation before the referral, as the wait was a lot longer than 6-14 months and I thought it would be easier to send then some money instead of a whopping amount at the time of referral. The whole, worried you’ll spend it on something else thing. My agency said they could not take the money early. Sounds pretty disciplined of them. We are hoping to adopt from China again and I hope they don’t stop the wiring funds service. I wonder why they (CCAA) don’t just have the orphange donation amount listed in Chinese currency?
March 15th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Yesterday, friday, we recieved the letter from our Minister. He will not stop the adoptions from China directly. But he is very worried about the things we heared this week.
He will contact the Chinese minister who is responsible for the adoption in China. And some people who work for the Justice in Holland will travel to Beijing very soon to talk with the CCAA. This all will happend in the month april. The Minister will inform the Government again before may 1!
The Minister says also in his letter that he is afraid that when we stop the adoption directley (without proper research), China will stop the adoption with the Netherlands! And his opinion is correct when he says that the CCAA wasn’t asked anything in the documentary. And in the past (2006) they reacted very well on the Hunan scandal. We had reasons to trust the CCAA.
We breath a little bit now. But monday/tuesday can be hard again. Last week there were two political parties they said; it’s better to stop for a while when we are not sure how thing are going in China. We don’t know how these parties are thinking after the letter from the Minister.
We hope so much that also these parties will use there brains!!!!!I’m sorry to say but it would be very unwise to stop directy, very unwise!
Please, please, please! Think about us, adoptionparents in the Netherlands. It’s painful to live with this kind of tention at the moment.
Lid jan. 11-06!!!! Next??? Please!
March 15th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Hello Ineke,
I have recieved a mail from two political parties: SP and PvdA. We read in their mails that they want first an investigation before they take an decision. So they have now a different opinion. They want ask other countries (like the VS and countries in Europe) what their experience is with adoptions from China. Futhermore people from our governement will visit China within one month and our minister will contact the minister from China.
Greetings Helen
March 15th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Thank you so much Helen! Thank you so much. This is good news for us.
March 15th, 2008 at 8:51 am
skittles, our agency posts the box - The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before November 30, 2006
when was the last donation increase? is it likely, with a 3+ year wait, that it will stay at 5k or is there a regular increase we should be anitcipating that may make it higher than 5K?
March 15th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Thanks all for the info on review box nice to see it move finaly. I do find the dollar amount changing due to the fluctuations in the commoditiy markets, did not matter when the dollar was up there. I’ve been watching the news and that actualy has me more concerned about some internal challenges with Tibet and the olympics. I hope this challnge gets settled quickly for all partys and that the challnges do not unravel into something more.
March 15th, 2008 at 9:36 am
RQ, do you have any information yet about the next cut of date?
March 15th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Our agency also posts what “the box” says and of yesterday (Friday) it still had the October date and this was in an updated message sent yesterday.
March 15th, 2008 at 11:01 am
One of the things we wondered about when they took the box off was wether it was going to change across the board or just certain agencys. Could be a clue in to how things will operate now.
March 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
it was updated march 11th 2008
March 15th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
KMS—Not sure how the donation is going to work now. I assume that we take the money in USD but not sure at what point in the process that we hand it over and who we give it to. I don’t think we convert it, unless the process has changed.
I too am worried about the protests in China around the time of the Olympics as well as the documentary to be aired during the Olympics. WIth a 1/23/06 LID I am hoping that we can get our referral and travel before the Olympics. I am afraid they may shut down during that time, although I don’t have any thing to back that up—just a gut feeling.
March 15th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
To all of you folks in the Netherlands I have been thinking of you all week and will continue to keep you in my thoughts
England LID sept 06
March 15th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
So the money changers would give less money if the dollar drops between the wire and the donation. Wonder if it’s the percentage the money changers want. If the y had the cash in hand teh directors could hosd untill the dollar goes up and get a btter echange?
March 15th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
What can you really say about the extra money..I guess just come up with a way to afford it..I would think alot less of it, if things would just speed up…
sophismom
LID 8/10/06
http://www.sophibryant.com
March 15th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
The money would not be as bad, if things would just speed up a bit..If the cost is raising this much now, how much will it be by the time i get to travel??
sophismom
lid 8.10.06
http://www.sophibryant.com
March 16th, 2008 at 10:51 am
It’s the first increase in orphange donation in over 12 years. I think you don’t have to worry about it…..
March 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
skittles our agency has changed their box for CCAA in February for November 2006. RQ said that it was because certain agencies have had their info already sent to them and that if not then they are still waiting,
I would think that we would all know at the same time..
I have no idea why some agencies know already and others don’t.
Littleperosn647
LID 11-23-07
March 16th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Hi Everyone
On a completely different note, has anyone been asked to update their 600A before April 1st. Ours does not expire until the summer but we have all been asked to renew it now. Has anyone else heard anything????? I cannot find anthing specific on the government website.
Thanks
Happy St. Patricks Day
Shamrock
March 16th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Our agency has said nothing but I told them last week-funny how RQ knows before they do. Sad! Anyway, our SW also told us that she “hears” many babies have been moved to the mountains-to more rural areas until the Olympics are over…..she has been doing IA for 20+ years but I cannot even “go there”-it makes me sick. I do not mind paying the extra money but it would have been nice for China to plan ahead, make a formal statement, be consistent and Grandfahter us in. I am tired of paying more and more everytime we turn around-especially when we are STILL waiting and no speed up is in sight. Waiting in CA
March 17th, 2008 at 9:32 am
On a completely different note, has anyone been asked to update their 600A before April 1st.
you do not have to renew now. you will be grandfathered under the pre Hague rules if you do not let it expire only
otherwise you will need the new I-800 form lot of more pages required
March 17th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
lizyrose,
Yes, us folk in Australia also have to pay the donation. Obviously, because our main currency is not USD, once in China, we get taken to a bank to obtain the US notes.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
My family will be affected by the exchange rate. My daughter’s province requires donation to be paid in yuan. Donation amount is still the amount of yuan (2400y) as when the exchange rate was 1:8. Now the bank rate is 1:7 so it will cost 3400 to buy the same amount of yuan. I wouldn’t mind if more money were going to the SWI — but that’s not the case. I can imagine more provinces requiring payment in yuan or at least increasing the dollar amount — and that wouldn’t even adjust for inflation.