Day 10 - Documents Are Complete, But...
Today was good day for documents! We went to the court house first to apply to do the adoption. We went into a small room where some individual reviewed all our documents to make sure we had everything. They approved us and we also were able to meet with what would be the judge's secretary. Ivan, our lawyer, asked her if she would work with us to get a date for court quickly because we have children in the USA. And she was favorable toward us! As soon as the child department in Kiev does the final approval, she will work to get us a court date quickly. :)
From the court house, we went to social services to get the one document we had been waiting for. We got the document and signed a book and were done. Then, we left and purchased some chocolates & instant coffee. We returned to social services and just Lisa & I went in and gave it as a way of saying thank you (no this was in no way to be bribe, just an act of kindness). Then, we went to the orphanage and gave one of the ladies that worked on our documents some chocolates and coffee. We went to lunch and then went and got one more document (yes, the getting documents in Ukraine is never ending). :)
Tomorrow, we will go to the child department here in Kiev to get final approval so we can then proceed with getting a court date. It can apparently take up to a week to get approval, so now we wait some more.
Ok, so here is the BUT...
We inquired again to our lawyer about the time frame to complete the adoption. Here is what he told us.
1) It will take 1 week to get approval from child department.
2) Then, Ivan will work with secretary of judge to get court date. Don't know how long it will take.
3) We have to wait 10 days after court date before we can apply for Vika's passports (Ukraine & USA) & new birth certificate.
4) Then, it could take up to 10 days to receive her passports.
So if you do the math, it could easily be 30 more days from today. :(
Furthermore, if it does take that long, my vacation time will run out. I (Johnny) will need to stay until the court date. After the court date, I can leave, but Lisa would need to stay to complete the process and bring Vika home. Now, we are still hoping and praying that the time frame will be shorten. But again, we are trusting God's plan and we have to walk by faith not by sight.
From the court house, we went to social services to get the one document we had been waiting for. We got the document and signed a book and were done. Then, we left and purchased some chocolates & instant coffee. We returned to social services and just Lisa & I went in and gave it as a way of saying thank you (no this was in no way to be bribe, just an act of kindness). Then, we went to the orphanage and gave one of the ladies that worked on our documents some chocolates and coffee. We went to lunch and then went and got one more document (yes, the getting documents in Ukraine is never ending). :)
Tomorrow, we will go to the child department here in Kiev to get final approval so we can then proceed with getting a court date. It can apparently take up to a week to get approval, so now we wait some more.
Ok, so here is the BUT...
We inquired again to our lawyer about the time frame to complete the adoption. Here is what he told us.
1) It will take 1 week to get approval from child department.
2) Then, Ivan will work with secretary of judge to get court date. Don't know how long it will take.
3) We have to wait 10 days after court date before we can apply for Vika's passports (Ukraine & USA) & new birth certificate.
4) Then, it could take up to 10 days to receive her passports.
So if you do the math, it could easily be 30 more days from today. :(
Furthermore, if it does take that long, my vacation time will run out. I (Johnny) will need to stay until the court date. After the court date, I can leave, but Lisa would need to stay to complete the process and bring Vika home. Now, we are still hoping and praying that the time frame will be shorten. But again, we are trusting God's plan and we have to walk by faith not by sight.
Trusting God Has the Best in Mind for Us,
Johnny & Lisa
P.S. Facebook reactivated Lisa's account! Yippee!!!
P.S.2. Here is a picture of Ivan our lawyer in whom we are really enjoying to get to know better. Both of our lawyers are really great and are doing everything they can to help us out!
