Need Your Prayers For Friday!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

We walked to the embassy for our morning appointment and gave Freda, the embassy representative for adoptions, our documents.  We had everything she needed...then she threw us a curveball.  When I asked if we'd be able to get visas for the kids tomorrow, she acted like it was very unlikely.  Since all of our flights are set up for a Saturday night departure, we really need to get these visas on Friday (the embassy is closed on the weekends).  Freda indicated that after the documents were submitted, an orphan investigation must take place and it might require a consular officer to do a field study - in other words, travel to where the children are from to verify the information.  This could take weeks!

After Angie stopped hyperventilating, we went back to the hotel to wait for our interview appointment that would take place around 2PM where we would get all the details.  Simon joined us for this interview because in my earlier meetings at the embassy, I was told having him there would make the process go much faster. 

We arrived at 1PM for our 2PM appointment because I wanted to make sure we didn't run into an issue where we'd wait so long that the embassy would close for the evening.  Two other couples from Alabama who were also adopting were there waiting in line in front of us.  One couple had been trying to adopt in Uganda for 2 years and the other couple had been in Uganda for nearly a month trying to finish their adoption.  Not encouraging news to hear!

Around 3:30PM, we went in for our interview and it was pretty short and straight-forward.  We were asked how we came to know the children and why we were adopting.  After a few simple questions for Maureen, Alex and Simon, we were told that the staff would try their hardest to get us the visas tomorrow.  We are scheduled to come back in at noon and get the news.  This is the last item we need to board the plane with the kids and be admitted back into the United States.  Your prayers for tomorrow will be greatly appreciated!