I got the news today from our agency that once again (this happened in 2009 too), they have reached their emmigration approval quota for 2010... and it's only April!! So basically that means that unless you had formally accepted a referral prior to April 1, 2010, you won't get a travel call until Feb 2011!
Thankfully we accepted our referral in March, but with the huge backlog of emmigration approvals from the previous year, it means we very likely won't travel to pick up our son until December! :-( I know it's better than February 2011, but it's hard knowing that our son is growing bigger every single day and we can't bring him home.![]()
::::sigh:::::
ok, vent over. carry on.
sorry, forgot to add, we're adopting from Korea.
Re: ugh, frustrating news from agency
Oh, that is bad news! Is there any possibility that they might manage to bust through the paperwork quicker than expected?
I don't think so, but I guess miracles could happen. I just don't want to get my hopes up only to have to wait until December anyway. It would be a fantastic surprise if we got our call earlier though!
I kept in constant contact with all my contacts to get things moving along.
Who are you waiting on to do the next step?
Our SW told us to talk with our congress people and we did while waiting on immagration. I am not sure if it help or not but they told them things that they would not tell us about the process. I asked why and it is a goverment thing. I also always asked for timelines and if I did not hear on that date I would contact again. I was told that if I had not pushed so hard that we would still be waiting. Just a thought.....
She's waiting on the Korean government. There are 4 Korean agencies that place children internationally, and wach has a restricted number of emigration visas each year--and the numbers are shrinking, as Korea seeks to end IA.
Eastern (the agency the OP is working with) has more children to refer than they have exit visas alloted. In 2009, the quota was hit late summer. Because of the backlog from last year, the quota has been hit already for 2010.
Unless the Korean government decides to increase the number of exit visas, the wait will continue to lengthen. There are people who have been waiting 8 months to travel.
For reference, my travel call was almost exactly 3 months after I got my referral, both times.
Oh no! I am so frustrated for you. Friends that went through the Vietnam program went through something similar. They had a referral and kept getting updates until they were finally allowed to travel, almost a year later.
I hope that things speed up for you. You'll be in my thoughts.
Oh man!!!!!
On the one hand, I'm happy to hear an update from you, but on the other, what a crappy update!!!!!! I'm sure you just want to get on a plane and go pick him up right now!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed that things speed up!
thanks! you saved me from typing out a response. :-) Eastern's travel call times used to be about 3 months, but the last couple of years have been ridiculous. Can I ask what agency you worked with? You can PM if you'd like.
They initially told us 5-8 months, then it became "more likely 8 months" and now it's "9 months". :::sigh::::
His birthday is in August, so he's 8 months old now.
We were with an SWS agency last time around. SWS seems to be the fastest of the Korean agencies right now--although I seem to remeber hearing that they hit their quota at the very end of the year, maybe? Or end of 2008--can't remember which.
We were with Eastern for our first adoption, but a lot can change in 4.5 years!
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We were also with SWS. Submitted paperwork to Korea in Mid May 2009, recv'd referral July 28, 2009 and travelled in Mid October 2009, so a little less than 3 months for us too.