My Dossier is in Kaz!

I received word from my coordinator a couple of days ago that my dossier is now at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Astana, Kazakhstan. It will leave there and head to the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Astana and then on to the region where I will be going. While in Astana, my agency will be looking for a region that is a good match. I expressed a preference for a boy under 18 months, any ethnicity, healthy as possible in my paperwork. I'm traveling blind, which means I will not receive information about a specific child before I leave. This seems to be the preferred method of the country. Dare I even say it; everything still seems to be on track. I'm still hoping to travel in Sept/Oct.

While I'm in the waiting stage, I have been making endless lists of everything I still need to do. I thought I might have some down time; boy was I wrong! I have started working on getting the nursery together. It is so much more fun than paperchasing! I'm also looking for an international adoption doctor to do a medical assessment for me while I'm in-country and a pediatrician for when I come back. I've called numerous daycares and started compiling the travel tips I have come across on the message boards. The list goes on and on and on....

Dossier at Consulate

Well, I got some good news last night. My dossier has been translated and was sent yesterday to the Kaz Consulate in New York. My agency coordinator says it takes about 2-4 weeks for them to approve it and then it is sent to Kaz. It has to go through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Kazakhstan, which takes another 2 or so months. I will then be issued a Letter of Invitation (LOI) to travel. I'm still on track to travel maybe late Sept or Oct, most likely the latter. Of course, these are only estimates. Unfortunately, delays happen all too often when adopting. Fingers crossed!