We are home ... well, technically, we are in Eureka at the moment, but nonetheless we are in IL. The long-and-short on travels was a 2-hour delay in Frankfurt because of bad weather in Chicago for the plane that was coming over. So, that delay caused us to miss our connection in Chicago and to be re-booked on a later flight, which also was delayed about an hour (9:55p). So, all-said-and-done, we arrived at Leslie's parents house just before midnight last night.... it was 30-hours from our wake-up call in St. Petersburg to turning the door handle in Eureka, IL.
We don't want to even think about making the trip again, but on the other side, we are hoping that we are making the trip again soon. The most common question we hear is, "What happens next?" or "Where do you go from here?". So here's what we know...
The majority of gov't officials are on "holiday" in Russia until August 20th. We have to get a few papers to our coordinator in Russia (Irena) by August 10th, so that she is ready to visit one of the officials early on the morning of Aug 20th. From there, our papers go to Moscow for 3-4weeks, then come back to the Judge to be reviewed. Once she receives them, there is a mandated 5-7 day turn around where she looks at all our paperwork to determine what additional information she might want from us. This amount of information is unpredictable, but Irena said that, after looking over our papers, she isn't sure what else she could really need... basically saying our case seems pretty straight forward. Once that info reaches the Judge, a court date would likely be set between 4-6 weeks later. So, when you add all that up, we are looking at about 8-12 weeks before being able to go back over for our court date. Irena told us that court will be a 2-5 hour session! Yikes!!! From what we know right now, we will arrive between 2-3 days before court, then court date, and stay one day beyond court "just in case". So, again, it will be about a 5-6 day trip. After trip 2, we have to wait a mandated 30-days before we can take custody. So, we will go over, take custody of our little guy, but then we have all kinds of stuff that needs to happen... we have to get a Passport, which will take 5-business days, then a visa, then a trip to Moscow to meet at the US Consulate to officially get citizenship papers/determination. Yes, once our little guy crosses over US air space, he will be a US citizen... he will actually maintain dual-citizenship.
Well, that is everything new in a nutshell. I will probably not post daily now again. I will post as there is more to tell. Thanks for all who have followed up to this point and on our trip, and I hope you enjoyed taking the trip with us in pictures, and I hope that you will continue to track our progress as things move forward!
1 comment:
This whole situation is fascinating and miraculous, especially considering the Russia (USSR) that I remember growing up with. God will continue to watch over and bless your family on this journey and how exciting to be adding to your family in this way. Your little guy is coming into a Christian home so full of love and warmth. You are all very lucky! Thanks for sharing with all of us.
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