Bureaucracy

Contrary to the heading of this blog, I am not going to complain in this blog :) Out of all the documents we have had to have notarized, the most difficult have been the medical forms, the assessor's proof of home ownership, and the letter of VA benefits for Barry.

The medical forms took over a month because the doctor went on a two week vacation, then the first set of forms he signed had to be re-done according to the faciliation team in Micah's country. Those got done last week (Thursday), and we're good to go. Our doctor is very supportive of what we are doing and he and his nurses have been very helpful.

That same Thursday last week, two days after talking to a county assessor employee who said she could help me, I went in to have our "proof of home ownership" letter signed with a notary. The 3rd floor wasn't able or willing to help, the 4th floor supervisor stayed within his black and white lines sayin "no" while trying to be understanding, then the manager on the 5th floor was the nicest person in the world and was willing to help us. She even got a little creative with the document because the letter I brought in with specifics did not match their records. She screen-printed and cut and paste the information on their letterhead. Unfortunately, the document she provided was not accepted by the facilitation team so we had to start at square one. Yesterday, I called and emailed that same supervisor a blank copy of the letter and she filled in the blanks and made it work. I am so grateful for her! She even told me that the Assessor was happy she helped me even though it was a unique situation and so out of the ordinary. So even though there was no procedure in black and white, they were able to go out of the lines to help us. We were the first case in 27 years that came to them with this request!

Then for the last three weeks, Barry and I have tried to get a letter showing what his monthly benefit payments are from the VA (Veteran's Administration). Getting the letter was no problem, but getting someone to sign it in front of a notary was quite the ordeal. The call center was rude to Barry, saying "they don't do that." I called the local office two weeks ago and was told they couldn't help us, that we needed to go to the Regional office in Los Angeles. My notary charges 50 cents per mile and the office is 80 miles away... I did the math and thought no way! I would've had to find a local mobile notary in L.A., and they would probably charge just as much (my notary has given us half off everything and been more than accomodating for what we are doing). So I took a few days off from this and thought, I'm going to try with the local office again and talk directly to the supervisor just to see if I can convince her to help us. So two faxes and several phone calls later, she has agreed to sign in front of a notary. You would think the VA is all the same, but it's not. They have Federal, State, and County offices who handle different things. The State office cuts Barry's check, so they are the issuing authority. The county office (our local office) can verify benefits in writing, but do not want to be liable for anything legal having to do with Barry. It all makes sense, but it's bureaucracy as my title states. I am grateful for the Lord softening hearts in those around us to help us. The local supervisor has agreed to sign the letter in front of our notary tomorrow morning. Please pray that it goes well! I am nervous posting this before it's done. But now I have a contact in L.A. who can help us if anything does go wrong tomorrow. Oh the joys and perils of paperwork! :)

The best news is this VA letter was the last piece of paperwork we have any control over for our dossier. Now we are waiting for our signed homestudy to send to USCIS, and subsequently our "golden ticket" telling us we can go get Micah. Then, the FINAL piece is sending our dossier to the SDA in his country and waiting for an appointment to meet him. Once we are in his country, we have to wait for a court date, then the 10 day waiting period and he's ours! Realistically these last two steps can take 2-6 months, but our hope and prayer is that we can bring Micah home by Easter. Will you pray with us?

Thank you all for your love and support!