WHERE'S MY I-171H??????? A RANT...

I said I was going to remain calm during this 2nd adoption, but there is something about the Dallas BCIS (Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services) that makes my blood boil!!!!! I was updating our website last night and added in a ticker/counter on how long we have been paperchasing and waiting for our final document, the I-171H. Up pops 8 + months of paperchasing and almost 5 months of waiting for our I-171H. 5 months of checking the mailbox everyday, wondering if the government agrees we are suitable parents to adopt. AHHHHHH!!! Matt says that I worry about things that are out of my control. Shouldn't this be in my control? I pay taxes to fund these silly people who sit in an office on a stack of papers, don't return emails (I have sent 2) and don't answer the phone. In order to find anything out, I was told I should contact my Senator's office and have them inquire as to the whereabouts of my document. WHY? What do the 2 Senators have to do with my paperwork or adoption? Why will they answer to them and not to me, who filed the paperwork? I was also then told by someone else not to contact a Senator because it tends to tick Dallas BCIS off. Sorry, someone thinks it should take less than 5 months to do a background search and read a homestudy and send out a piece of paper in the mail.

Why am I getting so worked up? Statistically, as each month passes, it will takes us longer to get our referral because China is not referring full months and thus things are actually taking longer. (Someone has actually designed a webpage to figure all of this out) So, if we were DTC in mid-July (as expected) then we would theoretically receive a referral in late June of 2008. IF we file our dossier in September of this year (pending our document from Dallas) then we will theoretically receive a referral in October of 2008. What's the difference? Well, first, look at the year of the expected referral...2008. Do the math. If we filed in July 2006, we could expect to wait 23 months for a referral. If we file in September 2006, then we can expect to wait 2 years and 1+ months. And, don't forget to factor in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to slow down and mess up travel plans. OY!

Now, where's our I-171H so I can send my dossier off to China and be DTC???