When we received our referral on November 9, 2012, we gathered our documents and sent them to Korea to await the next step in the process. During this time, the Korean adoption process underwent a significant change. Instead of having the court process completed in the United States, the Korean government began doing all court proceedings there in country. 2013 brought with it a learning process of the Korean government in which only a small number of adoptions were processed. Our agency, unfortunately, did not complete any adoptions during this time. We were left to wait. Fortunately, during this waiting time, God blessed us with our son, Levi. He is such a blessing to our family, but it did not change our adoption plans for our first son, Richard.
In the beginning of 2014, we were blessed to hear that the agency was ready to submit our paperwork to court for an Emigration Permit (EP). We gathered our files, received a home study update, and submitted our documents to Korea and waited for EP submission.
As the summer approached, we were surprised to hear that the military was ready for us to move a year sooner than our current ordered specified. This turned out to work out perfectly, but at the time, I was scared at what this meant. Our agency did not service Mississippi, which is where we were moving to. I was unsure if I would have to remain in Virginia until the adoption was completed (or the million other scenarios that ran through my head). Once I called our agency to break the news, they let us know that they weren't sure how this would work, but we would figure out something. Just a few weeks later, we received a call from the agency that they were closing their doors to adoptions. This was just one more example of God's perfect timing. The agency that we would have transferred to in Virginia also services Mississippi, so our move didn't hinder our adoption at all! Such wonderful news to hear!
In September we finished up our paperwork with our new agency and received our newest home study. All of the documents were ready and submitted to Korea on December 12, 2014!
So, what is next? More waiting! The next step is for our EP (emigration permit) to be submitted to the ministry in Korea. Once this happens, here is a rough estimate of steps after that:
- EP approval
- submitted to court
- court date issued
- appear in court and finally meet Richard
- court waiting period (return to the US and wait for return date)
- second trip where we will get his visa and custody
- arrive home
The process from this point on can take anywhere from 5-10 months. We are trusting that God will provide His perfect timing yet again. With that being said, we really, really, really, really, really hope it is very quick from this point on.
Please pray that before the year ends, our EP will be submitted and approved quickly after that!
