Bad News from the Embassy

Last night we spoke with our Guyana attorney, Ms. Amin. She had some bad news to relay. The U.S. Embassy in Guyana had been trying to reach her. She called the Embassy and was told that Aria would not be granted a temporary non-immigrant visa for medical needs. Our hope was to receive this temporary visa so that Aria could come home in a few weeks versus a few months. The Embassy said instead they would grant her an immigrant visa IF we were able to obtain permanent guardianship in Guyana.  We were on track to receive temporary guardianship, but the likelihood of Guyana giving us permanent guardianship is slim.  If granted permanent guardianship, we would not need to return to Guyana to finalize the adoption, but would adopt Aria in the U.S. instead. Ms. Amin feels as though obtaining permanent guardianship is a long shot and unlikely to be granted.

Hopscotch and our US Lawyer are baffled that the Embassy would decide on our Visa before we have formally applied. Our Lawyer said this is highly inappropriate. We've been told it's the sole discretion of the person working at the Embassy on the day of our appointment, but it seems as though the Embassy is already well aware of our case and the impossibility of Aria being able to satisfy the required "intent to return" to Guyana.

It sounds like the best course of action is to concentrate on the adoption and complete it in Guyana as had always been our plan. Unfortunately, Ms. Amin has been trying to get our adoption case moving along but the Child Protection Agency (CPA) is moving at a snail's speed and has not been able to provide her with the information she needs to move forward.

Ms. Amin said she has seen adoptions move through much quicker than the CPA has been willing to do on our case. It seems like the CPA was counting on us being approved for the medical visa instead of focusing on the adoption process. Now that it seems highly unlikely that we will be able to get the visa, we are hoping they start to proceed with a sense of urgency.

Our lawyer in the U.S. is telling us to move forward with the original plan to ask for temporary guardianship and a temporary non-immigrant visa, but it seems like a lot of time and money wasted on something we've been told they will deny. Please send prayers that the CPA will begin moving quickly on our case so we can get Aria home.