Thursday, March 11, 2010

Finally.... We Have a Notary

Things are moving along quicker than I expected-- but not without the roller coaster ride.

Yesterday we received John's police clearance letter much quicker than we ever anticipated, but it did not have the embossed seal like these letters normally do. Somewhat concerned, I called our stateside facilitator Laurel who said this letter could be notarized, but that Ukraine prefers that the letter have the seal. She said that another client had called the Department of Justice and had them mail out another letter with the seal... so I thought it was worth a try.

On my second attempt I reached an answering service and left a very nice message. To my surprise, they called me back a few hours later and promised to send out a new letter with the seal. They also straightened out the information that was entered incorrectly by the LiveScan operator and got a heads up for my request that would be coming in a week or two. I finished that roller coaster ride with a smooth sail down and went to stand in line for the next one.

After I took Anna to the dentist, I stopped by our bank like someone had suggested we do. I was welcomed by the same manager who ordered brand new bills for our last adoption. She remembered me and smiled when I told her we were adopting again. She said it should be no problem to order new bills-- just call her a few days before. I then asked her about notarizations. She informed me that their notary only notarized bank related documents but she would see if the woman would make an exception. This roller coaster ride looked as if it was nearly over when the notary agreed to do all my documents-- until I asked her when her stamp expired. Oh-oh. The ride apparently was not over. Her notary stamp expired sooner than the other notary's stamp I was going to use. I waved goodbye as I thanked both of them for going out of their way to help.

Back to the drawing board.

As I was opening up our marriage certificates that came in today's mail, the phone rang. It was the manager at the bank. After she made sure she had the right person, she told me excitedly that she talked to another co-worker whose mother is a notary-- and they already confirmed that she would do the notarizations for free and her stamp doesn't expire for two more years!

Finally, I got off the roller coaster ride. I was beginning to feel a little queasy.

Tomorrow we get fingerprinted for our I-600A!

11 comments:

Lisa said...

God is good!

:)De said...

God is sooooo good!

Molly said...

What a manager at that bank! Is it a local bank or national? They sound like a good bank to support!

Kelli said...

yeah, see mostly notaries that are in the notary bis charge, others dont really care, I mean, its looking at your id and stamp and sign.

Holly said...

Yippeee! 1600 is supposedly WAY easier than 1800!!
:)

Annie said...

I am just laughing - sort of - as I read this. It sure brings it all back. All of this seemingly unnecessary hoop-jumping. You made me recall that I had some heart-pounding moments at one point because I had a notary who had only invested in a STAMP rather than in an embossed seal.

Now, one time I looked into becoming a notary (not a difficult process) for the express purpose of assisting poor souls with adoption paperwork, and somehow I received information about the stamps/seals - in THIS country it is just a question about how "hoity-toity" you want to be - the stamp and the seal mean precisely the same thing; it is just a nicety. Except the seal costs a lot more! Yet, in Russia the stamp was simply not acceptable.

Lyndi said...

Even with your rollercoater, you guys are FYLING through your process! I hope we get to travel at the same time, I would LOVE to meet you all!!

A said...

amazing - God is just amazing!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is a roller coaster ride. Glad things are getting done, though!

Laurel said...

Great post. Glad you found a notary to donate their services. God is good!!!

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