A Dad's Journey Through International Adoption: No change to the timeline but the fog is lifting

/* This is where the background behind the title goes */

Currently in Novosibirsk:

Novosibirsk Webcams

Our visitors:

No change to the timeline but the fog is lifting

Thursday, September 21, 2006

We are, of course, pleased that our agency got the NGO registration done. But I feel like it's more of a "just nice to get it out of the way" kind of thing. Since the NGO is managed by the Russian Ministry of Justice which, until this year, really had nothing to do with international adoptions, getting the NGO is just a small (albeit important) step. And does somewhat make the analysis of what happens and when a little clearer.

And for those who are still waiting for their agencies to get the NGO, each NGO is a very good sign. I think you'll see NGOs dropping into the laps of agencies like ripe fruit off a tree from this point forward. It's pretty clear that the rate of agencies getting registered are increasing and I wouldn't be surprised if we see the total number (currently 15 or so over the past two months) double within the next 2 to 3 weeks.

And all that is great news for the bigger issue of reaccreditation and the fix needed to Government Decision No. 268. The more agencies that have NGO and thus can provide leverage to the Ministry of Education to fix 268 the better. I believe it's going to take a couple of months for 268 to get done but then just a few weeks after that for agencies to get reaccredited.

So best case the whole 268 thing is done in October and agencies are reaccredited in November, worst case (in my opinion) is 268 is fixed in February or March of 2007 with reaccreditation happening a few weeks after that.

So my own guesstimate on our timeline hasn't really changed much. Again assuming the best case (which I personally doubt will happen) and we may end up traveling to Russian in late October or November. A more likely scenario (and what Stef and I are betting on) is that the whole reaccreditation process meanders to completion in December'ish and we end up traveling on our first trip in January or February. And although I don't like the think about it, a worst case scenario would be waiting many months and not traveling until the summer or fall of 2007.

posted by Steveg @ 6:34 PM

4 Comments:

At 11:38 AM, Anonymous said…

What is your source of knowledge about Government Decision 268? What exactly needs to be fixed and how did it come around in the first place?

... just wondering...

Ryan
At 12:00 PM, Suz said…

Oh my goodness, I hope you're wrong about the 2007 thing! We were just looking at our spreadsheet where we are keeping track of our adoption costs it is titled "Adoption 2004/2005" What kind of crazy hopeful person titled that thing? Oh yes, that would be me. So on the actual title on the top of the document I added /2006 please God, please don't let me have to add /2007!
At 6:40 PM, Steveg said…

For those still in the process like us, keep in mind that my estimates are fairly conservative because we'd rather be pleasantly surprised if things work out sooner.

As far as the 268, it's pretty complicated and would probably take up the full page on the blog to explain it. However there are a number of posts on FRUA that go into the details. Look for any of the posts by Jim since he is without question the most logical and knowledgeable on these matters. I typically mirror his opinions in our blog.

But for a quick summary check out my post here called "The Whole NGO".
At 8:25 PM, Suz said…

You're invited to be a part of the new "Blog-Pals connection" Come visit my blog for the explanation of what Blog-Pals is all about!

Contributors:

steveg

yorkiemom

Our Story:

I'm Steve and this is my wife Stefanie. This is our story, mostly seen through my eyes, of the journey to create our family by adopting a child from Russia.

The Great Snowsuit Swap

Donate your old snowsuits or other one time use items to other adoptive parents at: