NVC Out!

I called the National Visa Center this morning and we are officially NVC out!  What does that mean, you ask?  Well, I think it means our I600 approval was sent to the NVC and it has now been sent to the US embassy in Seoul.  Which is the last thing that needs to happen before Griffin can be issued his emigration permit (EP).  An EP is basically permission from the Korean government for your child to leave Korea and come to the US to be adopted.

Now, here's the kicker.  Holt (our placing agency in Korea) ran out of EPs last year.  Unfortunately, Korea will only issue a set number of EPs per year so when they run out everyone has to wait until the next calendar year.  Holt ran out of EPs in July meaning people who received a referral in July may or may not have received EP.  People were still traveling to pick their babies up in November and December but they were the ones that had received an EP before the July cutoff.  Is that making any sense?  So, now there is a backlog of people waiting for EPs, and since we received our referral at the end of November, we're at the back of the line.  From what I understand (and there is no way for anyone to really know for sure), our EP and travel call shouldn't be delayed too much.  They seem to really try to get things moving along quickly at the beginning of the year when the new EP quota starts over.  I pray this is true.

So there you have it!  A clear as mud EP lesson!  Basically, we are waiting on the Korean government to hurry up and let the babies come home.  Please pray that this glitch in the system is dealt with in a very timely manner.  I haven't been waiting that long, but I have adoptive mom friends who were caught up in the July referral cutoff mess.  It's not fair and now these families have missed their child's first Christmas and birthday.  Not ok in my book.

Our babies are coming home, though!  I have faith!