Someday, I will look back on all this adoption paperwork and smile. Okay, maybe I won't smile unless I'm thinking about how glad I am that I am done with it!
I got a letter yesterday from USCIS (U.S. Citizen & Immigration Services). Getting a letter from them is never a good thing. They do NOT write to say congratulations, we will bend over backwards to help you in anyway we can. Their letters usually go along the lines of, "WE made a mistake and now YOU need to fix it or you won't get that Resident Card you are waiting for." So, that is pretty much what this letter said. Apparently, the Port of Entry person who processed us when we got back to the U.S did not stamp Zoe's application with an admission stamp, so the USCIS office in TX has no proof that she properly entered the US (what do they think we smuggled her in????) So, because they made a mistake, I must now send them copies of her passport with the visa stamp. I know this isn't a huge deal, after all I don't have to drag two kids to their office to make an appointment to bring said children to a different office (oh, yeah, that was the last letter from USCIS).
The thing that puzzles me about all this is why didn't they check on this before they sent the first letter two months ago! When they noticed that the "biometrics" (why can't they just say photograph?) of Zoe was missing, couldn't they just have checked and noticed that they stamp was missing too?? I can't wait to see what the next letter asks for after I send them the copies that they are requesting. I've determined that the thing that is most irritating about all this is the tone of the letters they send. They imply that it is somehow MY fault that they dropped the ball. Would it be so difficult to say, "we are sorry about the inconvenience this has caused you," or "we apologize for our error."
When it's all said and done and Zoe & Marcus are officially U.S. Citizens I am going to send USCIS a bill for my time, gas expenses, copying expenses, etc. I am after all doing work that they were supposed to do, so I think they should pay me for it, but I will wait until I no longer need them for anything :)
It's the government, they already paid you...it's called a "stimulus check"! They want you to spend it all at Kinkos and the Post Office!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would have the patience to deal with them. I would probably lose my cool and yell at them over the phone. Not that it would help. Mom
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