Talk About Suspenseful Waiting!

Three weeks ago - THREE weeks ago, I mailed my Permanent Resident Visa to Immigration Canada. My friend mailed hers a couple days ahead of me. She got hers back in eight DAYS!! The reports I have heard are from 8 - 11 days, the average being 10 days. This is from when you pop the application in the mail until it arrives back at your door with the approval!!!

So why has mine taken TWENTY ONE days so far? I have no idea. But I will tell you, it has been suspenseful!!

I know God allows twists and turns to keep us on track and following Him, but STILL! *smile* For those that don't know what this is, a PRV application is when we apply to sponsor our adopted children. We have to fill in one application per child that we are intending on sponsoring. We have to send in financial information, business information because we are self-employed, birth certificates etc etc.

Now, as a self-employed family, it always adds tension while waiting for approval on anything!! So of course, I was hoping for and watching day by day to see if our approval came through on the 10th day. We usually get our mail from the post office once a week or ten days - kind of lazy. But I can tell you, this last 2 weeks I have been checking the mail daily waiting for that precious piece of paper!

The irony of this situation is this: I am a details person. I keep receipts in an envelope. I keep thing organized. I can find almost anything you ask me for cause I know where I put it. Cause I am the Organizing Queen!! LOL!

Well, apparently I am up to lose my crown. THIS time, when it was the ONLY time that I have needed to see that receipt to be able to track the package, I didn't have it!! Everytime I have mailed anything, it has gone Express Post and I have kept the receipt. I know by keeping them I could track the package if they went missing. Mind you, it has never crossed my mind that Canada Post would actually lose an Express Post parcel. How naive of me!! *laugh* I guess I figured if the parcel went by Express Post it must have guardian angels on it!

But I learned something yesterday. I actually *saw* what happens to our carefully packaged parcels when we drop them off at the post office. It was after hours and the truck had arrived to pick up the parcels. The guys lumbered the trolley out to their big truck and then began FLINGING the parcels into the back of the truck! ACCKKK!! Can you imagine?! I will, from now on, package my stuff carefully!!!

Anyhow, since I didn't have the tracking number I had no way of knowing if my package of precious papers had even arrived at the Mississauga office!! Finally today, I went online and decided to start trying to find some information. Thankfully, it was not too hard. I first went to the CIC website and from there was able to find that I could track my application - even if I only had a CIC receipt number. That I had!! So I punched it in and voila... up came my info.

Apparently, though I sent my package on Monday, February 18, via Express Post - 2-3 day mail to Ontario - it arrived on Friday, February 22. They then did not begin processing it until February 28th!! And lo and behold, they had it back in the mail on February 29. So it took the regular one day to process. Great. But they held it for a week, before they began to process it and then it has taken a further 10 days (so far) to get here after being mailed.

I am sure there is a 'reason' I was held up. The interesting thing are the delays in this process. I know there are reasons. My friend, Denise, reminded me today that maybe this 'delay' has something to do with our request for specific children. I am not sure yet, how this might help, but it is certainly possible.

Also, when we went to Foreign Affairs, it took us 4 1/2 weeks, while everyone around us was getting it done in 7-14 days! And then while waiting for our homestudy update to happen it took 3 1/2 weeks, when our original homestudy write up only took 1 week!!

So I know these delays have a purpose. It is just hard to wait when you know things can be done sooner.

The wonderful thing is, as soon as the PRV applications come in the mail we will send them off to our agency where they will add more documents to the package, and then they will be shipped off to Nairobi. The file will then be opened in Nairobi. When the children are referred to us our file number will already be set and we will be 'enroute' to our Permanent Resident Visas for them.

In the past, this bunch of steps only took place AFTER the court date - which will not happen for two to three months after referral. By doing it in this new order, we will shave 2-3 months off of our wait from referral to going to get the girls. That is a wonderful thing!! This means that our travel time will be approximately 5-6 months after we see the children for the first time. YAY!!

So here is hoping that tomorrow - day 22 - we will get our PRV in the mail!



In the meantime, I shall be waiting for the mail as long as it takes, no matter how much snow I have to dig out to get to the post office! *grin*