In Search of Rumors

Database Down Again - No New Rumors

2010-11-30T06:30:00.001-05:00

Yes, the server is having database issues. Again. The server people are working on it. I don't see any new rumors yet this morning.

Main Site is down

2010-11-01T06:59:00.002-04:00

I've got the server people working on it. A European agency says the cut off is the 23rd, and they say that referrals were mailed Friday. I'm giving it an R3 for now.

Denial of Service on the main site

2008-12-01T18:55:00.004-05:00

The main site is suffering from a denial of service attack. I'm working with my server provider to try to remedy the situation. There is a post up that travel approvals began arriving today for the most recent batch of NSN referrals.

Maybe not a DOS

2008-05-22T11:26:00.003-04:00

Yes, the site is down again. It might be that someone has found a backdoor into the server and is using it to do.. something. I don't know. At any rate, it might not be a DOS (Denial of Service) attack. Which actually makes me feel better. Whatever it is, it's being worked on.

2008-05-22T07:27:00.000-04:00

The regular site is back up again. http://chinaadopttalk.com/

Yes, the site is down

2008-05-22T07:13:00.004-04:00

I've got a ticket into my server company, but right now it looks like the site is under a DOS attack. RK asked me who I'd ticked off (though he didn't use quite those words) and my answer was pretty long. Hmmm. I didn't do it on purpose. It just kind of worked out that way. The news is bad this morning for the Steven Curtis Chapman family. Their youngest daughter was killed in a tragic

The site is moving to a new server

2007-08-09T12:44:00.000-04:00

I'm moving the site up to a bigger/better/faster server and there is going to be a little bit of down time while it happens. I'm told it will take from one to two hours, though they hope it will be closer to one hour. If there is anything important that comes up during that time I'll post it here.

New Information

2007-06-05T15:38:00.000-04:00

My site is down. I've got a support ticket in but I'm betting we have once again gone beyond the constraints of the server I am on. What's going on with referrals? The latest post on the blog has a West Coast agency calling families with LID's of 11/7 with their referrals. I have heard of an East Coast company expecting a package tomorrow. This package was mailed yesterday. Do we think that the

New server / old server

2006-11-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

I know of three people who are still being directed to the old site. I'm sure there are probably more. Your ISP is solely responsible for where you are pointed when you type in the address. I was told it can take as long as 72 hours, but that most ISP's refresh their cache within that time frame. I'm told to think of the DNS listings like a phone book. So, you type in a name and your ISP looks

We're at the new server

2006-11-05T20:06:00.000-05:00

Not everyone is being pointed to it yet, but a lot of people are. If we get anything big I'll be sure to post it here, but this time of the month we probably won't hear anything too juicy.

Please be gentle

2006-10-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

The main site is back up, but we are now allowed a set number of processes for a certain time period, and if we go over that then we’ll be down for the rest of that time period. The forum is now only open to registered guests. If we continue to have problems I’ll take the forum down until we know the cut-off so that only the blog will be pounding the server. I will probably need to find another

Working on it

2006-10-26T16:20:00.000-04:00

The site was being "pounded" and apparently they shut the site off because we were degrading the service to their other customers. I'm already using their most expensive package, they have me on hold trying to see if there is something they can do to get us back up.

Nothing exciting

2006-09-20T11:40:00.000-04:00

I have no idea why the site is down, but to my knowledge referrals have not started arriving. I have a support ticket into my hosting company to try to get it fixed.

The promised Downtime

2006-09-03T07:02:00.000-04:00

My site is being moved to the new server. Hopefully this will not take too terribly long. Update: Everything is up and running on the new server. I'm told it could take up to 24 hours for some people to see things on the new server.

Back at the regular site now

2006-08-29T11:52:00.000-04:00

Just a note that we've moved back to the regular site now. http://chinaadopttalk.com/

Nothing past 7/22 yet

2006-08-24T18:15:00.000-04:00

If anyone has any information that shouldn't go in the comments please send it to my gmail account. I still have not seen a referral past 7/22. I wish I could understand why the CCAA thinks that secrecy is so important. There are agencies who spoke with the CCAA last night or the night before and were told there is no information. And yet, they received referrals today, so they were told this

What we know

2006-08-24T16:45:00.000-04:00

Referrals are covering through at least 7/22. Another agency has told their people that the cut off this month is the 22nd. Someone with a 7/26 LID has been told she will not get her referral this month. Someone posted a referral for twins on the July board.

July 22nd

2006-08-24T16:21:00.000-04:00

Someone with a 7/22 LID has received the call.

Referrals are HERE!!!!!

2006-08-24T16:03:00.000-04:00

Ya'll are pounding the bejeebers out of my server. Over 700 people are trying to get in at once - LOL. Okay, here is what we know so far. Referrals have arrived at three agencies that I know of. The latest date I have seen so far is 7/20. If you know of a later date, PLEASE let me know. If your agency got referrals please let me know the first LID group that was not included.

The latest poll

2006-07-05T23:11:00.000-04:00

We are still going strong over at the new site. The latest poll is up and I encourage you to register your LID on it and help us with our analysis. This site will remain here so we have access to the archives. Also, this site will act as a backup site when my host has problems.

Another June 28th confirmation

2006-06-19T19:40:00.000-04:00

Another U.S. agency, so this makes a fourth total agency, has told their clients that the next cutoff will be the 28th. Since my web host seems to be having problems I'll post over here until things look like they are up again (for good) over there.

New post, lots of rumors

2006-04-29T09:45:00.000-04:00

Just a reminder that we're at the new place now. Lots of rumors posted, much of it based on info from the CCAA's recent world tour. http://chinaadopttalk.com/

This will be the back up blog now, I guess

2006-04-28T10:13:00.000-04:00

I want to keep this blog active so we can use it for a back up. My new server has 99% uptime, but just in case we have something major happening in that 1% that it's down it will be nice to have another place to go. Plus, I want to keep this one active so I can keep the archives. So I'll need to post to it occasionally I think.

A new home

2006-04-27T23:21:00.000-04:00

Baby steps. For now we have a blog. Once we're good with that I'll look into adding a forum for us. http://chinaadopttalk.com/

Referrals are being posted

2006-04-27T11:34:00.000-04:00

Some of the May people tell us that referrals are starting to be posted to their DTC group.

Another agency's speculation, and more questions about the move

2006-04-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Someone using one of the big agencies was told that they believe the extreme slowdown of the past two months is mostly due to the move of the CCAA office and them being short handed in personnel. This person has an early August LID and was told that they thought she would have her referral in August. Do any of you have any personal contact with someone who may have been at the CCAA office

New Poll

2006-04-25T14:37:00.000-04:00

I've created a new Poll, giving each choice 3 business days. At a later date I will do another one that goes out farther, but this one will be nice to have when the next referrals come out. I know I'm going to get a lot of comments and emails saying "my LID is in October, how do I record mine?" Well, you can't. Not yet anyway. When we are done with this poll we'll do one that goes out farther,

Hypothesis

2006-04-25T11:30:00.000-04:00

Above is a summary of the conclusions I came to in the previous post based on two of the polls and the numbers from the June DTC group. Once again, these numbers are based on them doing the same number of dossiers in the coming months that they did this month and there are no guarantees that this will be the case. Here are a few reasons that this may not be the case: They will be off for their

The Promised Analysis

2006-04-25T09:04:00.000-04:00

Just so we are clear on dates, here is a calendar of May and June of last year. Also, here is a recap of the past four months 4/26 - 5/13 arrived Jan 25 (11 business days) 5/14 - 5/25 arrived Feb 27th (11 business days) 5/26 - 5/30 arrived March 27th (3 business days) 5/31 - 6/6 will arrive April 27th (4 business days) Now to look at poll numbers. I'm going to analyze

CCAA site updated!!!!

2006-04-25T07:47:00.000-04:00

This means that I have made it through the review room. And they managed to get through June 6th. Congrats to all of those who made the cut! As promised, later today I will do some analysis based on the polls to see what I think this means for the next couple of months.

So.....

2006-04-24T22:39:00.000-04:00

Based on the anon comments, we can expect the next cut-off to be somewhere between the 2nd and the 9th, with there being a good chance it is the 5th or 6th. I'm headed to bed so I'm turning anon commenting back off. Once again - I thank everyone for your input.

Several items

2006-04-24T20:42:00.000-04:00

A Canadian agency has told someone with an early July LID that they will probably see their referral at the end of September. One of the big agencies is now telling their people 10 to 14 months from LID to referral. Someone with a June 2nd LID was called by her agency and told she has been matched and referrals will be sent in the next day ortwo. And, last but not least, I'm turning anon

Mailed Wed or Thurs

2006-04-24T16:34:00.000-04:00

Someone emailed me that their DTC group has a rumor that referrals will be mailed Wednesday or Thursday. No idea what agency this came from.

An APC post saying June 6th

2006-04-24T16:13:00.000-04:00

A post to APC is saying Spain (ACI) confirmed June 6th to someone who called them. Nothing new, but it's all I've seen today.

Nothing new

2006-04-24T09:03:00.000-04:00

I'm not seeing anything new - not rumor-wise, anyway. Someone emailed me a picture of Director Lu having a tea party with a little girl. He visited a family home in Iceland and had a little tea party with their daughter. Very sweet photo. The family mentions they will be using this photo in their next dossier. Anyway, I'm still around, just nothing to report on right now.

Another list of things

2006-04-22T08:11:00.000-04:00

Just reporting on stuff. Most of it conflicts with something else. An agency that I'm not very familiar with has told someone with an August 5th LID that they should expect their referral in October. Another agency has told their people that they expect the next group of referrals before China closes for a week for their May holiday, but that they do not expect travel approvals before then. An

More of my thoughts

2006-04-21T19:35:00.000-04:00

When my husband and I first started investigating international adoption, long long ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the CCAA seems to always have the best interest of the babies at heart. And I still think that this is the case. Not only from looking at their process and guidelines, but now I know people who have met with the various directors and other employees of the CCAA and

Several items

2006-04-21T12:16:00.000-04:00

No final validation, but a few agencies are reporting the CCAA will be closed May 1-5.The US Consulate in Guangzhou will be closed May 1-3Spain seems to still be reporting the cut-off at June 6th. Some reports say they are reporting June 6th as being a "safe bet" and are saying it could go farther. The medium sized agency that was reporting June 16th was basing it on the number of referrals they

Just for the record

2006-04-20T22:45:00.000-04:00

The CCAA site is up and still shows 5/30 and 8/31 on both the English and Chinese language pages.

More from Spain, and something from a U.S. agency

2006-04-20T20:27:00.000-04:00

Apparently ACI Madrid is saying that, for sure, they will include at least up to June 6th. They say they will arrive very late next week. ACI Seville is more cautious, feels they will do through June 6th, but says it won't be confirmed until they are sent. ----------------- A U.S. agency has told someone with a 5/31 LID that they should receive their referral Wednesday.

If you can't figure out how to sign up for a username

2006-04-20T19:37:00.000-04:00

A couple of people have emailed saying they could not figure out how to sign up for a username. On the comment page there is a place to sign up - click that and it takes you to a sign up page. Choose your user name Choose a password and enter it in both places Choose the name you want us to see Enter your email address Click the "accept the Terms of Service" box Then click Continue If

Just to be clear

2006-04-20T16:18:00.000-04:00

I am not saying LID's for the next batch are going to be through June 16th. Let me try saying this again: This is a rumor that I am reporting on that comes from a reputable agency that I hold in high regard. But right now the only rumor I'm placing a lot of trust in is the one that says LIDS will go through June 3rd. The rest I'm just watching to see what else developes. I am way mega excited

The Polls

2006-04-20T14:27:00.000-04:00

Here are links to all of the polls. You will also find a link to this post in the sidebar with the calendars. Poll from 03/14, showing 5/26 - 9/30 in third and then half month increments Poll from 3/26, goes through Feb 2006 Poll from 3/31, detailed breakdown of June and some of July June LIDs from the June DTC group.

Would be very exciting indeed

2006-04-20T13:02:00.000-04:00

One of the medium sized but better known agencies told a client that they expect the next batch to go through June 16th. This was emailed from the person's real email address, not a freebie account, which gives it some credibility (i.e. not a prankster). Still, this falls into that "I'm afraid to believe this" category. We've gone from hearing "maybe only half of May 31st" to "all the way to

At least to June 3rd - another confirmation

2006-04-20T11:32:00.000-04:00

A smallish agency has confirmed to their June 3rd people that they will be included in the next batch. I presume that their next batch is a pretty long ways off, since they are a little bit on the small side. So, this isn't to say they are only going to cover up to June 3rd, just another confirmation that they are going to get at least that far. I would rate this one pretty high, not shaky at

Conversation on Spanish Board

2006-04-20T10:18:00.000-04:00

Someone emailed me a conversation from the Spanish board. What it boils down to is that someone using Andeni was told that they do not know anything about the next cut off, they expect referrals to go out before the CCAA breaks for vacation, and they expect to know something the week that they are actually mailed. (So, next week sometime, I would guess). Someone who uses Seville was told the

Talk about confusing

2006-04-20T09:24:00.000-04:00

I have lots of emails - every single one of them starting out something like: "Hi, we are using XXX agency" (where the agency name is different in most emails) and then about half of them end with something close to: "and they say the wait is going to be around 12 to 14 months" and about half of them end with something like: "and they are preparing us for a wait that could be much longer than

Some good news, for a change

2006-04-19T13:00:00.000-04:00

Someone sent me an email that says that someone posted to one of the DTC groups that her husband had the opportunity to speak with Director Lu when the CCAA delegation was in Denver last week. He was told that with a LID of 12/9/05 that they could expect a referral between November and January. So, 11 to 13 months. That does sound like they are planning to stay "around 12 months" doesn't it?

June 6

2006-04-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Someone with a June 6th LID posted on a Spanish forum that they were told by their agency (ACI) that they will be included in the next batch.

Back to registered posting

2006-04-18T16:39:00.000-04:00

I think we've garnered about all we can on the rumor front from anon posting, so it's time to turn it off. I'll turn anon posting on one evening to see what we can get from the people that aren't online during the day. As always I thank all of you who have expressed your thoughts and opinions nicely - even those that I don't agree with. Or make that especially those that I don't agree with. I

SN discussion / saving kids / 12 month max

2006-04-18T13:45:00.000-04:00

First a note about being nice. You can disagree with someone and still be nice. That's a very good thing to do, as it promotes discussion and we all get to see how other people feel about things. So, if you disagree then that's fine, just give rational reasons why you disagree, and be nice about it. Please. -------------------------- I keep seeing people talk about how most of the SN children

Rumor Thread

2006-04-18T06:44:00.000-04:00

Since I think the rumors may start flying I've turned anon posting on. So, for now, there are three ways to get a rumor out. Email it to me. This way you can give me the agency and I can let everyone know if a rumor is coming from one agency or multiple agencies without giving the agency away.Post it with your name - you choose whether to list the agency or not.Post it anonymously. Again, you

Chitchat thread

2006-04-18T06:43:00.000-04:00

Anon posting is turned on. This thread is for the stuff that is not a rumor.

PSA

2006-04-17T21:34:00.000-04:00

Remember, we're still at the point in the month when we can't rely on the rumors. Until we have three or four agencies all saying the same thing we shouldn't put much confidence in them yet.

From CCAI

2006-04-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

Someone was told by CCAI that they only expected to get through their June 3rd LID group with the next batch (to include the June 3rd batch). Does anyone happen to know when CCAI's next LID group after their 6/3 group might be? If their next group is 6/18 then that might not be a bad thing. If their next group is 6/5 then it's not so good. UPDATE: Looks like CCAI's next batch is June 9.

From another agency

2006-04-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

This info comes from one of the really big agencies. They are telling their people the wait is probably 10-14 months at this point. They are suggesting their clients write letters to our congresspeople to get the USCIS to extend the length of time for which the I171H is good to 24 months. They also have told their clients that the CCAA is working on matches and that there is someone in-country

Some answers

2006-04-17T11:09:00.000-04:00

I haven't been able to run down a "for sure" source of the June 6th rumor. One source says some people with June 6th LID's were notified by their agency they would be included in this batch - no word of the agency. Another source says that it was posted on a Spanish board somewhere. I know that June 6th isn't all that "good", but it is much better than the "half of May 31st" rumor. That's all I

June 6th rumor

2006-04-16T19:04:00.000-04:00

It looks like there are rumors floating around that the cutoff will be June 6. This is different. A bad rumor (only half of May 31st) before a better rumor. Usually they start out pretty good and then get worse.

CCAA site, CCAA delegation

2006-04-16T09:41:00.000-04:00

We must have bombarded the site again. If the pattern continues then it will be back up between 7:30 and 9 tonight. Enough time for them to arrive at the office, realize it is down, and bring it back up. The CCAA's world tour will be in Iceland from the 19th to the 22nd. Anyone have any information about where they'll be after the 22nd? Update: Sounds like they are headed to Ottawa Canada

My Crystal Ball

2006-04-15T08:04:00.000-04:00

I get a couple of emails a day of people saying "Our LID is X and I really need to know when we will travel because of Z and I'm just wondering when you think we will travel". And I never know how to respond to that. The comment that my Crystal Ball isn't working very well right now seems a bit smart assed, but it's the shortest easiest way I can think of that I can say "I'm not psychic and I

Huh?

2006-04-14T19:58:00.000-04:00

Someone posted to APC that they got their LID and that their agency also received referrals today. It got my attention, but I'm wondering how it would happen that we wouldn't hear about referrals arriving until 8:00 at night. Doesn't seem likely. Does it? UPDATE: I have news of at least one person who received a referral today. No word on their LID or their agency at this point. Apparently

Rumors. Finally.

2006-04-14T12:57:00.000-04:00

One of the large agencies notified their clients that they believe the CCAA is working on their next batch of referrals which they believe includes May 31 and the first week of June LID's. They say they have no further information as to whether more June dates will be included. Another of the big agencies sent an email to their clients saying they expect the CCAA to send referral at the end of

Some responses and observations

2006-04-14T09:45:00.000-04:00

Two people have complained that they posted a comment and it never showed up. It must be a blogger thing, I didn't do it. The CCAA updated many of their pages in August. When that page first changed a few people found the Google cache of what it had said before, and it had said the same thing. I wouldn't read too much into that. Unless they change it, of course. If you want to see what the

Guānxi

2006-04-13T20:40:00.000-04:00

Someone asked if I think the CCAA shows favoritism to different agencies. Before I answer that, lets talk a little bit about guānxi. Or, better yet, let me point you to some other pages to teach you about guānxi. That way you won't have to take my word for it. Wikipedia Guanxi, An Important Chinese Business Element Coursework- phenomenon of "guan xi" in Chinese society Teach in

Facts (minus the theories and rumors)

2006-04-13T12:52:00.000-04:00

I try to make it clear when I present a theory or a rumor. But it appears some are still not understanding the difference between fact and theory. So, lets try to come up with a list of the facts as we know them. No theories or rumors here, just facts. One year ago the wait was 6 months. At that time the CCAA did about a months worth of LID's every month, keeping the wait about the same. Most

What the agencies are saying

2006-04-13T09:33:00.000-04:00

I decided to take a look at what the agencies have on their websites for people looking to adopt. AHH you will wait 9 months for a referral Bethany healthy children: 10-11 months after dossier log-in date CCAI Appx. 10-14 Months CHI Referrals are taking approximately 10 - 12 months. Dillon Wait time for a referral of a child averages 10 -12 months GWCA approx eight (8) months after

More anecdotal info

2006-04-13T06:41:00.000-04:00

Someone who recently returned from China talked with their coordinator in China. They asked her if she was seeing things slowing down on her end of the process. She said yes, last year before the slowdown they were handling 10 groups a month, now they are handling 4 groups a month. Maybe the "2/3's less" really did mean they are getting a third the number of referrals this year compared to last

Boy Glut

2006-04-12T21:37:00.000-04:00

This was not my terminology, this was the term used in the email I was giving a synopsis of. Someone asked me about it in the comments, and I responded with: The "boy glut" term wasn't defined in the email, but I was assuming they were referring to the fact that China has more boys than girls, and that eventually there will be millions of men who will not be able to marry.And now people are

My thoughts on the State Dept info

2006-04-12T16:10:00.000-04:00

Before anyone gets upset with me for having opinions - I'm just making some logical conclusions and then (later) some wild guesses. I do not claim to have any knowledge other than what I have shared with ya'll, so my opinions and guesses are just what I can come up with based on this information combined with what we already knew. The first thing I get out of this is that the State Department

From the Consulate - Part Two

2006-04-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

To start with, let me say I've had a couple of people tell me that they've been told that the State Department is now getting involved with things regarding the wait. I haven't reported this because, frankly, our State Department can't tell the CCAA to speed up. All they can really do is insist on enough transparency that they can feel comfortable with the fact that babies are legal orphans and

From the Consulate

2006-04-12T13:31:00.000-04:00

Perhaps we will get more information out of the JCICS conference than I had originally thought. I have a letter that has originated from the US Consulate. It is long, and I do not feel comfortable posting it in it's entirety anyway. So, here is my synopsis: The US Consulate official spoke with several agencies, compiled their notes, and then spoke with the CCAA. I am going to call the Consular

New Waiting Child Program

2006-04-12T12:09:00.000-04:00

Someone posted that the CCAA delegation here in the U.S. had mentioned something about a change in the waiting child program. Apparently there are at least three agencies who are part of this pilot program. Everything is submitted via the internet, and waiting families receive PA in as little as 72 hours (though it seems that some are taking a week). One person emailed me that the TA process is

CCAA Medical Board

2006-04-12T08:52:00.000-04:00

I've never heard of this before, so I'm guessing maybe it's something new. It sounds like when there are medical issues that the CCAA is unsure of that your dossier now goes in front of a Medical Board who makes the decision. Someone with a 7 year old liver transplant was recently denied by the Medical Board. No information on whether there may have been other issues.

May 31st LID's

2006-04-11T22:15:00.000-04:00

I've been emailed offlist with the name of the agency. A tiny one I've never heard of, but I did find some info on them with a little searching. Maybe the CCAA is going to pick one agency a month to send a half batch to? Kind of a referral lottery? I know - not very likely. But, if this agency gets theirs and no one else does then that will be two months in a row that one agency has received a

Quick Rundown

2006-04-11T20:10:00.000-04:00

It looks like I picked up a good time to be ripped from the cyber world kicking and screaming. Here is what I am seeing. The JCICS is having a big conference at the end of April, and some people are speculating that when the agencies get together we may get some news out of it. I'm not sure I'm buying that, if there was any news surely they'd share it with their clients? Still, we can hope I

I'm back!

2006-04-11T19:40:00.000-04:00

Making an internet junkie go without a computer this long isn't a good idea. I have lots of catching up to do. Give me an hour. Or two.

Perspective

2006-04-10T08:46:00.000-04:00

I'm sure most of you know that the south was ravaged by storms Friday and Saturday. We were not hit by a tornado, but we did have a tree fall through our roof and into a room. Our family is fine. No one was in the room at the time, but unfortunately the computer was. I'm pretty sure computers aren't supposed to get wet. I was advised to not turn it on, but to take it to a repair shop and let

Some good news

2006-04-07T07:48:00.000-04:00

I have a very late September LID. It took three almost four weeks for them to log me in, and it was another 6 or 7 weeks before I knew the LID. And I think most of ya'll from that time frame have a similar story to tell. I have an email from someone in The Netherlands that people who were DTC 3/23 were logged in 3/29 and that people with a DTC of 3/30 were logged in 4/4. And they know this on 4

Bad bad bad

2006-04-06T22:19:00.000-04:00

I'm not paying attention to this one. I have my eyes firmly closed so I can't see it. But, there is now a whisper that the next batch may just include part of the 31st, not all of it. I refuse, absolutely refuse, to believe this. But, it's out there, so I'm reporting it.

That was fun

2006-04-06T16:32:00.000-04:00

I like to turn anon posting on every once in a while just to see what we find out in the way of rumors. Did we really find anything out with this round of postings? I don't think so. Some agencies are saying one thing, others are saying another thing. SSDD. There don't appear to be any rumors of substance out there, so I'm going to get away from the computer for a while - meaning anon posting

Spreadsheets and such

2006-04-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

I have received a few spreadsheets here and there, but have not posted any of them in their entirety. I did use the totals from the June DTC Spreadsheet and put those up, but I purposefully did not include any of the specific agency information on it. I have been careful to not post specific, detailed, information. I'm trying to find a balance between disseminating information and respecting

Another Icky one

2006-04-06T12:53:00.000-04:00

Someone with a late June LID was told by their agency that they expected it to take the CCAA three months to get through the month of June. No word on which agency this was. The thing is, I'm wondering if some of these agencies aren't just trying to predict based on past performance. Or if they actually have word from the CCAA.

CCAA coming to America?

2006-04-06T12:17:00.000-04:00

I've seen this enough to know it is likely true. I'd like to try to nail down when they are leaving China and when they will return. And, most importantly, if the director will be coming. Referrals can not go out until the director signs them. So, if the director is coming then a batch will likely go out just before he leaves China, and then the next batch about three or four or five business

My opinions

2006-04-06T10:43:00.000-04:00

Ya'll have brought up some interesting points. Usually I just report rumors and maybe make a judgement on how reliable it may be. I think it's time to make a list of the conclusions that I have personally come to. I do believe that May 31st is big. I don't remember where the original rumor came from -but we also have several polls that show us this. The spreadsheet that the June DTC group put

Icky rumor

2006-04-06T07:03:00.000-04:00

Two items posted. The first says their agency (no note of who their agency is) is expecting a batch of referrals that will cover May 31st. They do not say when they expect this batch. If they expect it next week that's not so bad. If they expect it at the end of the month. That's terrible. The second item (different person, different board) says they got an email from their agency warning that

All of the polls

2006-04-05T22:41:00.000-04:00

Here are links to all of the polls. http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6609/2040/1600/031406lidpoll.0.jpg http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6609/2040/1600/032606extlidpoll.jpg http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6609/2040/1600/033106JuneLIDpoll.jpg And these are the totals from the June DTC group http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6609/2040/1600/JuneLIDreferralinfo.jpg

Free for All

2006-04-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

Anon posting is open. The thread below this one is for rumors, this one is for whatever else you want to talk about. Just a few guidelines: 1. No discussion about religion. Not even to tell me you're glad I'm not allowing it. Nothing. Please. 2. Be nice. 3. Let's keep discussions to China and adoption. Please don't talk about other people (see rule number 2)

Several things

2006-04-05T21:00:00.000-04:00

There is a spreadsheet floating around - it shows number of dossiers for each LID date for one of the big agencies. This agency has a very small number of May 31st LID's, but I don't really think that means anything. Most of the of the numbers closely mirror the ratios from our numerous polls - but for those time frames that don't, I don't think it means anything. In statistics you need a big

Another agency speaks.....

2006-04-05T16:38:00.000-04:00

... but I'm hogtied to try to figure out what they said. Someone forwarded me an email from their agency. The agency managed to send 359 words about the wait, and only one sentence on what this means.... and I have no idea how to read that one sentence. I'm thinking this person was a politician in a past life. In a nutshell, she says that she wants to share what she knows about the increase in

Why do fingerprints expire?

2006-04-05T09:29:00.000-04:00

All of us (in the US) are most likely going to have to have our fingerprints redone. Which is silly. My fingerprints are the same this year as they were last year. For us, this involves paying the fees again, both of us taking a day off of work, and a 6.5 hour round trip drive. The thing that bothers me the most is the wasted day off from work, as that is one less day we'll be able to stay

More review room info

2006-04-05T06:58:00.000-04:00

Someone from Spain with an 11/8 LID has reported that they were contacted for more information.

Two emails

2006-04-04T16:53:00.000-04:00

The first email did not disclose the name of the agency. This agency said that the CCAA is "just now" starting the June dossiers. (This conflicts with reports that they were started last week). The agency said that the earliest 7/4 LIDs should hope for would be a late May referral, and that it could possibly be the end of June. The second email said that GWCA has informed them that the timeline

Housekeeping

2006-04-04T12:26:00.000-04:00

I'm getting a crash course in page formatting. I've spread the page out and moved things around some so hopefully there will be less scrolling. I'm not 100% happy with the format just yet, but I'm tired of working with it, so it will be this way until I feel creative again. I've also added links at the top left to translate the page into other languages. I tried to find links for Dutch and

June LID Poll results

2006-04-04T12:05:00.000-04:00

I'm tired of Bravenet's pop-up so I'm going to close the poll. Here are the final numbers. If we go by this poll then we can assume that if they get through the 2nd with the next batch that it will take two more batches to get through 7/11. If they get through June 10th with the next batch then it will take them one more batch to make it through 7/11. As of now, I'm trying not to pay too much

News from Spain

2006-04-03T22:37:00.000-04:00

Update: The original source of this email is Mary, Momof2boysinOH, and was originall posted here. ----------------------- This also comes to me in an email. What the Spanish agencies are telling waiting families: There were 900 dossiers logged in during May of 2005 (it's unclear if that number just accounts for dossiers from Spain or if it includes other countries) and 700 in June of 2005. The

Referral revoked

2006-04-03T13:02:00.000-04:00

Someone in the 5/17 LID group has been contacted that their referral has been revoked because the child was adopted domestically. They will be getting a new referral. This is not the first time I've seen this, and it's probably something we should all be aware of - that this is a possibility. The child is not "ours" legally until we spend time at the provincial Civil Affairs Office legalizing

Interesting Review Room Hypothesis

2006-04-03T10:12:00.000-04:00

From an email - this one goes that they have sped up in the review room because of the new restrictions they are now following. The CCAA received a lot of feedback from agencies that it was very upsetting for people to not find out they were rejected until 6 or 8 months later. So, the new goal is to review the dossiers sooner. We were thinking they were getting so far ahead in the review room so

More on the review room

2006-04-02T09:06:00.000-04:00

Someone posted a comment in the consulate holiday thread that says: No rumor, just a comment. We are DTC 9/9, LID 10/10 and just received a request for more information from the CCAA. Thanks for the info, and I hope the info they needed is something simple that won't be a big problem.

US Consulate in Guangzhou - Holiday Schedule

2006-04-01T19:17:00.000-05:00

I found this page showing what the holiday schedule is for the US Consulate for the May holiday, they will only be closed May 1, 2, and 3 (that's Monday through Wednesday) and will reopen Thursday. Still no word on when the CCAA will be closed.

Valium, Xanax, Ambien?

2006-04-01T12:56:00.000-05:00

I didn't do anything to help with sleep on the plane ride last time. Going over I wish I had, because I didn't sleep well and we arrived in China during their morning hours and stayed up all day and went to bed that night. I've heard of people using Valium or Xanax to help them chill out on the plane - but those aren't really sleep medicine's, are they? Some people talk about them like they were