Cooper has now lived more of his life in Honduras than he has in the United States. I never thought that we would be here this long (we are in our 9th month).
We have been trying to get Canadian immigration papers. We heard from multiple sources that in our situation Canada would take less time. Since we just want to be together as a family that's the way we went.
Our journey in the endeavor has been.... interesting. We submitted our application to Canada shortly after Maria was born. It was going to be processed in the United States because that is the country in which Marco was currently residing.
But a few "interactions" and a year later, they told us that they could not process the application and had to forward Marco's application to the embassy responsible for the country of his citizenship.
So they sent our application off to Guatemala. Another year passed. In the meantime we are waiting for ANY news, on the website it says that if you contact them regarding your application status it could delay the process, so we respected that.
We contacted them after Cooper as born to let them know of the addition to our family. Then last fall we moved here to Honduras and we let them know our change of address. The processing time for an application processed in Guatemala was 18 months, this spring it changed to 17 months....
So, doing the math of when Guatemala started processing our application, our application should have been done May 21, 2011. When the kids and I got back from our month long visit to the states and Canada we inquired into our status.
No response. They clearly state on the website that they have 28 working days to respond to inquiries.... and that they might not respond at all, which is super frustrating.
And if you try to call... they don't answer the phones. So it seems like there is no way to get their attention, no way to talk to someone, anyone.
We sent another email to check into the status of our case.... again nothing.
Frustration is a huge part of our lives.... waiting and waiting. We want our lives to be able to begin. We feel like we are waiting in this limbo place where progression can't occur. It's quite a horrible feeling.
So, one of Marco's sisters did a little digging in Tegucigalpa and got a hold of the fax number to the Canadian embassy in Guatemala. The Consulate in Tegucigalpa said that fax was probably the best way to get ahold of the embassy. (Thank you Karla!!)
My parents sent a fax on behalf of us. Still no response. Still very frustrated.
A second fax is sent.
The kids are sick, they can't play outside because of the dust (which makes them sick), and mosquitoes (they think Maria's tastes oh-so-good, and there is a risk of Dengue), and heat.... so we spend the majority of our time inside here, or over at Abuela's house. But our place is less than 1000 square feet.... probably closer to 500 than 1000, so there is only so much running around that can be done.
The kids actually do pretty good for what they've got.
People here are NOT geared towards providing entertainment for their kids. Parks, libraries, children's programs do not exist here. For the most part the kids here in Honduras do fine, but a lot of them still want something more.
Cooper does pretty good, but Maria knows what a park is, and she loves story time at the library.
So, with the kids getting sick, the lack of children's activities, the frustration with lack of information in the immigration department..... a whole lot of discussion, tears, & prayers.... Marco and I decided that the best and right next move for us would be for the kids and I to go back to the states until these immigration things are taken care of and Marco will be able to join us once again.
This is something we NEVER wanted to happen. We never wanted to be separated. We never wanted the kids have to spend time away from their Dad. This is the hardest decision we have ever had to make. We do NOT look forward to the time we will be spending apart.
Now this is where things start to get a little more interesting.....
The decision is made for the kids and I to go back to the States.
Hours later we receive an email from Canada. They are responding to the fax that they received inquiring to the status of our case. They inform us that they are waiting on information from us. That they sent a letter requesting more information from us May 10th 2010. 2010!! Yeah, we NEVER received that letter.
Holy cow. UPSET. We kept on top of things, updating them when something in our lives changed, respecting the whole -not inquiring into our case so as not to delay or processing times- thing. And trying to follow their rules about making inquiries. *frustrated sigh*
So that new information brews for a few hours... and we receive a phone call....
My parents call. They made one more phone call to a friend who works at the border..... hope. Another answer, a different possibility, things we didn't know before.
While we won't be writing off Canada, we have another avenue to explore, one that could potentially take less time process and reunite us sooner.
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