Another appointment

This is a part of my series on applying for temporary residency in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In this episode: I find out whether or not I can still make the quota.

Timeline:

Jan. 18, 2010: I get on The List
Feb 5, 2010: First document review: problem with FBI check (everything else okay)
Feb 11, 2010: Get fingerprinted in Moscow to start new background check
Feb 26, 2010: Second appointment

After I came back from Moscow, having sent my new fingerprints off to the FBI, a friend of mine said that the quota for St. Petersburg had been filled. continue/-

Well, that was interesting…but what did it mean for me? When I was at Immigration in early February, they hadn’t told me I needed to hurry up. In fact, they advised me to give myself MORE time, just in case ( I didn’t listen).

I e-mailed someone who had gotten temporary residency last year. He assured me that if I had an appointment, I was definitely on the list.

Okay. Time to wait for the FBI check. No sign of it, but not much time has passed.

Feb.25th. Tomorrow is my second appointment. Nothing with my documents has changed. My original FBI check is still not presentable and my new one isn’t ready. Someone advised me that it’s better to keep showing up at the FMS office anyway, to check in and make sure they know you’re still pursuing residency.

I’m looking for something online and run across an announcement about the quota. The quota for 2010 is closed. Signing up for appointments is closed.

I'm planning on just asking for a new appointment, but what if it's too late? What if they say to me, “Sorry, you should have chosen a different date?”

Panic. But lots of people are praying for me.

I start to look for my documents again even though I don’t plan to submit them all for review. I can’t find my appointment “card.” It’s like last time’s except that it doesn't even have a number, just a time to show up. I don't really NEED it, but what if I do? It's not in my folder and it's not in my purse. It's not in my coat pocket. What about my other coat? There it is. This reminds me of my migration card incident.

Feb. 26th After class, I take one last look at my documents and then head off to the FMS. I get there a few minutes early and there are some people standing around, with a glazed-over look. The first few times, we were all clumsy and asking each other questions. Now, we are all experts??? No one seems interested in making conversation.

I’m on the alert for the signal, and when the security guard gives us the okay, I make a beeline for the now-familiar back porch where we enter.

There is no talk of lining up; there aren’t many of us. I’m second behind a couple applying together. The attendant tells us to get out passports, visas, and registration. Registration. Where is my registration? I didn’t put it in my packet because it wasn’t on the list; just a copy. Fumbling, fumbling…checking my folder of “reserve” papers…did I take it to Moscow? Yes, I did. It was there, with my extra fingerprints. Found it just in time.

It’s already my turn to consult with one of the officers. I tell her that I have a problem with one of my documents that isn’t fixed yet. She looks at the FBI check and shakes her head. She suggests visiting my consulate. No, no, they don’t do that. I explain that I’m waiting for the new one, I just need more time.

She helps me figure out the timing. I already have my medical forms, which are good until the end of April. So I should sign up for a slot before then, say, mid-April.

I also get a phone number to call in case I’m ready earlier and want to try to sign up for a different time-slot. Honestly, this was the perfect answer for me, because I don’t want to worry about making the deadline, but I also don’t want to drag it out longer than necessary.

All is well!

More extremely useful information

Russians are a big fan of information boards. You used to be able to read the newspaper on the street each day as each page was opened flat and mounted in a glass display case.

Well, in the university where I take classes, I recently took a closer look at what was displayed. Next to the illustrated CPR instructions, I suddenly noticed some images of armed men.

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That's right, they were terrorism instructions! That is, what to do if you are caught in a hostage situation, how to recognize a bomb, etc.

And don't forget...how to survive in the basement!

As I've been abroad for awhile, I'm not sure if there are similar displays in the U.S. Probably not quite as graphic. It could be that in Russia the educational facilities are regarded as targets because of the Beslan incident.

Revisiting domestic adoption in Russia and Eastern Europe

To be honest, I haven't devoted a lot of time lately to researching the adoption/foster care scene in Russia. There was a time when I regularly sought information and was up on the latest laws and statistics.

We ran into a lot of seemingly dead-ends while trying to push for adoption in St. Petersburg. There were a lot of obstacles, such as the endless paperwork and the impossibility of providing a bigger home for each potential family. The law says that there must be a certain amount of living space per person, but offers no solution for obtaining such housing if the family's income is too low. That's one example. This is not to mention all of the emotional, psychological, and social implications.

As part of our research, we had traveled to Vladimir to learn more about a ministry there that had been fairly successful in "redistributing" children in families and group homes. But I was shocked as we got in the van the first day for the tour, and our guide, herself a Christian and former orphanage worker, told us, "I'm not in favor of adoption." more/-

Not in favor of adoption? That's an attitude shared by many in Russia. Although there are public service announcements showing happy adoptive families, there is still a fairly weak infrastructure to support adoption. Foster families get more benefits and it is seen as the easiest and best choice all around.

Here's an article about some of the efforts to promote domestic adoption in Russia. It's from 2007, but is still telling.

"Sergei and Natasha say they hope more Russians will start to adopt. But they warn that apart from the complicated legal procedure, parents should think carefully about bringing a child into their home. They say they have made the decision never to tell Vera and Sasha they are adopted, which is why they asked for their names to be changed in this article."

Meanwhile, I recently was alerted to this article about progress being made in Ukraine. An excerpt:

"As of Jan. 1, adoptive families are treated as birth families in the sense that mothers are given maternity leave, vacation time is allotted and families receive the customary Hr 12,240 allowance per child."

This is good. However, with these changes immediately come consequences.

“It’s very sad when these families take children to exploit them for physical labor and money that comes from the state," Krysa said. "We get signals that some children run away from these foster families and lose faith in all sorts of foster care altogether.” (also from the article)

Note the blurred sense of distinction between adoption and foster care.

I'm starting to meditate a little more on this topic again. Who knows, maybe there will be some developments.

Extremely useful information

I'm always a little irritated when people try to translate untranslatable proverbs and the like into another language, word-for-word. Way too awkward. "Neither fish nor meat." What? Probably the best approach is to say "There is a Russian (French, etc.) proverb meaning ......" That gets rather long-winded, though.

Perhaps there's a reason why the people from the translation agency never called me back about the job!

In the meantime, I'm going to break my own rule and translate a Russian proverb, just for fun.

"Назвался груздем-полезай в кузов."

Since you've called yourself a (particular kind of) mushroom, now climb into the basket.

See what I mean about awkward? The meaning relates to putting your words into action.

Such are my deep thoughts for the day.