Guatemala Adoption Woes

On Friday Guatemala’s PGN * shut down stating that they would not be accepting any new cases other than those that had been approved. According to Guatadopt.com this is VERY CONFUSING information because it was believed that ALL cases would be GRANDFATHERED in if they were submitted before December 31, thus APPROVED and processed.

What is even more confusing is that the sign on the door to PGN stated that all cases have to be registered with CENTRAL AUTHORITY, a NEW division.

Unfortunately, this could put a BIG damper on our adoption process…not sure how but it certainly could. We have been told that our Power of Attorney ** was registered and that our lawyer is preparing documents for Family Court so PGN is still a long way out. By that time things may be cleared up.

The bebe seems to know what is up…he crossed his fingers while drinking his milk on his Papa’s lap. It is one of my favorite pictures of him. Perhaps by posting this picture it will bring us some more luck.

To view how the entire system is supposed to work head to the JSCIS flow chart.

* ‘PGN (Procuraduría General de la Nación)’: (the equivalent to the Solicitor General’s office), Guatemalan Government entity responsible for reviewing cases and issuing approval to complete the Notarial Decree of Adoption or ‘Escritura Final de Adopción’.

**Power of Attorney: legal document in which parents authorize another person to represent and act on their behalf during the adoption process. The authorized person is called an “attorney-in-fact:. Strictly speaking it is not always the case that a person granted a power of attorney is an attorney at law, but in Guatemalan adoption cases, the person granted the power or attorney is usually a Guatemalan attorney at law.