What a nightmare. There are just not words.
We submitted our I-600 application last July to USCIS (United States Center for Immigration Services). We received a confirmation of receipt from USCIS headquarters shortly thereafter. What is supposed to happen next is USCIS sends our application to the U.S. consulate in Lagos so that they can complete the I-604 investigation process to confirm that the boys’ orphan status is legitimate. Once that investigation is completed (can take awhile!) and approved (not a given!) then the case can come back to U.S. soil for final approval of our I-600 application, allowing the twins to immigrate to the U.S. as U.S. citizens. We were told that this process would take a minimum of 3 months’ time. We were informed that it took 6 months for the families who most recently completed adoptions from Nigeria. We were also told that there is no way to receive status updates from USCIS or the consulate in Lagos. Apparently, some families receive confirmation from the consulate in Lagos that their cases are received and other families do not. We never heard a word from the Lagos consulate.
Since it has now been over 6 months since we submitted our application, we’ve been hopeful that we might be getting close. The boys and I anxiously check the mailbox every afternoon in hopes of an I-600 approval letter.
Over the last several months, I have tried to check in with USCIS to see if I can get something of a status update (to no avail). Initially when I checked their website, they said the expected time frame for an I-600 processing would be 10 months. They also inform you that they will not respond to any inquiries of cases in process if they are within that expected time frame of 10 months. I sent an e-mail anyway to inquire about our case, only to receive an automated generic reply. A few weeks ago I checked the USCIS website again. Now the expected time frame for an I-600 application has increased to 13 months. There is no way to look up the status of your specific case, but you can input the date of your application (ours was 7/28/23) and it will provide your “case inquiry date” (i.e. the date that you are allowed to inquire a status update for your case). Guess what it says for our case submitted in July 2023?!
“The earliest you can submit questions is January 09, 2026. Please do not contact us before this date.
We will notify you if we need any additional information. We appreciate your patience while we review your case. Processing times may change – return to this page regularly for updates.”
January 9, 2026. The boys will be 6 years old by then!! Needless to say, this information did not give us any peace of mind. I tried e-mailing again and I also called USCIS. Once again I received a generic, automated e-mail reply and the robot on the phone informs you that there are no live human beings to speak to. I left a voicemail anyway, but never heard back.
Last week, I asked our adoption agency coordinator if it is possible to reach out directly to the consulate in Lagos to see if I could request a status update from them. She provided an e-mail address for me to communicate with the consulate. She said she didn’t know if they would respond, but I was welcome to give it a try. I sent an e-mail to them on Friday with our case numbers to see if we could get any updates. Yesterday morning I woke up to a reply from the Lagos consulate that stated, “We currently do not have your case. Kindly reach out to USCIS for more information in regards to the status of your case.” My heart sank. I sat down on the couch and cried. And prayed. And prayed some more. Surely they can’t mean they haven’t received our case. Maybe they meant they don’t CURRENTLY have our case but they had it in the past?! And it’s completed?? After completing my homeschool morning with the boys, I did some research online about reaching out to Colorado congressmen/representatives to help us navigate this crazy system. Time’s a-wasting in a big way. We just can’t wait anymore and we clearly need someone to advocate on our behalf. I reached out to both of our Colorado senators via online forms and left voicemails at their offices. I also was able to speak with someone at our local congressional district’s office in Castle Rock and made an in-person appointment there for next week. Yesterday afternoon I received a call back from Senator Bennet’s office. Senator Bennet and his team were tremendously helpful to us back in 2017 when Luke’s adoption went awry. They went to bat for us in a big way to help us get Luke home when the Ethiopian government shut down the adoption program. The kind lady who returned my call yesterday from Bennet’s office said she remembers helping our family back in 2017 and said they’d be more than happy to help us again. She said they have some mandatory training today and tomorrow but someone should be getting in touch with me by the end of the week to discuss a plan of action to help us get in touch with USCIS and get this ball moving. We are hopeful that they’ll be able to help us!
I really wish I had better news, but this is where we sit. More waiting. More praying. There are seriously no words. Absurd? Unbelievable? Mind boggling? Just doesn’t feel like this should even be possible. We thought the Nigerian government was challenging to work with. Little did we know that our government would be a million times more challenging.
