Well, am I the gal for you!!

Of course, this is not necessarily news that I really want to post -- but, I want to keep you all informed as best I can. I am going to let the words of my agency inform you, because they can explain this better than I can (and give background in one succinct paragraph, rather than a long, drawn out, winding 5 paragraphs like I would write!). So, here is a portion of an email I got today:
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background:

In February, 2006, we (agency) submitted our packet for re-application for
accreditation, knowing that our accreditation was due to expire in May, 2006. We
submitted at this time so that there would be plenty of time for the Federal
Ministry to review our documents and then accredit us. However, the end of May,
2006, we were notified that they would begin a new process for adoption agencies
which would involve registering as an NGO (non-governmental organization) and
non-expiring accreditation. We successfully registered as an NGO organization on
Sept. 8, 2006. In October, we submitted updated documents to the Federal
Ministry of Education in anticipation of receiving accreditation. In November,
the Vice Minister of the Federal Ministry of Education was replaced and a
statement was issued that documents for accreditation would not be reviewed
until the new regulations were posted. Now that they have posted this
information, agencies are free to submit their documents for review.

now another part of the email:

Our Moscow staff submitted the necessary documentation today and now, the
waiting begins for it to be processed. The Ministry does have 90 days to
consider the documents but we are hopeful that the Ministry will begin the
process of accreditation by the end of January.

So...there is the information as I have it, almost straight from the horse's mouth. I emailed our consultant to ask whether or not Vlad was still moving, just to see how this will affect us. Here is her response to me:

There are only a few regions that are allowing families to adopt, but they
either had to have their dossiers registered prior to May, or the families are
adopting through the independent route. We, as an agency are very hopeful that
accreditation will be in place very soon. Until we do receive accreditation
Vladivostok is currently not inviting families for their referral trips.

So...I guess this means that we have a little (or a lot?) more time left before we get our referral.
You know, this seems like awful news, but in actuality, we're not really stressing over it. Of course, you never know what could happen and when...but this gives us a little more time to get things done before the craziness begins! It also gives us more time to save money...more time to save money means less debt in the end!!

So...there you have it -- the first post in quite a while that is completely devoted to our adoption!! :)