Folks,
Many have emailed me or commented whether there will be another batch of EP submissions, or when they might be submitted. This in light of all the changes happening in Korea with changes in the adoption laws and the involvement of Family Court to determine the eligibility or qualification of adoptive families that the agencies recommend. The new laws will take effect in August 2012. But I am told that MOHW will continue to give the final EP approval. The adoption process, whether they be domestic or intercountry, is still a work in progress in Korea.
By the way, the March 5th EP requests have not been approved yet as it has not been two weeks. But they are expected to be reviewed and approved soon. The agency I talked with believes that it should take two weeks to approve. The current understanding is that MOHW will continue to accept new batch of EP applications each month.
Typically, the way it works is that MOHW sets the EP quota for the given year. This year's EP approval will be 10% less than that of 2011. The total EP number will be divided by 12 to reach the monthly EP allocation. But because the MOHW did not approve the EPs for the first two months this year, either they have larger batches to approve initially, or divide this year's EP application by the remaining months (10 months) to reach an adjusted number EP. Either way, the MOHW is working to clear all the EPs that are set for this year month-by-month.
If there is other information or changes, I will keep you all posted.
Also, thanks to all the great comments and questions.
I will do my best to serve all of you wonderful folks.
Steve Morrison
Have you heard anything about possible "multiple" trips to Korea to finalize once the laws change?
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve! I always appreciate your willingness to share any info that you know! Hoping Monday brings about EP approvals!
ReplyDeleteI do not think there will be multiple travel, or if there is any travel required. But it is entirely possible the new regulation may require travel. But I do not think there would be multiple travel required. Due to the way Korea has worked without families requiring travels, it may be possible that this may remain the same. Good question.
ReplyDeleteWow!! The ministry is going to be able to approve 120 on Monday. I heard they were coming out all at once. So is it possible, that some are approved just not released to agencies yet. I dont see they can do ALL that work in one day.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the update!!! You are so awesome and our only chance for news!:):):)
DeleteThank You!
DeleteWhen is the next batch going into the MOHW ??
ReplyDeleteWill it be monday or is it next month ??
According to an agency in Korea, it's usually the first week of the month when they submit.
DeleteHi Steve!! Thank u for your continued updates! There are many families who follow your posts! Wondering if u have heard anything about referrals??? Where are they?? Thanks!
ReplyDeletequite amazing that this blog knows more than the agencies, or does the agencies just don't wan't to tell the news ??
ReplyDeleteThank you Steve for your great work with adoption, your great :-)
The agencies need to be respected for their policies and there are certain things that they cannot tell you without knowing the fact for sure. Just understand that they are trying to be professional, and they do not have the liberty like I do as they serve so many families through legal contract, so they need to be very careful. However, because I am not bound to any people with legal contract, I can call Korea and find out when I can. Please respect the agencies as they are your friends.
DeleteThe dividing by 12 doesn't make sense. That's not how it worked last year. They had 2 months last summer that they didn't approve EPs, and then they still didn't make it to the end of the year. I think they were done in October last year. So there were like 4 months with no EPs, but they did made it through the quota in the other 8...
ReplyDeleteThat's because last year they had 3 extra submissions in January and 1 extra submission in April (as opposed to only once a month).
DeleteThank you Steve for your efforts on our behalf! When MOHW opens for each round of EPs, do they specify how many each agency is allowed to submit each time?
ReplyDeleteI believe they do. Each agency has different number of quotas and I don't know what they are.
DeleteHi Steve
ReplyDeleteI think many of us were hopeful for the ep approvals today. Have you heard any more about this? We are hoping for no more delays. Thanks so much.
Has anyone heard of when they will approve the first batch of EP's? I am hoping it will still be this week.
DeleteAny idea on EP approvals? Thanks
DeleteHas anyone heard anything more about this batches approvals or the next submission?
DeleteAlmost 3 weeks ;-( I can't believe they don't stick on their word!
ReplyDeleteThis batch was significantly larger than regular batches. I still think we'll hear of approvals very soon!
DeleteThe other thing to note is that the 1-2 week timeframe came from an Agency in Korea's guess. Not an official notice from MOHW. They may not release the approvals of all these EPs this week- but I'm sure they are processing them. We expect another batch to be requested/submitted the first week of April.
DeleteYeahhhhhhhhhhhhhh EPs have been approved!!! :-DD
ReplyDeleteOur agency told us the same thing! Yay!
DeleteOur paperwork was in the first batch, but we haven't heard anything yet. Do you know if all of the EP's in the first batch have been approved?
ReplyDeleteOur agency said all were approved, and I've heard a couple of others post that as well. I'd call your agency and ask- maybe they were just delayed in getting the info to you for some reason this morning!
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